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ice119's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
brerfrog's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ungoliant1234's review
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
In some ways, this is a fairly quiet book: no big battle scenes or major external conflicts between characters take up much space. That said, starting from the chapter Peril’s Gate, and built on by the preceding chapters, Arithon’s development is fantastic. Aside from that, the writing, world building and magic remain impressive. I believe Books 7 and 8 are going to benefit greatly from all the development over this (and the past 3 books). Davien is a great addition to the supporting cast.
tstreet's review against another edition
5.0
I am finally on the 6th book in this series. I love how the author keeps making the books more interesting as we continue along in the series. I kind of hope that they don't end up fighting but make peace and begin to get along. I am also kind of hoping that they end up fighting just to get it over with. I still hate Koriani and how evil she is. We still have 4 books to go, but I feel like we are about to hit the climax. 10/10 stars. Love this book.
lauregul's review
5.0
Arithon ist wieder auf der Flucht. Lysaer und seine Krieger sind ihm dicht auf den Fersen, um den Spinner of Shadow zu töten. Diesmal können ihm auch Daker und die Fellowship nicht helfen, da diese die Welt vor diversen anderen Gefahren schützen müssen.
[a:Janny Wurts|8591|Janny Wurts|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1311431926p2/8591.jpg] The Wars of Light and Shadow ist meiner Meinung wohl eine besten (und längsten) Fantasy-Buchreihen der letzten Jahre – wobei man hier schon von Jahrzenten sprechen muss, immerhin wurde der erste Band bereits 1993 veröffentlicht. Trotzdem sind die Bücher leider insgesamt eher unbekannt, was schade ist, da die Buchreihe definitiv mit deutlich bekannteren Büchern wie [a:Brandon Sanderson|38550|Brandon Sanderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1394044556p2/38550.jpg]s Sturmlicht-Chroniken mithalten kann.
Wie auch bei nahezu jedem vorherigen Band dauert es auch hier, bis die Story so richtig ins Rollen kommt. Aber nach den ersten 300 Seiten wird das Buch dafür absolut fesselnd. Die größte Stärke des Buchs ist auch hier, wie schon in den Vorgängerbänden, Wurts unglaublich gute Prosa. Ihre Texte sind geradezu melodische und die Bilder, die sie mit ihren Worten zeichnet, gleichen denen Tolkiens – was leider von nur wenigen Fantasy-Büchern gesagt werden kann.
Arithon, dem über die vergangenen Bücher hinweg immer mehr von dem genommen wurde, was ihm wichtig ist, erreicht einen neuen Tiefpunkt. Er ist auf der Flucht vor Lysaer und dessen Truppen, wobei er er seinen Körper so sehr missbraucht, dass er sogar den Verlust seiner musikalischen Fähigkeiten riskiert. Gerade Arithons Leiden, aber eben auch seine Fähigkeit, ein solches zu ertragen und immer weiter zu machen, sorgen dafür, dass die Geschichte so fesselnd und emotional ist.
Insgesamt ist [b:Peril's Gate|1040471|Peril's Gate (Wars of Light and Shadow #6)|Janny Wurts|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1426642357l/1040471._SY75_.jpg|1026842] ein hervorragendes Buch einer großartigen Reihe. Definitiv empfohlen.
[a:Janny Wurts|8591|Janny Wurts|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1311431926p2/8591.jpg] The Wars of Light and Shadow ist meiner Meinung wohl eine besten (und längsten) Fantasy-Buchreihen der letzten Jahre – wobei man hier schon von Jahrzenten sprechen muss, immerhin wurde der erste Band bereits 1993 veröffentlicht. Trotzdem sind die Bücher leider insgesamt eher unbekannt, was schade ist, da die Buchreihe definitiv mit deutlich bekannteren Büchern wie [a:Brandon Sanderson|38550|Brandon Sanderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1394044556p2/38550.jpg]s Sturmlicht-Chroniken mithalten kann.
Wie auch bei nahezu jedem vorherigen Band dauert es auch hier, bis die Story so richtig ins Rollen kommt. Aber nach den ersten 300 Seiten wird das Buch dafür absolut fesselnd. Die größte Stärke des Buchs ist auch hier, wie schon in den Vorgängerbänden, Wurts unglaublich gute Prosa. Ihre Texte sind geradezu melodische und die Bilder, die sie mit ihren Worten zeichnet, gleichen denen Tolkiens – was leider von nur wenigen Fantasy-Büchern gesagt werden kann.
Arithon, dem über die vergangenen Bücher hinweg immer mehr von dem genommen wurde, was ihm wichtig ist, erreicht einen neuen Tiefpunkt. Er ist auf der Flucht vor Lysaer und dessen Truppen, wobei er er seinen Körper so sehr missbraucht, dass er sogar den Verlust seiner musikalischen Fähigkeiten riskiert. Gerade Arithons Leiden, aber eben auch seine Fähigkeit, ein solches zu ertragen und immer weiter zu machen, sorgen dafür, dass die Geschichte so fesselnd und emotional ist.
Insgesamt ist [b:Peril's Gate|1040471|Peril's Gate (Wars of Light and Shadow #6)|Janny Wurts|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1426642357l/1040471._SY75_.jpg|1026842] ein hervorragendes Buch einer großartigen Reihe. Definitiv empfohlen.
siddharthageorge's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
brinstarre's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
duffypratt's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
My love/hate relationship continues, only this time it was teetering slightly towards hate/love. For the most part, the things that I hate about these books remains remarkably consistent. It's her writing, which elsewhere gets so much praise. She overuses adjectives, and very often her adjectives are redundant. Other times they are unnecessary. She has a penchant for trying to describe things which she asserts at the same time are indescribable. That's just one aspect of the way in which her writing appears to me to be self-contradictory on occasion. She has pet words that grow annoying with overuse. And sometimes she simply misuses those words - "rank" and "rime" immediately jump to mind. Thus, even when the book should be most engaging, it often instead feels like trudging through a sludge of verbiage.
On the love side, I thought the basic story and the characters here were remarkably good. The book is basically an extended coda to Grand Conspiracy. Having rescued the farm boy made to look like him, Arithon now needs somehow to escape the various groups that are trying to kill or enslave him. This gives us some excellent situations for set pieces, and a great look at some of the supporting characters who are trying to aid him. At the same time, the world itself has been placed in peril by Merriel's betrayal, and the Fellowship is trying restore the balance. Because of how it sits, this book is very much a middle, but as middle books go, it's quite good.
Spoilers follow:
I found everything having to do with Jeiret's sacrifice and his insistence on his choice and his dignity to be excellent. Easily the best part of the book, and probably the most moving part of the series so far.
I also greatly enjoyed how this book seemed to take a step back and make it seem as though Arithon and Lysaer are simply pawns being used in the games played by higher powers - most notably the Fellowship and the Korianthi. In this regard, I thought it was a nice choice to bring Davien, the Betrayer, in as a kind of wild card.
I thought it was perverse to take up well over 100 pages to have Arithon re-experience the first five books. At a certain point, I wasn't entirely clear whether the refrain "Cry Mercy" was meant for Arithon or for the reader. Instead of crying mercy, there were points when I was about to cry "uncle." The idea of this sort of re-enactment as a test of Arithon strikes me as being a pretty good one. But that did not mean she had to go through all the past books in such excruciating, repetitive detail At some point, I think she should have the confidence that her reader is capable of getting what she is saying without repeating it. Moreover, since Arithon was reliving everything he had gone through in the first books, up to and including this book, I was dreading the idea that he would again re-enter this space and start reliving what he was reliving in a kind of infinite loop, as when two mirrors are facing each other. It was the logical continuation, but for some reason Wurts didn't see it.
A subplot in this book involves Lysaer's son. We are constantly reminded that he is Lysaer's heir, as if that is a tremendously important thing. Indeed, Lysaer has ceased having sex with his wife now that she has done her queenly duty. None of this makes sense to me. Of course, in our world, the royal heir was a remarkably big deal. And it would be in this world as well, if Lysaer was expected to live a normal life. But he's not. His son would be expected to live the normal lifespan of 70-80 years. Lysaer, however, will live to be 500 years old. We already know this. So his heir would matter if he died an unnatural death, but otherwise would be totally unimportant. Imagine Charles as a normal person in a world where Elizabeth was fully expected to live until 2400. Wurts has given her Princes extended lifespans, but it seems to me that she has not taken into account what that would mean for the succession, and for Lysaer's behavior. While it's sad that Lysaer's sone died, its hard to believe that anyone expected that he would ever rise to the throne.
I'm on the fence about whether to continue with this series. It's clear that I know what I will be getting in terms of a writing style that, putting it lightly, does not agree with me. On the other hand, there is much to like about these books, and with the introduction of Davien, I think there is a good possibility that the books will get even better in their other aspects. But then, this is only book 6 and there are five more to go. While that may be over the peak in absolute terms, it feels somewhat like there's several thousand more pages of trudging ahead and I'm not positive that I'm up for it.
On the love side, I thought the basic story and the characters here were remarkably good. The book is basically an extended coda to Grand Conspiracy. Having rescued the farm boy made to look like him, Arithon now needs somehow to escape the various groups that are trying to kill or enslave him. This gives us some excellent situations for set pieces, and a great look at some of the supporting characters who are trying to aid him. At the same time, the world itself has been placed in peril by Merriel's betrayal, and the Fellowship is trying restore the balance. Because of how it sits, this book is very much a middle, but as middle books go, it's quite good.
Spoilers follow:
I found everything having to do with Jeiret's sacrifice and his insistence on his choice and his dignity to be excellent. Easily the best part of the book, and probably the most moving part of the series so far.
I also greatly enjoyed how this book seemed to take a step back and make it seem as though Arithon and Lysaer are simply pawns being used in the games played by higher powers - most notably the Fellowship and the Korianthi. In this regard, I thought it was a nice choice to bring Davien, the Betrayer, in as a kind of wild card.
I thought it was perverse to take up well over 100 pages to have Arithon re-experience the first five books. At a certain point, I wasn't entirely clear whether the refrain "Cry Mercy" was meant for Arithon or for the reader. Instead of crying mercy, there were points when I was about to cry "uncle." The idea of this sort of re-enactment as a test of Arithon strikes me as being a pretty good one. But that did not mean she had to go through all the past books in such excruciating, repetitive detail At some point, I think she should have the confidence that her reader is capable of getting what she is saying without repeating it. Moreover, since Arithon was reliving everything he had gone through in the first books, up to and including this book, I was dreading the idea that he would again re-enter this space and start reliving what he was reliving in a kind of infinite loop, as when two mirrors are facing each other. It was the logical continuation, but for some reason Wurts didn't see it.
A subplot in this book involves Lysaer's son. We are constantly reminded that he is Lysaer's heir, as if that is a tremendously important thing. Indeed, Lysaer has ceased having sex with his wife now that she has done her queenly duty. None of this makes sense to me. Of course, in our world, the royal heir was a remarkably big deal. And it would be in this world as well, if Lysaer was expected to live a normal life. But he's not. His son would be expected to live the normal lifespan of 70-80 years. Lysaer, however, will live to be 500 years old. We already know this. So his heir would matter if he died an unnatural death, but otherwise would be totally unimportant. Imagine Charles as a normal person in a world where Elizabeth was fully expected to live until 2400. Wurts has given her Princes extended lifespans, but it seems to me that she has not taken into account what that would mean for the succession, and for Lysaer's behavior. While it's sad that Lysaer's sone died, its hard to believe that anyone expected that he would ever rise to the throne.
I'm on the fence about whether to continue with this series. It's clear that I know what I will be getting in terms of a writing style that, putting it lightly, does not agree with me. On the other hand, there is much to like about these books, and with the introduction of Davien, I think there is a good possibility that the books will get even better in their other aspects. But then, this is only book 6 and there are five more to go. While that may be over the peak in absolute terms, it feels somewhat like there's several thousand more pages of trudging ahead and I'm not positive that I'm up for it.
mousie_books's review against another edition
3.0
The Fellowship struggles to stabilized the imbalance caused by Korianni plots while troops from Jaelot relentlessly pursue Arithon. Davien the Betrayer makes a (re)appearance.
This book had a strong focus on the mysteries, so I had a hard time getting into it. The narrative also heavily focuses on Arithon, but since he is alone for most of it, he does not get to showcase his wit. However, once I hit about halfway through the book, I could not put it down. I ended up taking the heavy brick with me across the country, so I would not have to wait a week to read the last 150 pages.
This book had a strong focus on the mysteries, so I had a hard time getting into it. The narrative also heavily focuses on Arithon, but since he is alone for most of it, he does not get to showcase his wit. However, once I hit about halfway through the book, I could not put it down. I ended up taking the heavy brick with me across the country, so I would not have to wait a week to read the last 150 pages.