Product Description

The spellbinding final instalment of The Alliance of Light. Though Athera may be free, the fight is far from over! The heartstopping conclusion to the Alliance of Light series brings Lysaer's army of Light to besiege the great citadel of Alestron. Master of Shadow, Arithon, with barely a moment's recuperation from his victory over the necromancers, has discovered that young Jeynsa s'Valerient whom he has sworn to protect, has joined the ranks of his disowned allies within the threatened citadel. Worse, following a failed rescue attempt, his beloved Elaira, his double, Fionn Areth, and the spellbinder Dakar are also trapped within Alestron's walls. The chancy wiles of Davien the betrayer must spirit Arithon across the enemy lines to attempt a bold and perilous rescue mission. Arithon must seek the heartcore of his talent, even while embroiled in a savage battle against those he has vowed to protect. But treachery strikes from deep within the duke's ranks. Lysaer's fanatics will be unleashed to claim their bloody revenge. With the Fellowship Sorcerers in mortal danger, and all under threat from a collapsing grimward, Davien the betrayer is unable to intercede to save his colleagues and so will be forced to invoke the dire terms of an ancient and most secretive bargain. Arithon stands alone at the hour of reckoning as the true purpose of the Koriani enchantresses becomes, at long last fully, unveiled -- with the covetous Prime Matriarch now poised to snatch a prize, a prize beyond that of merely integrity and life!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51745 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 656 pages

Review
Praise for the Wars of Light and Shadow: 'Astonishingly original and compelling! A gifted creator of wonder' Raymond E Feist 'Janny Wurts builds beautiful castles in the air ! where every detail is richly imagined and vividly rendered' Diana Gabaldon 'It ought to be illegal for one person to have so much talent' Stephen Donaldson

About the Author
Janny Wurts is the author of the Cycle of Fire series, co-author of the worldwide bestselling Empire series with Raymond E. Feist, and is currently working on the Wars of Light and Shadow series. She often paints her own covers and is also an expert horsewoman, sailor, musician and archer.

Customer Reviews

The long wait is vindicated
(There are no Stormed Fortress spoilers in this review but I mention some plot points from Peril's Gate).

Fugitive Prince was released ten years ago to some disappointment by Wurts fans. Following the incredible Arc II of the series (the simultaneously published Ships of Merior/Warhost of Vastmark), Fugitive Prince seemed long on exposition, full of unresolved threads, and lacking a satisfying conclusion. On her website, the author heard everyone's grumbling and pleaded for patience -- this book was NOT a complete story, but the first part in an intricately planned Arc III. The story as envisioned in the author's mind was much too large to fit in a single hardcover binding, and she chose to publish it part by part rather than sacrifice the story's integrity.

Ten years later, the five parts of Arc III are finally complete, taking up nine inches of my bookshelf and proving that the wait was worth it. I paid about $30 for the book and standard shipping to the US (which only took about a week).

Stormed Fortress provides a satisfying and logical conclusion to Arc III, and also deepens your understanding of the other parts (re-reads, as always, will be immensely rewarding). Because this is the climax of the Arc, the action is nonstop, and the pace of the prose fits -- a good balance is struck between Janny's language style (which in the past has been alternately described as beautiful and painfully overwrought) and the urgency of the plot.

I give this specific book 5 stars, and Arc III as a whole 4 stars. I felt that the one stumbling point in the Arc was Peril's Gate. After reading the two parts that followed, I can see that the painful and long transformation of Arithon was NECESSARY to the story, but Janny is such a good writer that Peril's Gate is as difficult to read as her main character's trials were to undergo. (It wasn't the constant doom and gloom and catastrophe that frustrated me -- it was that the world stayed on the brink of disaster for 700 pages and nothing changed). Though I love the series, I feel like this one part could have been trimmed just a little bit -- especially the endless pages outlining magical ceremonies.

Despite this criticism, Arc III worked for me on every level. If the story is a roller coaster, then Peril's Gate is the necessary uphill chug to the top of the hill, and Traitor's Knot / Stormed Fortress are the amazing pay-off.

If you loved the series to date, you will love Stormed Fortress. If you are a disilliusioned Wurts fan who felt like she was just treading water to churn out a million books like other fantasy series authors, Stormed Fortress is the incontrovertible proof that, yes, she knows what she's doing -- it will hit you in the viscera!

If you are a brand new reader wondering whether the intense amount of reading is worth it, I'd recommend starting smaller. The Master of Whitestorm is a good single-book story that shows how she applies her own stamp to cliched fantasy elements. Another easy to read intro is her Empire series (jointly authored with Raymond Feist). If you enjoy those, give Light and Shadows a try! The earlier arcs can still be found in libraries and on the Amazon Marketplace.

For Reference:
Arc I: Curse of the Mistwraith (1 binding)
Arc II: Ships of Merior (paperback split into: Ships of Merior / Warhost of Vastmark)
Arc III: Alliance of the Light (split into: Fugitive Prince / Grand Conspiracy / Peril's Gate / Traitor's Knot / Stormed Fortress)
Arc IV: ?
Arc V: ?

A fitting end to the Arc, really raising the tension for the final two Arcs!
The eagerly awaited conclusion to Arc III of Janny Wurts Wars of Light and Shadow. The story really intensifies in this installment and makes the revelations and building blocks in the previous novels of this, the longest of the Arcs make more sense. There is almost non stop action with some very major plot developments that take the reader unawares. You really delve into the story with Janny's very distinctive writing style as well as setting the scene for what will most probably become a very gripping build up and climax to her series. If i ever needed an extra incentive and reason to read her series, Stormed Fortress certainly provides it!

A satisfying conclusion to this story arc...and hints of things to come....
In this book, the events from "Fugitive Prince" through "Traitor's Knot" concerning the Alliance of Light to destroy Arithon s'Ffalenn are brought to a satisfactory close.

There are plenty of surprising and thrilling plot twists for long-term readers who have been eagerly awaiting this volume.

For those who have not already done so, I recommend starting with "Curse of the Mistwraith" and reading the books in order.

Now begins the wait for the next two story arcs.