Destiny’s Conflict, the tenth and penultimate novel in Janny Wurts’ stunning Wars of Light and Shadows series, has just been released, making this an excellent time to take a look at the career of one of the great (and, in my opinion, most under-appreciated) novelists working in fantasy. Wurts has published nearly 20 novels with major publishers over the course of her three decade career, but still, somehow her name rarely comes up whenever someone asks for epic fantasy recommendations. Since I happen to believe that, once it’s completed, her Wars of Light and Shadow series will be counted among the great enduring classics of epic fantasy, I thought I’d take this opportunity to spread the word a bit.
Part of the problem is probably that, whenever the name Janny Wurts is mentioned in discussions about epic fantasy, the first thing people invariably bring up is the Empire Trilogy, which she co-wrote with Raymond E. Feist as part of Feist’s bestselling and ongoing Riftwar Cycle. All fine and good, but first of all, Wurts has written so much more. Secondly, you’d be surprised at how often her role in the creation of these books is miscategorized, or, thirdly, how often her name isn’t even acknowledged when the books are discussed.
So. Let’s talk about some of Janny Wurts other books, shall we?
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Destiny’s Conflict: Book Two of Sword of the Canon (The Wars of Light and Shadow, Book 10)
First and foremost, there’s the Wars of Light and Shadow series, which began in 1993 with The Curse of the Mistwraith and, with the recent release of Destiny’s Conflict, currently stands at ten novels. (Only the grand finale, Song of the Mysteries, is still forthcoming, which is a bit stunning to consider for those of us who’ve been following the series for years.) This is Epic Fantasy with capital E and capital F: the millennia-spanning tale of Paravia, a fantasy universe that, in terms of complexity and scope, rivals almost anything else in the genre, and the tale of Arithon and Lysaer, the two half-brothers whose struggles are tied to the fate of that world.
One of the most remarkable things about this series is that it doesn’t sprawl—it deepens. It doesn’t keep adding plot threads and characters. Instead, it continually adds layers of meaning and complexity to everything, from the history of the world to the background of the major players and factions. Wurts moves the markers from book to book, challenging the reader to reconsider previous assumptions at every turn.
This also makes it an insanely difficult set of books to discuss or review. It’s hard to describe exactly why e.g. Warhost of Vastmark, the third book in the series completely blew me away, not because I’m worried about giving away plot details but because part of the joy of reading this series lies in regularly recalibrating your understanding of its mysteries. (I still consider it something of a personal triumph that, over the years, I managed to write individual reviews for the nine books before Destiny’s Conflict without major spoilers and without repeating myself too much.)
It’s impossible to encapsulate what makes this series so wonderful in a few paragraphs. It needs a post, or even better series of posts, all by itself. (It would actually make a great subject for a Tor.com reread, once it’s completed.) The books feature several completely unique modes of magic, all described in language that’s lyrical and precise and quite unlike anything I’ve encountered in the genre. It covers a fantasy history that spans ages and planets. It features, to get specific about just a few favorite scenes, the single best description of a siege I’ve read in all of fantasy, as well as the single most hair-raising scene of dark magic. Once you’ve read these two scenes, similar ones in other fantasies feel like pale comparisons.
Part of the reason for this is the author’s remarkable prose. Janny Wurts writes in an instantly recognizable and, to be fair, somewhat challenging style—challenging because she uses an unusually broad vocabulary and complex, long sentences and paragraphs to explore every single nuance of meaning. It’s incredibly dense prose, something to read slowly, to consider and re-consider carefully. I always have to adjust to Wurts’ style when I pick up one of her books: if your average reading speed is (to pick a random number) one page per minute, expect to spend several minutes per page here. Every word counts. Wurts will spend paragraphs, pages even, exploring one character’s changed perspective on an event, in a way that never feels spun out or repetitive but instead carefully explores every thought.
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To Ride Hell’s Chasm
Another great example of this writing style is To Ride Hell’s Chasm, which may be my single favorite standalone fantasy novel ever. Princess Anja of the tiny kingdom of Sessalie has gone missing on the eve of her betrothal. The foreign-born former mercenary Mykkael, one of the genre’s unforgettable characters, tries to find her. The novel covers only about five days in the course of its 650 or so pages, but it somehow never feels long-winded because every emotion, every visual detail, every nuance of meaning is hammered down in the richest, most meticulous prose you could hope to find in the genre.
To Ride Hell’s Chasm is also a nice example of another recognizable Janny Wurts hallmark: many of her novels feature something like a false resolution at the halfway point. You’ve got about half of the novel to go, and suddenly it feels like everything is coming together. The tension builds to a climactic peak, but instead of letting up, the author maintains and even raises the suspense until the actual end of the novel. The second half of this book is impossible to put down.
Interestingly, by the way, Wurts uses the same trick in the Wars of Light and Shadow on multiple levels. As mentioned, this is planned to be an eleven book series, spread over five “arcs”: Arc One is one book, Arc Two is two books, Arc Three is five books, Arc Four is two books again and the final (and forthcoming) Arc will be a single novel. One-two-five-two-one, a neatly symmetrical structure, with each book and each arc somehow having its own midway climax. It’s an impressive edifice, and for good reason considered the author’s opus magnum. It’s a crying shame that through the vagaries of the publishing world some of these books were hard to find in the US for a long time, but they’re all available again now, with shiny new covers to boot, making my ongoing mission to get more people to read them considerably easier.
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Master of Whitestorm
And there’s so much more to goodness to be found in the author’s bibliography. Another personal favorite is Master of Whitestorm, the tale of a former galley slave who becomes somewhat obsessed (to put it mildly) with gathering enough money to build an impregnable fortress. Initially feeling like an old-fashioned episodic adventure fantasy, the novel gradually reveals an underlying thread that explains the main character’s personality. Think Lethal Weapon in a complex fantasy setting.
I haven’t even covered Wurts’ full biography: there’s also the Cycle of Fire trilogy and her debut standalone Sorcerer’s Legacy (all written before Feist invited her to co-write the Empire books, by the way), and a major short story collection called That Way Lies Camelot. I haven’t even talked about the fact that Wurts is also an accomplished artist who paints her own covers, and a talented musician.
I hope you’ll pardon my enthusiasm about all of this, but again, this author is so often ignored or miscategorized that it’s become something of a personal mission for me to spread the word. Still, if you won’t take my word for it, listen to Stephen R. Donaldson, who once famously said about Janny Wurts that it “ought to be illegal for one person to have so much talent.”
A previous version of this post was originally published in December 2013.
Stefan Raets reads and reviews science fiction and fantasy whenever he isn’t distracted by less important things like eating and sleeping. His (sadly neglected) website is Far Beyond Reality.
So glad to see Ms. Wurts getting a shout-out. To Ride Hell’s Chasm is one of my all-time-favorite stand-alone novels but it came-out at bad time for books and just never got the notice it should have.
And how many authors out there do their own cover illustrations? I’m surprised we don’t see her work on other authors’ books.
Yes, it’s unfortunate that “Jenny Who?” is the response I often get when I mention reading one of her works.
Even among Feist readers. And her doing art as well? I just don’t know how she escapes people’s notice.
Which makes me think that her (and Don Maitz’s) stolen art is probably lost forever. Well, ok, it is digitally preserved, but still…
I’d love to here your thoughts on Cycle of Fire BTW.
The only ones I’ve read so far were the Empire trilogy (which was great) and Master of Whitestorm (which was also great). Someday I’ll move on to Wars of Light & Shadow, but at this point I might as well wait until it’s finished; in the meantime, maybe To Ride Hell’s Chasm needs to be higher on my list.
The Empire Trilogy has stood the test of time as one of my favourite series (much more so than anything else Feist ever wrote) and I’ve long suspected the magic of that series was primarily thanks to Janny Wurts.
Even believing that,I’ve long planned to (but have never actually) read any of her solo works. This post has motivated me to finally change that and a copy of To Ride Hell’s Chasm is on the way!
I have been a fan of Janny’s ever since the early ‘90’s. Glad that she’s finally getting some recognition that she rightly deserves. The Wars of Light and Shadow has had a very difficult publication with mergers and other things going on in publishing world that the series was constantly getting lost in the shuffle.
Janny has done covers for other authors and games but nothing currently. She’s much too busy trying to finish her own story and do her own covers.
I cannot wait to read the last and final book of the series when it’s finally finished! Also, if you enjoy audio books, Destiny’s Conflict will be released soon from Audible. And if enough interest in the book, audible will consider doing Curse of the Mistwraith as well. And hopefully all the others. Janny has apparently given the narrator extensive notes on pronunciation to on all the Paravian works and accents.
Wayne
I tried The Curse of the Mistwraith, but her prose is not for me.
6, that’s a fair statement, Janny Wurts does have a unique flair that’s not everybody’s cup of tea.
I might suggest trying Cycle of Fire or the Empire series though, they aren’t quite as densely Janny.
Loved her Empire series I started as a big Feist fan(early books especially) but the books I’ve re-read the most are the 3 that Wurts basically wrote. I read several of the Wars of Light and Shadow series but eventually stopped reading them as they depressed me in part since the basic plot is prophesied in the beginning so while I enjoyed the books the fact that where they were going was always known(and while awesomely written and riveting the wrench of that prophecy rearing it’s head after 3 or so books drove me away). When the last one comes out I may have to re-vist them though. I am interested in her stand alone books though since I was unaware of them. As such thanks for the article and the reminder of how much I really appreciate her writing.
Time to get searching for these books!
I’m very glad to see this. Janny Wurts is so underappreciated, and yet such a powerful voice in the field. I missed the Empire trilogy and went straight into the Wars Of Light And Shadow — which rewards the patient reader and is entirely immersive. I also think To Ride Hell’s Chasm is one of the finest stand-alone fantasies written, and it’s a shame it came out in a publishing year in which so many other excellent works in fiction and film were ignored and discovered later. It deserves to be read widely, as do the rest of Ms. Wurt’s books. Yes, I think a Tor re-read of Wars Of Light And Shadow is a great idea when it’s completed. And don’t get me started on the superb paintings and cover design she does for her own books. Who else is capable of doing work at this level in both fields and is still professionally published?
Janny has to be one of the most underappreciated authors I’ve ever read and loved. Like many, I discovered her from the Feist books. But I still remember seeing the shiny embossed cover of The Curse of the Mistwraith in the book store which called out to me. At the time, I didn’t realize it was going to be a series, let alone a 10+ book one. Unlike any other series, I glean new nuggets of info with each reread since later books shed light on stuff I originally glossed over. This does mean you need to read slower than normal in order to let stuff sink in, but it’s well worth the effort.
I also enjoy her standalones like Sorcerer’s Legacy and To Ride Hell’s Chasm, which are easier reads than her WoLaS books.
One thing that makes her stand out from other authors is her ability to describe a scene that will convey the sight, sound, and even smell with only a few words. Or she’ll use a single word’s definition for precisely what she means. You might have to look it up, but then it’s perfect. All I have to say is I love ebooks for the built in dictionary!
Now that I’m writing books, I use her as one of my inspirations. I’ll never be as awesome as Janny, but I can at least try. ;)
Great article! The Wars of Light and Shadow is my favorite epic fantasy series, I’ve waited for the Christmas break to read Destiny’s Conflict and it was just wow. The finale was incredibly powerful and I have no idea how things are going to play out in the final volume. Surprised yet again. I really can’t get enough of her stories and luscious prose.
I too have always been a fan of Janny Wurtz and was delighted to see this article. First because I didn’t know the most recent book was even available (and I try to keep an eye out for this). Secondly, her books are wholly original and almost poetic in their narratives. Thanks so much for this article. Glad to see Ms. Wurtz get the love she deserves!
Because of this article, I decided to try her books starting with Sorcerer’s Legacy and ending with the WOLAS series. All of her stories are AMAZING! I’m absolutely floored with admiration in how she made every story sings. Thank you for the shout out! I didn’t realize what I was missing!!!
Janny’s TREMENDOUS skills have been rightly praised on this site and have been assiduously cultivated by her for years, but beyond her extraordinary world and culture building skills are talents more rare. She expands and supports the intimate and romantic love and devotion of the two most important characters over centuries. The longing between them is devastatingly evident and you are drawn in with every great emotion. They become real through their true humanity and our own troubled world makes you realize how desperately we need them and need to defend them. (I have had many fantasies of coming to their defense). To distill this further, Janny is a philosopher who demonstrates with substance, truth and patience rather than grandstanding with platitudes. Through her worlds and characters, she has ascended to the spiritual in her metaphor and in her greater weaving. In comparison to our world, one can reference the cruelty, ignorance and delusion that can be present in religion and yet Janny offers a higher plane. The epic proportions of her worlds are intricately crafted and supported. Extreme quality of substance and the rarest care for accuracy in the activities and actions of her “real” characters is enthralling because of her referencing personal experience. She flips heroic archetypes and leads you beyond the surface. I AM IN LOVE WITH HER CHARACTERS AND PLACE HER WORKS ABOVE ALL OTHERS. Do not deny yourself.