The Cycle of Fire: Stormwarden / Keeper of the Keys / Shadowfane [Paperback]

Janny Wurts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999

Her magnificent high fantasy trilogy--"Stormwarden, Keeper of the Keys" and "Shadowfane" complete in one volume.

Sorcerery and Destiny

For centuries, the elusive Vaere have trained sorcerers to stand against Shadowfane' s demons, who seek nothing less than mankind' s destruction and the world' s total conquest. Now, the demons have won corrupt human allies, and the last, great defenders have fallen--the Firelord died mad, and the Stormwarden languishes, imprisoned and disgraced.

New champions will arise from unlikely beginnings--an orphan and an apprentice, a fisher girl and her disaffected brother--each with a power, a secret, and a flaw that will shape their destinies.

The demons awaken. The champions choose sides. And it begins again: "The Cycle of Fire," Janny Wurts' s magnificent high fantasy trilogy, complete in one volume for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This stout and epic tale mixing fantasy and SF was originally published in the 1980s in mass market in three volumes, Stormwarden, Keeper of the Keys and Shadowfane. Whether those novels have been edited for this edition or not, the joint publication brings out the essential unity of the story. Far in the future, a human-crewed starship crashes on a distant planet, carrying a load of alien POWs taken to help discover the secrets of a deadly foe, the group mind known as the Gierj. In time, the humans revert to a feudal society, the aliens are seen as "demons" and the starship's computer survives as a "magical" entity known as the Vaere. Two powerful human wizards learn the mental techniques (or magic) of the Vaere, but one, Ivain Firelord, dies mad, and the other, Anskiere Stormwarden, is distrusted and imprisoned. The burden of fighting the Shadowfane, the realm of the demons, falls on Taen Dreamweaver, a fisherman's daughter, and on an orphan boy named Jaric, who is actually Ivain's bastard son. They are in a race against time to master Vaere powers, because the Shadowfane are on the march, and Taen's brother has become a minion of the Shadowfane, known as Maelgrim Dark Dreamer. The race is full of action, splendid scenes of magic (including some terrifying dreams) and engaging secondary characters. It also has many well-handled seafaring scenes (Robin Hobb's Liveship Saga fans, take note) and an amiable, even tender romance subplot. Jaric and Taen are the eventual victors, but not without cost, nor without the possibility of future adventures among the stars and against the Gierj. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Action-packed...Wurts continues to be excellent at world-building and characterization." -- -- Booklist

"One of those do-not-put-down-until-finished books, of which there are all too few!" -- -- Andre Norton

"The world Janny Wurts writes about is wonderfully vivid." -- -- Stephen R. Donaldson

"The world Janny Wurts writes about is wonderfully vivid." -- Stephen R. Donaldson

"Action-packed...Wurts continues to be excellent at world-building and characterization." -- Booklist

"One of those do-not-put-down-until-finished books, of which there are all too few!" -- Andre Norton

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers; 1st edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061073555
• ISBN-13: 978-0061073557
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #680,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I value direct experience over virtual experience and research alone.
Most of the things I write about, I have done at one point in my life.
I find inspiration in the natural world, travel, insatiable curiosity, and in music.

I paint the covers and do all the interiors artwork and maps for my novels.

Experiences have included horse training and competitive riding, offshore sailing, Outward Bound, music gigs, and extensive amateur bagpiping competition, and a second career in oil painting and illustration.

One of my goals is to bring the vividness of these experiences to the readers on the pages of my stories.

For the past fifteen years, I've been happily married to Don Maitz, the artist of SF/Fantasy book cover and Captain Morgan Spiced rum fame.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant melding of Fantasy and Sci-fi, January 8, 2001

By 

Bryan Kilian (Kent, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Cycle of Fire: Stormwarden / Keeper of the Keys / Shadowfane (Paperback)

When I originally read this series, I found I couldn't put the books down. A couple of days, and much lack of sleep, later, I had found a new favourite fantasy author. The plot keeps moving, there are enough twists so that you keep guessing, while also providing enough foreshadowing so that you don't feel left out of the story. I have since reread the series a number of times, and I still enjoy it just as much as the first time. A lot of people consider it sacrilege to mix the sci-fi and fantasy genres, this is possibly because it is generally done in a pretty tacky way, but I felt that this series had exactly the right mix, none of this sword versus lasergun stuff, just a subtle merging of technology into a world that has forgotten it's previous glory. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who likes stories that don't follow the traditional way of doing things. If you like your fantasy completely Tolkienesque, and your Sci-Fi to be hard SF, then you probably won't like this book, but if you enjoy Sci-Fantasy, then this is the book for you.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read It, January 23, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Cycle of Fire: Stormwarden / Keeper of the Keys / Shadowfane (Paperback)

This book was wonderfuly vivid. it is a high action fantasy book.
a (Just cant put down)of witch there are all too few. she just pints a picture in your mind. as soon as you think you know whats going to happen she turns it 180 degrees. but it is just as good on the other side.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Introduction to Janny Wurts, July 13, 2000

By 

Natasha Abed - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cycle of Fire: Stormwarden / Keeper of the Keys / Shadowfane (Paperback)

The Cycle of Fire series was fantastic. I enjoyed the characterisation, their developments, their triumphs and defeats. If you have a problem with a blend of SF and fantasy, then you're missing out on a great series. Ms Wurts has the ability to draw you deeply into the storyline with evocative and descriptive writing. The tortured soul is something that JW does very well, and it makes for a great plot. Some resolutions are a bit too pat, but on the whole, this is an enjoyable series.