Grand Conspiracy: The Wars of Light and Shadow (Wars of Light & Shadow) [Hardcover]

Janny Wurts (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wars of Light & Shadow | Publication Date: December 16, 1999

The Mistwraith, The Fog that once smothered the skies of Athera, has been defeated, but that very defeat has loosed a curse of vengeance on the princes who captured it. Lysaer, Lord of Light, faces his bastard half-brother Arithon, the Master of Shadow. Lysaer's thirst for justice and fair rule has been consumed by his battle with Arithon; Arithon must invoke the dark arts of Shadow to defend himself, or see innocents die. The enmity of the two princes threatens the fates of nations and the very balance of the world's mystical powers, in a sweeping, breathless fantasy of the realms of magic.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Janny Wurts's justifiably skillful and lovingly composed Wars of Light and Shadow series joins the ranks of Robert Jordan's protracted Wheel of Time series, et al., as either--depending on which camp you hail from--the height of high fantasy or the deeply frustrating (yet persistent) problem with the genre.

All that said, Wurts has wooed many fans to her series with compelling characters, a tremendously complex (and painstakingly developed) web of plotlines, and distinctively lush and lyric storytelling. Grand Conspiracy represents part two of part three of a five-part epic--to her credit, Wurts broke the series' third story arc (Alliance of Light) into three parts only reluctantly. The action in this installment surrounds Arithon s'Ffalenn, the fugitive Master of Shadow and the victim of the title's grand conspiracy. Everyone's got it in for him these days, and even his beloved, Elaira, has been shanghaied by her Koriani cronies into playing a role in his betrayal--she must transform an innocent, Fionn Areth, into Arithon's double to draw him out. Grand Conspiracy delivers more of the same, perhaps lacking a bit of the action of previous installments; check out Curse of the Mistwraith if you're new to the series. --Paul Hughes

From Publishers Weekly

This hefty high fantasy is the fifth volume of the War of Light and Shadow, a saga that represents more than half the author's solo work. It may not immediately please the reader new to the story of the ruthless battle over the future of Athera--will Light prevail and suppress magic, to make the world safe for humans, or will the Shadow preserve magic and the nonhuman races? Even newcomers to the saga, however, will soon recognize fantasy writing of a high level. Both Lysaer of the Light and Arithon of the Shadow are able, charismatic, even heroic figures, but driven by their individual personalities and the demands of their causes to put aside much of their humanity. The focus in this volume is on the conspiracy of the title, in which the ruthless sorceresses of the Koriathain create a double to Arithon, a shepherd boy named Fion Areth, who is to lure the Master of Shadow into the women's trap. The desperate struggle of Arithon and the wizards who help him to rescue Fionn Areth, who believes all the vilest rumors about the cause of Shadow, makes a fine climax to the novel. Wurts is an accomplished builder of worlds, scenes and characters through well-chosen detail, with an ear for dialogue and an eye for realism--her shipboard scenes, the battling street mobs and the reluctantly taxed merchants are exemplary. Though not yet up to Tolkien or Jordan, Wurts is getting there, and fast. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (December 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061052191
• ISBN-13: 978-0061052194
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,134,140 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

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Taking stock: The Wars of Light and Shadow so far, June 11, 2000

By 

A. C. H. Bergh - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Grand Conspiracy: The Wars of Light and Shadow (Wars of Light & Shadow) (Hardcover)

Grand Conspiracy is the fifth volume in Janny Wurts's The Wars of Light and Shadow series. It is also the second volume in The Alliance of Light, which in turn is the third "story arc" in the series as a whole.

Confused? I don't blame you. What it boils down to is this. The entire series will consist (according to Wurts) of five so-called "arcs". The first is Curse of the Mistwraith. The second consists of The Ships of Merior and The Warhost of Vastmark. The third is called The Alliance of Light and kicks off with Fugitive Prince, now followed by Grand Conspiracy. There will be two more books to go in the "Alliance" arc, (tentatively?) called Peril's Gate and Stormed Fortress. After that, there are two more arcs to complete. Neither need be (according to Wurts) as long as "Alliance". Still, at a conservative estimate, I'd expect there to be at least five more books to come, and that puts Grand Conspiracy smack in the middle of the series.

A good place to take stock, then. Should you be reading this book or, indeed, the series?

Well, I'm ambivalent. Wurts is clearly an intelligent and knowledgeable writer, but...her style is long-winded and rather pretentious. Worse, it can be awkward, with lots of unnecessary adjectives and convoluted grammar bogging down the story's progression...If Wurts had stuck to her basic story line and kept things sharp and to the point, The Wars of Light and Shadow might have been very wonderful. As things stand now, though, the series is in danger of drowning in its own verbosity.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very nice, but let's get on with it, January 16, 2000

By 

Or Peles (Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grand Conspiracy: The Wars of Light and Shadow (Wars of Light & Shadow) (Hardcover)

Well, that was some read.

Mrs. Wurts fantasy novel have been a favorite of mine since I first encountered "Curse of the Mistwraith" and this book will not disappoint the fans of the series. Well... almost. Maybe it's the price of paper going down, maybe it's just a trend, but you get a feeling lately that fantasy authors who write series just let themselves go (Wheel of Time, for example). The whole series, and this book in particular, could use a serious tightening.

Because, all in all, while all of the old characters do all of the old things in this novel, nothing much happens. The whole book could be summed up in about 3 paragraphs. and it should have been.

So if you've got some time to kill, have fun. But I'd recommened speed reading it, and waiting for some more monumental things happening in future volumes.

Which I will no doubt buy.

have fun

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another in a magnificant series, May 24, 2000

By 

Gale Skipworth - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grand Conspiracy: The Wars of Light and Shadow (Wars of Light & Shadow) (Hardcover)

I have been suprised to see the number of non-positive reviews of this book. I received my copy and devoured it in a day. Janny's characterization and storytelling pulled me into the story like an old friend. For those who missed the relentless action of the first two novels, I would advise them to think again. If these stories contained only action, I would think the characters less appealing and believeable, since they would all have collapsed in complete mental breakdowns as a result of their frenetic life-styles. Yes, the 12 year jump fazed me, but I understood the reasoning behind it. Previously, time passed mostly in between books, so it was a bit jarring, but not unpleasant, since waiting for Kevor and Fionn to grow up would have taken forever! Trust that the author knows what they're doing. As for the "Why hasn't this ended in 5 volumes," she didn't say it would. She said there were 5 story arcs. And she did write to the fans to apologise for the necessary splitting of this arc into three. How many authors do that? She's not trying to spin us out for as much as we'll give, like some <Anne MCCaffery comes to mind..>. I'm just along for the ride..it's her story, and my distinct honor to watch it develop. ()