Customer Reviews

To Ride Hell's Chasm

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

To Ride Hell's Chasm is a singleton fantasy novel. The Kingdom of Sessalie is a quiet highland realm that longs for an outlet to the sea. The King and Chancellors have arranged a marriage for Princess Anja with the High Prince of Devall to gain treaty access to their seaport and the two royals have fallen deeply in love. The High Prince has returned to Sessalie for the upcoming betrothal ceremony and the town has become a madhouse of wild and drunken celebration.

In this novel, Captain Mykkael and his Garrison troopers have had busy days and busier nights. Mykkael hasn't slept in twenty hours and barely has the energy to tend to his lame knee. His sword shows use and needs a good cleaning if he can find time. The rumors have been varied and fantastic, including a new one that Princess Anja has disappeared. Then he is summoned to appear before the King.

The rumor doesn't have the half of it. The princess has apparently fled on her own and is no longer anywhere in the castle, town or environs. The Seneshal is frantically worried that the betrothal will be rejected by the High Prince, but the prince seems only to be deeply concerned for the princess, urging all possible measures to find her. Commander Taskin of the Palace Guard has men searching all of the princess's old childhood hiding places within the castle, but soon has to agree with Mykkael that the princess is no longer there.

A sorcerer's mark has been found in the castle cellars, but Mykkael knows that it is false, having had experience with the real thing. In fact, Mykkael is almost the only man in Sessalie who knows anything about sorcery and demons, having fought against them on several occasions, and is one of the few survivors of the futile defense of Efandi before it was overwhelmed by sorcery.

Another sorcerer's mark is only too real, killing one of the few other men in the kingdom with the knowledge to defend against sorcery. Other deaths also seem to have been caused by sorcery, even though some of the nobles blame Mykkael and try to force his trial for these deaths. However, the King is well aware of the captain's history and charges him with responsibility for finding and protecting the princess.

This story is a study of a man with heavy responsibilities, horrific experiences, and sorrowful memories. It is also a tale of the love that can develop between a man and woman enduring exhausting and terrible tests of stamina and perseverance. Underlying it all is the threat of demons, bound sorcerers, and their minions.

Highly recommended for Wurts fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of loyalty, persistence, and competence in the midst of great trials.

-Arthur W. Jordin

To refresh herself after the emotional toll of sending Arithon through Kewar Tunnel in Peril's Gate, Janny Wurts has written this stand alone story of honour, integrity and redemption as Mykkael, the coloured mercenary charged with securing and protecting the safety of the Anja, crown princess of Sessalie, through the physical and metaphorical trial of Hell's Chasm.

The story is deceptively simple - on the day the High Prince of Devall arrives in Sessalie to formalize his betrothal to Anja, Anja disappears and sorcery is suspected. Her intended fiance and her brother both want her found, the King of Sessalie orders Mykkael to find her and protect her. Has she been abducted or has she run? Mykkael is an outsider in both colour and origin and suspicion quickly falls on him, the populace of Sessalie easily led to this conclusion.

With sorcery afoot in Sessalie, Mykkael is forced to re-live his previous failure to protect a princess from sorcerous pursuit. With Sessalie turned against him, Mykkael must master both the real demons in Sessalie and the demons from his past. This book is as much a study of a principled character of robust integrity set under immense pressure as any "simple" chase story.

The world of Sessalie pulsates with the hallmarks of Janny Wurts' writing - self-serving nobility, the seething masses of the general populace, the populace easily swayed by rumour and innuendo and a fear of foreigners.

As a standalone novel, this is a good read and well worth following the trials of Mykkael to the emotional ending. As a tempter for the writing style of Wurts for those who have yet to read the massive Wars of Light and Shadow series, this is an essential starting point for the magic that is the writing of Janny Wurts

When I opened To Ride Hell's Chasm, I was enthralled with characters that deepened with every page, unexpected emotion, and a wonderfully detailed plot. Each character is masterfully created, with an attention to detail that makes them leap from the page and into your mind. Even the animals within the plot take on personality and emotion as they become a focus point for both the action and the drama of the storyline. From a deceptively gentle start, the pace of the action increases until you are left breathless at the climax. The plot weaves a complex world into a wonderfully varied whole that adds to the richness of the reading. This book is an original, avoiding standard fantasy cliches which are so often encountered. It tells a human story that has echoes within our own world. It gets better with each reread.

In case you can't tell - I loved it!

I would heartily recommend this book to both die hard fantasy fans and those who have never picked up Lord Of The Rings. The elements of fantasy writing are there, in the form of demonic magic, but it is the believability of the characters and the strength of the plot line that elevates this book to a five star ranking.

The backdrop is a mountain kingdom under a subtle attack from a demon, an attack that very few of those embroiled in the court politics realise. The integrity of the main characters forces them into conflict for the stakes are too high to allow for any mistakes and the plotting of the demon's minions makes following orders a path of destruction.

Ms Wurts has once again transcended the normal fantasy stereotypes. This is no wannabe Tolkien battle between a small band of men and elves against a massive evil army. Instead this is two people, six horses and a ride down the ravine Hell's Chasm.

In this time of global strife when it has become necessary to lean even more upon the strength of the warrior, it is important to remember that the warrior has a code of ethics that can be demanding in its exactitude. This tale of two warriors and a princess effectively illustrates the questions that are often posed to the warrior in the execution of his duty.

To Ride Hell's Chasm deals with these questions from two disparate points of view: that of Mykael who is the Captain of the Lowergate garrison and that of Taskin, Commander of the Royal Guard. Taskin is bound by the rules of the upper city and the royal court and as such many of his actions are dictated, but he brings a powerful sense of fair-mindedness to the execution of his duties. Mykkael is an outlander mercenary who won his position and whose experiences as a mercenary bring a different perspective to how he runs the garrison.

When Princess Anja goes missing before her betrothal it becomes the job of these two men to determine what has become of her. Has she been kidnapped or has she run off. Taskin and Mykkael must work together to find her but find themselves at odds as to just what has happened to the princess to the point that Mykkael himself becomes a suspect. The ethics of two men come into play as time becomes short in their efforts to find Anja.

This story takes place over just five days and is fast paced. There is enough action and magic to satisfy those readers who like a quick story. However, the story still contains the level of intricate detail of character and plot that are the hallmark of a Janny Wurts novel and, as is the case with any of her stories, you will be left thinking about the events and decisions until you have to come back and read it again.

For a single-volume story, Wurts has managed to pack an awful lot of backstory and history into her characters and world. In fact, there's probably enough here to have warranted this being a trilogy. The concept of sorcery and demons, and the means to combat them as described in the book are many and intricate, and not what I would usually associate with a single-volume novel that was obviously a diversion between Wurts' continuing 'Wars of Light & Shadow' series. However, I did appreciate the fact that plenty of time was spent on honing these concepts, as they genuinely do not come across something that was slapped together over a weekend.

There are a few themes running through this novel, with the most glaringly obvious one being the question of race and the acceptance of people based on their talents and abilities rather than the colour of their skin or their upbringing. Unfortunately, it is a theme that is too often tackled in the fantasy genre, and while it may have relevance to today's society, it has been done to death before (though not, it is worth mentioning, necessarily better). Wurts does manage to give an otherwise tired theme something of a twist, in that her lead character, Mykkael, a desert-bred foreigner who has won the post of Captain of the Garrison through skill at arms, is very much a fish-out-of-water, unused to life stuck behind a desk and pandering to the whims of the high-born who live in comfort behind the Highgate. Even the palace guard, no more than commoners (though of better ancestry), have a better social standing than the desert-bred Lowergate Captain. Mykkael's methods and, more importantly, his interpretation of his oath to the crown are what truly separates him from the rest of the populace that he serves among. Wurts chooses to dwell on how Mykkael interprets is oath and obligations, and in doing so, highlights what is lacking when a person, or even a nation, grows complacent and over confident in its own cleverness and security (again, perhaps an issue that is relevant today?)

Even so, I for one do not read fantasy to engage in complex sociological or political issues. I read fantasy purely as a means of escape. Unfortunately, I can't say that `Hell's Chasm' kept me hooked from cover to cover. The first half truly did - I was constantly questioning Mykkael's motives and where his allegiance truly lay, which is a testament to Wurts being able to successfully bring out her theme, and I was also gripped trying to figure out who the traitor in their midst truly was. What also intrigued me in this first half was the relationship between Mykkael and Taskin, the Commander of the Guard, both of whom place a great deal of importance and emphasis on duty and the execution of their oaths, but who represent two very different types of warriors. Once we hit the half-way mark though, this relationship is all but abandoned, and Wurts becomes bogged down in describing the ins and outs of sorcery, the geometry of cold and hot spell lines, and how a sorcerer hosts a demon and creates and maintains minions to do their work. Suffice to say that it's all complicated enough to warrant an appendix at the end to help explain things.

At least 100 pages could have been cut from the novel, just to tighten things up a little more. If it was the first book in a trilogy, then a lot of those pages could have been moved over to the second volume. As it is, by the time I hit 500 pages, I found myself wishing the story would end. The ending itself was both appropriate and a let down (if such a thing is possible). A tribe of people who have really only been hinted at throughout the course of the book suddenly turn up and save the day in two pages (though this is by no means a deus ex machina-style ending), but our lead character Mykkael does get a very decent conclusion. He is worth slogging through almost 700 pages of fairly intense detail to understand what truly makes him tick.

If you've never read Wurts before, then perhaps this would be a decent starting point. It does give you a good indication of the author's style and you only have to read the one volume, which at times can be refreshing after the endless `epic' 20-volume sagas that are currently plaguing the fantasy genre. Worth a look.

To Ride Hell's Chasm is a wonderful book a real page turner and an up all night read. I read the book so fast and I normally take awhile to read a book this thick. Janny Wurts captured me in this book. I was so caught up in the story. The magic is spellbinding and as for action it's a thrill ride. The shapechanging demons are the most interesting I've read about in awhile. Characters are believable and you immediately sympathize with the hero from the first chapter. A great read and a must read for all fantasy readers.

To Ride Hell's Chasm is a wonderful hybrid of mystery, intrigue, sword & sorcery, and flat out action/adventure. The story follows the disappearance of the Princess Anja of Sessalie from her betrothal feast through the investigation of the disappearance by Mykkael, Captain of the Lowergate Garrison, and Taskin, Commander of the Guard and Mykkael's superior. Complicating things is court intrigue and prejudice against Mykkael, who is foreign to Sessalie and dark-skinned, and plots abound, along with the interference of sorcery bound demons. When the mystery is solved, the action begins, and the reader is left on the edge of their seat for about the last quarter of the book, which culminates in the flight down Hell's Chasm. Even during my second read, I just had to finish the story, and could not put the book down until 4 a.m!

For those who are a little too intimidated to try Janny Wurts' epic The Wars of Light and Shadow, this is an excellent introduction to her style without committing to an eleven volume epic (eight of which are completed). To Ride Hell's Chasm does not explore the heavy, deep themes that are replete in the multi-volume epic saga of the world of Athera. Instead, this book is just a quick and fun romp. There is an obvious and abject lesson that demonstrates that prejudice harms the judge more than it does the adjudged, but this is included more as a mechanism to advance the mystery and the intrigue, not as any kind of preachiness. This book really shows that Wurts is not a one-world writer, but a true artisan of the written word, who can create different worlds, different characters, and has the flexibility to leave her tried and true characters from other works behind. Though there are some similarities between Mykkael and the lead character in The Wars of Light and Shadow, Arithon Tier s'Ffalenn, they are superficial. Both characters are intelligent, and are marginalised, but the similarities really end there.

I love the main character, Mykkael. He is a man of great sorrow, who has suffered devastating loss. He has struggled through impossibility and survived, and literally has the scars to prove it. He is the battered and almost-broken hero, not the blonde-haired, blue eyed boy who saves the day. He is the living proof that any victory worth having comes at terrible, horrible cost. Taskin is also a great character, and one that I would have loved to have seen explored more, but then there is only so much an author can do in 659 pages. This is certainly a world that Wurts could write more stories in, and I hope that one day, she will grace us with that pleasure. Mykkael is, I hope, just too good a character for Ms. Wurts to leave alone.

Of particular note is the fact that Wurts is able to create this complete fantasy world (and quite distinct from Athera) without bogging down the reader in detail that slows the pace of the story. We are given just enough to give the story context, but the rest is plot, characters and dialogue. Wurts again provides amazing artwork and the best maps in fantasy literature.

This is a book that demonstrates the ability of an accomplished epic fantasy writer to make a story that is contained in one novel, and that starts fast and finishes faster. Of Janny Wurts' three stand-alone novels, I like this one the best, but to be fair, the first two, Sorcerer's Legacy and Master of Whitestorm, were written much earlier in her career. This book is also something of a tribute to horses, as Janny Wurts is an avid horsewoman.

Though it may not be a surprise I am giving this book five stars (my bias as a fan of this author is well-known on this site and elsewhere), this book has everything that a good one-shot fantasy novel should have: wonderful, vibrant characters, minimalist description (but enough to put the reader in the world), a great plot, mystery and intrigue, and an ending that gallops like the horses that figure so largely in the story. This book is just plain fun to read! -- This review was written by a Canadian reader by the name of Angus Bickerton

This book is a great read from beginning to end. The characters are people you like and admire. The magic is fun but the action and adventure really take the lead. Not all of the main characters are human and they are likeable too even if horses aren't your favorite critter! This is one story that should be checked out for a possible film. What an original it would be!! Read this story!! you will sit on the edge of your seat from the first page.

Janny has a way of sucking you into her stories. I thought that the rescue of the Princess was too drawn out, and the ending was way too short. I loved diving in and immersing myself into a different world. I struggled giving this a 3 or a 4 rating, but gave it a 3 because of too many chapters to do the rescue and thought more could have been given to the ending and resolution with the different characters.

What I like most about Janny's books is her character development. OK she lets her heros take a lot of abuse, but you get to know her characters, all of them. I bought this on my Kindle and have bought a few of Janny's books in paperback here at Amazon.