The Cycle of Fire, by Janny Wurtz
The Cycle of Fire is a collection of three novels in a trilogy, comprising Stormwarden, Keeper of the Keys, and Shadowfane.
The series is billed as high fantasy, and I don't generally enjoy high fantasy, so take the following with a grain of salt. The writing it typical high fantasy...characters talk about destiny, everything moves according to some inexorable plan, the fate of the world hangs in the balance, etc. It isn't so much the plot that I don't like in most high fantasy novels, but the writing style.
That said, I did manage to make it through Stormwarden, skimmed through most of Keeper of the Keys, and just skipped right to the end of Shadowfane to see what happened.
The basic story revolves around Jaric, a scrawny scribe who is, unknown to everyone, secretly the son of the feared Firelord, a sorcerer whose powers stem from mastery of fire. The old Firelord has been dead for some time, and as his heir, Jaric is bound by the terms of a geas laid upon the Firelord by the Stormwarden. When the geas is activated, because the Stormwarden gets himself into trouble only a Firelord can solve. Since the old Firelord is dead, Jaric is compelled to take up the mantle of Firelord. Of course, he doesn't want to, so most of the first two books are his struggle to overcome the geas in some other way.
The story is written in high fantasy style, with high fantasy trappings (demons, sorcerers, pirate kings, etc), but is ultimately a science fiction plot. The SF nature of the plot doesn't show up until the middle of the first novel, so if you're not expecting it, it can be a bit of a shock.
The combination of high fantasy style with SF plot really turned me off to the novels, even more than the high fantasy style alone. If you enjoy a high fantasy style of writing, and don't mind the SF elements creeping in, then you might have a different reaction to the novels.
The series is billed as high fantasy, and I don't generally enjoy high fantasy, so take the following with a grain of salt. The writing it typical high fantasy...characters talk about destiny, everything moves according to some inexorable plan, the fate of the world hangs in the balance, etc. It isn't so much the plot that I don't like in most high fantasy novels, but the writing style.
That said, I did manage to make it through Stormwarden, skimmed through most of Keeper of the Keys, and just skipped right to the end of Shadowfane to see what happened.
The basic story revolves around Jaric, a scrawny scribe who is, unknown to everyone, secretly the son of the feared Firelord, a sorcerer whose powers stem from mastery of fire. The old Firelord has been dead for some time, and as his heir, Jaric is bound by the terms of a geas laid upon the Firelord by the Stormwarden. When the geas is activated, because the Stormwarden gets himself into trouble only a Firelord can solve. Since the old Firelord is dead, Jaric is compelled to take up the mantle of Firelord. Of course, he doesn't want to, so most of the first two books are his struggle to overcome the geas in some other way.
The story is written in high fantasy style, with high fantasy trappings (demons, sorcerers, pirate kings, etc), but is ultimately a science fiction plot. The SF nature of the plot doesn't show up until the middle of the first novel, so if you're not expecting it, it can be a bit of a shock.
The combination of high fantasy style with SF plot really turned me off to the novels, even more than the high fantasy style alone. If you enjoy a high fantasy style of writing, and don't mind the SF elements creeping in, then you might have a different reaction to the novels.
posted by Jay | 5:35 AM
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