Peril’s Gate
Third Book of The Alliance of Light
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- £7.99
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
Where there is light, there must always be shadow… The fourth volume in Janny Wurts’s spectacular epic fantasy, now re-released with a striking new cover design along with the rest of the series.
The curse that hangs over the Master of Shadow, Arithon, and Lord of Light, Lysaer, is drawing the two half-brothers ever closer towards direct conflict. For the Natural Balance to be maintained, the two must never fight. If they do, one is sure to perish and the Mistwraith will regain its evil power over their world.
Even now, Lysaer – convinced of his own godhead and aided by the treacherous Koriani Sisterhood – is tracking Arithon the Masterbard through the snows and wastes of the winter-locked mountains and the Barrens of Daon Ramon. Arithon is tortured by the knowledge that for the sake of future generations he must not be killed, no matter the cost of others’ lives now. Fighting valiantly to prevent unnecessary suffering, he strikes out on his own; but he is injured and failing fast.
Meanwhile, the ancient Paravians are stirring, summoned by trespassers on their sacred domain; and the Fellowship of Seven are battling on many other fronts, as the Mistwraith’s wards begin to break, and khadrim and free wraiths roam the land…
Reviews
Praise for the Wars of Light and Shadow:
‘Astonishingly original and compelling… A gifted creator of wonder’ Raymond E Feist
‘Janny Wurts builds beautiful castles in the air … where every detail is richly imagined and vividly rendered’ Diana Gabaldon
‘It ought to be illegal for one person to have so much talent’ Stephen Donaldson
About the author
Janny Wurts is the author of the Cycle of Fire series, co-author of the worldwide bestselling Empire series with Raymond E. Feist, and is currently working on the Wars of Light and Shadow series. She often paints her own covers and is also an expert horsewoman, sailor, musician and archer.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The latest installment in the Wars of Light and Shadow series, also the third movement of an inner story arc called the Alliance of Light, well represents the vast and tangled plot lines readers have come to expect from this prolific and popular author. In the first book in the series, Curse of the Mistwraith (1993), the half-brothers dark Arithon s'Ffalenn and blond Lysaer s'Ilessid were set against each other by the eponymous enemy, and now, 30-some years later, they're still going after each other. This book's action begins in mid-flight during a winter gale, with Arithon fleeing the walled city Jaelot, where he's been imprisoned. With him he drags the unwilling peasant Fionn Areth Caid'an, magically raised as his double to trap him. Soon they join forces with Dakar the Mad Prophet (whose prophecies have an erratic track record, though some have been important), assigned by the Fellowship of Sorcerers to defend our protagonist. Dakar has supplies and horses ready. Much geography is traversed with many turgid pages spent attempting to describe the indescribable effects of magic. Occasionally the focus moves to Lysaer, with his large retinue of soldiers and fanatic priests, who in private practice rituals as sorcerous as the techniques of which they accuse Arithon. While fans have compared this series to Robert Jordan's extended Wheel of Time series, newcomers may be put off by the stilted language ("The guard captain's baleful stillness held threat") and the mishmash of plot.
