Book Review: The Curse of the Mistwraith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Detailed chapter summaries made by yours truly for a read-along on r/fantasy are available here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/qoqeln/curse_of_the_mistwraith_readalong_schedule_what/

Warning! This review contains spoilers!

Note: I have added a note that includes spoilers at the end of my original review, in answer to a request from a fellow GR reader/reviewer who asked me to address a few of his issues with this book.

My review - spoiler-free

Epic high fantasy at its highest and I absolutely adored it!!!

What is it about?

It is the story of 2 half-brothers, divided by the vicious throes of a blood feud – Lysaer, a prince raised as heir to a crown, and Arithon, brought up by mages. One bears the gift of the power of light and the other, command of darkness. Exiled to a world not their own, the pair must find common ground to defeat the Mistwraith that has banished the sun.
Yet there is more at stake than one battle with the Mistwraith – as the sorcerers of the Fellowship of Seven know well. For between them, the half-brothers hold the balance of the world, its harmony and its future, in their hands.
(from the back cover)


There are so many things I loved about this, starting with the prose.

I’ve seen many people complain about it being dense, but it is high fantasy and it is a huge series after all!
Just as in all other huge series, the first volume would have to contain a lot of info to pave the way for the story to come. And The Curse of the Mistwraith, especially the first half of it, is filled with little ‘small details’ that, according to the author, ‘had to be shown’ and even if ‘the reasons why are not (yet) apparent. They will be.’ So that makes it very dense, but amazingly, despite it all, every single word has its place and will at one time make sense.

'The Wars of Light and Shadow were fought during the third age of Athera, the most troubled and strife-filled era recorded in all of history. At that time Arithon, called Master of Shadow, battled the Lord of Light through five centuries of bloody and bitter conflict. If the canons of the religion founded during that period are reliable, the Lord of Light was divinity incarnate, and the Master of Shadow a servant of evil, spinner of dark powers. Temple archives attest with grandiloquent force to be the sole arbiters of truth
Yet contrary evidence supports a claim that the Master was unjustly aligned with evil. Fragments of manuscript survive which expose the entire religion of Light as fraud, and award Arithon the attributes of saint and mystic instead.'

Granted, this is not one of those books you can read before bedtime. It is not one you can skim or skip. It’s a subtle and complex story into which you have to invest your time and attention. But it is all worth it because this is one of those rare books that, once you finish, you will never forget!

Mrs. Wurts gives us layers upon layers of meaning and complexity, she gives us plot twists that come whenever you least expect them and most of all, she gives us food for thought by bringing in choices made smack down ‘on the line’ between right and wrong. And that is how we stop and wonder what is right and what is wrong? What is ethic or morally right!? What can we accept as truth or lies?!

Yes, the prose is dense, but it is also elegant and beautiful and I have to pay homage to the way Mrs. Wurts tells this story. She turns writing into an art! Let’s take a battle for example. The description is so good that you practically see the events unfolding. You can hear the arrows zipping past or the moans of the dying. You can practically see the horses falling over and pitching their riders to the ground. And don’t you think for even one minute that this author shies away from giving you blood and gore! Hell no! She gives it to the full! And when that time comes, because of the brilliant way she writes her story, you will be left numbed and shocked to the core! Not even Joe Abercrombie or Steven Erikson managed to do that for me.

And don’t think she gives you only drama also! Though she does make you tear up once in a while! You will feel like smiling, if not burst out laughing, not once, but many times. After all, she has The Mad Prophet, who is to this book what Kruppe is to Gardens Of The Moon. You cannot help but love him! Oh, and I shouldn’t forget the witches either! Their meddling with the mages will more often than not make you lips curl up in a smile. :)

So many things I got to love here! And one of the best is the music!

‘When the lyranthe was re-strung with the sorcerer’s spell tempered wire, the virtue of Elshian’s craftwork became apparent from the instant Arithon struck the first note for tuning. The scratched wood in his hands came alive with a tone that touched the farthest recesses of even that cavernous stone hall. Harmonics seemed to shiver and melt upon the air, and every conversation faltered to a hush. Speakers forgot their next words and listeners heard nothing beyond the dance of Arithon’s fingers and the languid gliding sweetness of the strings as he turned each peg to true the pitch. When his work was done and the first full chord rang out under his hands, he stopped breathing, bowed his head, then damped the magnificent sound to silence.’

And this is just the beginning!

As many reviews show, this book is not for everyone. If you like fast paced action and easy writing, you’ll most probably give up on this after just the first chapters. If, on the other hand, you like writing like that of Guy Gavriel Kay, Robin Hobb, Tad Williams, or Steven Erikson, you’re probably going to love this too!

But then, you will never know unless you give it a try!

Additional Note after re-read - CAUTION - spoilers ahead:

This is one of those series that will always seem better at a re-read! It is amazing how many little details one tends to miss the first time around and how much more sense things make the second time around! So many assumptions I made at first read ended up slapping me in the face showing me I didn't pay attention and got it all wrong! Truth be told, the slapping part came sooner, while reading the rest of the volumes at first read, but it was nicely hammered down during the re-read, when I already knew what I was looking for.

I've already mentioned above, why I found this book to be "brilliant", so I won't stress on it anymore. The only thing I'll add is the magic! Because I forgot to mention the magic in my review!!! And the magic is fabulous! The strands, the castings, the system, the sheer magnitude of it is, for lack of a better word, awe-inspiring!

Now to the issues I've been asked to address, all related to plot and characters.

1st - the Prophecies and the fact that they seem to provide "unavoidable edicts". No choice but to follow them; and their guidelines show how it will all go down!? It does seem so at first read and I admit even I had a tiny problem with that. I too made the assumption of "chessboard pieces moved according to the whim of fate, regardless of their preferences and choices." All because "it has been prophesised"! After reading the entire series up to date and doing a re-read of the first book, this is one of those assumptions that came back to kick me in the butt.

In the subchapter "Strands" in Chapter Set 9, where the sorcerers divine the strands of all possible futures determined by the conquest of Desh-thiere by the brothers, we do get to see that there are thousands of possible futures, not only the one foreseen by the prophecies. The prophecy itself doesn't determine what will happen! Events do not happen BECAUSE of the prophecy! On the contrary, the sorcerers try to shift the events in such a way that they will bring about their preferred future - the one in which the prophecy manifests. They manipulate, prod and push the princes and everyone else to achieve their desired outcome. But free will is always there! Especially that of Arithon, who is a wild card that may or may not play the game the Seven desire.

The Westgate Prophecy was supposed to deliver ONE prince to be the Mistwraith's bane, instead it gave us TWO! The Black Rose Prophecy is supposed to be fulfilled IF a certain set of events will take place. Most of them hanging on Arithon's choices. Whether he will choose to follow the path chosen by the Fellowship, or he will thread his own, that remains to be seen. Free will plays a major role in this series!

2nd - Why did the Fellowship take Lysaer to Etarra when they KNEW bloodshed will follow? Because taking Lysaer to Etarra was part of that future the Seven were trying to bring about. Besides, where else would they leave him while taking Arithon to Etarra? They were shorthanded as it was.

3rd - What were the sorcerers doing when the shoe dropped in Etarra? Why weren't they able to come in between the brothers and prevent disaster?
Traithe was in the council hall of Etarra, trying to keep the nobles on a leash.
Sethvir was in the armoury trying to keep the Etarrans from arming themselves.
Kharadmon was diverting rain from Etarra and sending the storm to the north coast of Fallowmere, ensuring fair weather for Arithon’s coronation.
Asandir and Luhaine were both in the square but couldn't interfere. Asandir was too far and Luhaine couldn't get Arithon away while he was being held down by angry townspeople.

4th - "Lysaer is cursed and doesn't know it ... he goes around being cursed for months and doesn't notice?"
WRONG! Lysaer is possessed and doesn't know it! And the sorcerers didn't know it either because the wraith possessing Lysaer was hiding in a place where the Fellowship would have never thought to look - the inborn gift of justice of the s'Illessid line. And the wraith does take months to slowly take possession of Lysaer. Bit by bit and with extreme subtlety, it sets it's hooks into place and only then takes over, suddently striking, when the trap is all set.

5th - Last but perhaps the most important point: the mopping. Specifically Arithon's "devastation" because he has to choose rulership instead of music!
I admit, I personally wanted to dump Arithon head first into a lake to make him quit it and man up because ruling a country is not the end of the world for crying out loud! That was at first read and before I reached the end of this book. Before I realised what Arithon's inner make-up truly meant! Yet another thing that came back to kick my butt! Because I didn't pay attention to Sethvir's remark:
“Our Teir’s’Ffalenn has the sensitivity imbued in his forefather’s line, but none of the protections. His maternal inheritance of farsightedness lets him take no step without guilt, for he sees the consequences of his every act, and equally keenly feels them.”

Arithon FEELS the pain he causes to every living soul. He will FEEL the pain of the wounded and dying. He will experience the last thoughts of those he kills, or of those whose death he indirectly causes! He will feel the misery and suffering caused by a ruler's decisions! Good people or bad people, all the same - Arithon will feel all their pain as his own! Now, if we sit and mull over it, what normal person would be eager and happy to embrace a ruler's mantle in Arithon's place!? I know I wouldn't! Hell! I'd run from it as if the hellhounds were on my heels!
So no, I don't blame the poor man anymore for being reluctant to accept that burden! But it took me 16 chapters to come to that conclusion.

All questions now answered, I'd like to specify again that the above explanations are given according to my own understanding, at the request of another GR reader/reviewer. I hope they are useful and help clear up some of the doubts because this series is one that's truly worth reading!

Happy reading! :)

You can grab a copy of the book here