[.ca] Peril's Gate (ISBN 0061052205)

I LOVE this book:
I think this is a wonderful book, though you have to be a good reader to really apreciate it. The way it's written makes it a little difficult to understand, but if you have patience, the descripitions can mean a lot.It really is a good book. You shouldn't be discouraged from reading it by anything. It has a deep plot that makes you think. Arithon is not the kind of hero who can shrug off killing. He is only human. I think the whole series is wonderful.The books make you think, and yet it is a good fantasy novel with sword fights and arcane powers. I can't wait to read the next book!

Fantastic:
I'm always a little bit amused when good books get bad reviews. I say to myself, they only show the quality of their bad taste. But when Astounding books get negative review, with malicious doses of spitefull comment, it's simply sad. This ia a Superlative series. Each book is more engrossing than the one before. Even if you didn't like it, it deserves at least 4 stars. 3 stars if you absolutely hate the author style. Anything less is ungracious. So obvious is the amount of work, the intricacy of details, and the beauty of the language in the series. I most definitely recommend it. The only series that can rival it right now is The malazan book of the fallen by Erickson. Check it out.

Epic in Scope, Ponderous in Execution:
Buried in this massive volume is an outstanding story with engaging characters shackled by painfully executed prose. In many ways Ms. Wurt's descriptions of magic remind me of the metaphysical diarrheic prose David Brin can sink in to as read in "Earth" and "Kiln People". After so many paragraphs of "elevated harmonics" "polarities" and "magnetics" you start to wonder if you are reading epic fantasy or a "Star Trek" novel and ultimately it all translates into "blah blah blah." But you keep reading, skimming most of the magic babble much like skimming the parts of "Moby Dick" that relate to the technical aspects of whaling. You keep going because there is a rousing good yarn in there and you are determined to liberate it from the pages no matter the cost. The characters are great, if a bit over-wrought and self-tortured. Even manly-men in this series practically break down in tears when they have to kill someone or are faced with the unknown mysteries of ancient magic. After a while it starts to wear thin. Finally, the reader does not learn the meaning of "Peril's Gate" until almost the very end of the novel and while the rite of passage our protagonist wades through is epic, brutal and appropriate, it takes far too many pages most of which rehash things we already know. In the end this novel has wonderful characters, convincing emotion and moments of brilliance separated by gulfs of ponderous magical prose. I will buy the next volume but not in hard cover.

Enough, already:
Janny Wurts can really write. And overwrite. Not to mention italicizeanditalicizeanditalicize yet again. I've read all of her books, and enjoyed this one least of all. 200 pages less, and Peril's Gate would be a fine book. Mayhap she's lost the ending?

Enjoying the journey - can't wait for the next book.:
A fantastic read. Get the whole series. 30 years of a possible 500-year storyline have passed by the end of this book. The main character, Arithon has found refuge from the curse of the Mistwraith and is about to embark on several months of contemplation and study with Davien the Betrayer as a company. Arithon has mastered his conscience and accepted himself, and this will have a huge impact on the way he will do things in future books. The message of this book is clear: when we face ourselves, come accept ourselves completely, good and bad, then we can move on. When we change in ourselves, this will start to be reflected in the world around us. Ms. Wurts never shirks from her chosen path of challenging the reader on all levels. From the unfamiliar words set in beautiful Austen-like prose, to the impact that emotion, or a sweep of beautiful scenery should have on our senses, but doesn't because of our jaded modernity, she doesn't hold back one iota. She challenges assumption, never letting us settle for any kind of answer, only further and deeper insight and understanding. The result is a rich tapestry of character, detailed physical settings; taut, unabashed emotion; thought-provoking twists of plot and character development; woven through with ideals of love, and full of contrasts like truth and lies, love and lust, true vocation and ambition. My favourite aspect of Wurt's writing in this series is her version of Magic. She blends scientific and esoteric principals to lend a sense of massive cosmic force and adds variety to this vision by including elements of individual spiritual progress, training and personality quirks. I particularly like the notion that all things, animate and inanimate have a consciousness and that in order to use even the tiniest stone; the magic user has to ask permission. The sacredness of nature is celebrated and at the same time is under attack by the greed of the townborn - and as the reader, I am as anxious about that issue, as I am for the Paravians to return, for Elaira and Arithon to unite, for the Mistwraith to be beaten, the Fellowship to be together and the Royal families to return and restore the Clanborn to freedom etc... It's not a series for the faint-hearted, complacent or jaded. Be prepared to live it as you read it.