A review by chicagodave
Destiny's Conflict by Janny Wurts
4.0
November/2018
So I needed to read Destiny’s Conflict a second time...slowly and thoughtfully. One of the notorious aspects of Janny’s writing is that she’s excruciatingly precise with words and foreshadowing. I’ve read Wars of Light and Shadow about five times now, though only twice for the last two volumes. I’ve recognized important aspects every time through.
In Destiny’s Conflict, Janny is setting up the final volume, so the stakes are high for her and for those of us that have been reading this series for twenty plus years.
Arithon is still on the run from the Korithain and Seledie Prime has another long play to bring him down. Lysaer is dead set on avoiding the consequences of The Curse, and the Seven are handcuffed from helping Arithon by a past agreement literally set in stone.
The beauty in this series and in this book is how all of our main characters act: bravely, beautifully, and within their true character.
Meanwhile, the True Sect and its military enforcer, The Hatchet, begins a new campaign of murder upon the clans.
There are some loose threads in the book that I’m still struggling to explain, but I’ll save those for discussions on Paravia.com.
In the end, my second read was as it should be. Another beautiful, tragic, exciting, and revealing look into the history of Athera and the experiment at bringing humanity closer to its potential.
Eleven volumes (ten so far) is a lot to read, but if you love deeply detailed world-building, beautiful prose, lovable characters, and precise tempo...then this is the series you must read.
October/2017
My initial rating is not my final rating. I need to review portions of the book and re-read whole sections, and probably also talk about it with other readers. This is the crux of Janny's work. Sometimes it's so complex that you simply miss things. This has happened in the past with other volumes in Wars of Light and Shadow.
I also read it very fast, into late hours, half asleep. I should get the hardcover this week and I will re-read it slowly and properly.
So I needed to read Destiny’s Conflict a second time...slowly and thoughtfully. One of the notorious aspects of Janny’s writing is that she’s excruciatingly precise with words and foreshadowing. I’ve read Wars of Light and Shadow about five times now, though only twice for the last two volumes. I’ve recognized important aspects every time through.
In Destiny’s Conflict, Janny is setting up the final volume, so the stakes are high for her and for those of us that have been reading this series for twenty plus years.
Arithon is still on the run from the Korithain and Seledie Prime has another long play to bring him down. Lysaer is dead set on avoiding the consequences of The Curse, and the Seven are handcuffed from helping Arithon by a past agreement literally set in stone.
The beauty in this series and in this book is how all of our main characters act: bravely, beautifully, and within their true character.
Meanwhile, the True Sect and its military enforcer, The Hatchet, begins a new campaign of murder upon the clans.
There are some loose threads in the book that I’m still struggling to explain, but I’ll save those for discussions on Paravia.com.
In the end, my second read was as it should be. Another beautiful, tragic, exciting, and revealing look into the history of Athera and the experiment at bringing humanity closer to its potential.
Eleven volumes (ten so far) is a lot to read, but if you love deeply detailed world-building, beautiful prose, lovable characters, and precise tempo...then this is the series you must read.
October/2017
My initial rating is not my final rating. I need to review portions of the book and re-read whole sections, and probably also talk about it with other readers. This is the crux of Janny's work. Sometimes it's so complex that you simply miss things. This has happened in the past with other volumes in Wars of Light and Shadow.
I also read it very fast, into late hours, half asleep. I should get the hardcover this week and I will re-read it slowly and properly.