To Ride Hell's Chasm

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Summary: To Ride Hell's Chasm
Review:
Longtime and new fans alike will not be disappointed in Janny Wurts' newest novel of magic and intrigue. To Ride Hell's Chasm starts off innocently enough with the disappearance of Sessalie's independent and feisty princess on her wedding day. (Well I guess innocent is relevant, teehee) It soon turns into a headlong race to save not just the Princess and her tiny kingdom but the entire world.

King Isendon sets the task of recovering his missing daughter to two men: Commander Taskin, commander of the royal guard and Mykkael, former mercenary and captain of the Lowergate Garrison. As different as night and day, these two men must find a common ground or else they shall find the evil which they think they fight is by far less dangerous than the more ancient evil which hides in the shadows.

I received an interesting challenge which was to try and guess the ending, and I must say although in some respects I had some guesses which were close I failed. I totally expected to be left hanging with a long wait for a sequel and I was pleasantly surprised to find the tale complete with the possibility of a return to the most interesting new world created within the mind of one of fantasy's most talented authors.

A quick flowing tale with plenty of twists and turns.

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Summary: Ms. Wurts is the true peak of Fantasy envisaged by Tolkien
Review: 'To Ride Hell's Chasm' is a unique gem of a novel - Reading it is a vivid experience that challenges, entertains and enriches and I find it very hard to put the book down each time I read it.
Ms. Wurt's characterisation is phenomenal. She draws us into a deep relationship with each of her characters, and captures their spirit, will and intent in a beautiful, crisp, multi-layered prose comparable to Austen.
Her research and attention to detail gives her settings a believable, grounded reality. Her plots twist and turn without pause, driving her characters to make constant difficult, ethical choices that push the reader to constantly rethink assumptions.
Woven throughout the story is her unique vision of magic - no-one renders it into writing quite like Ms. Wurts does and with such depth, subtlety and spiritual richness- one could almost imagine it possible.
I heartily agree with the comment: "Wurts is a true Bard."
Get all her books! They are richly, vividly imaginative and captivating, and very intelligently written.

Rating:
Summary: Ultimately a quest
Review: I had high hopes for this novel. Hopes that it would leave off the epic fantasy/quest trail and break new ground in the genre. But, alas, it was not to be.
The story starts well enough with the disappearance of a princess. Two men, both guard commanders, are charged to find her: one a stalwart of an ancient noble line and the other a foreigner. At first the two men seem well matched: they're both skilled swordsmen and extremely competent at their duties. Both men are feared and admired by their subordinates.
Then, the true reason for the princess' disappearance is revealed. And it becomes a quest. And one of the guard commanders turns out to be, in true to fantasy form, "THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE"; a hero in realms throughout the world, a doer of great deeds, and yet somehow his name is not known in this sleepy backwater kingdom. I couldn't understand that given how much praise is heaped on his courage, ability, and accomplishments later on. This man should have had minstrels singing the praises of his adventures all over the world. There were a few other issues that bothered me but that would be giving away too much of the plot. Suffice to say, that the ending seems contrived and rushed.

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Summary: An Apology from the Author??
Review: I have read virtually everything written by Ms. Wurts, and as I finished ?To Ride Hell?s Chasm? (which I want to say from the start is a very good book), it suddenly struck me what this book actually is: an apology to her readers for the morass that ?The Wars of Light and Shadow? has become. TWOLAS has, beyond argument, bogged down to the point where there is no longer any need to read each book, because they no longer advance the overall storyline. I?m not saying that they are bad books; Ms. Wurts is a fine writer working with well-written characters in a nicely-developed fantasy world. But the series has developed into the literary equivalent of the old ?Incredible Hulk? TV series. Remember how David Banner was traveling the country, trying to find a way to cure his Hulk-problem, while being pursued by the Army (if I remember correctly). Each week he would wander into a small town, find someone in need of help, help them by ultimately turning into the Hulk, and then have to leave town because of his transformation. Each show was enjoyable, but usually advanced the overall story arc not one iota, and each week it didn?t really matter what had happened the previous week. TWOLAS has become very like that series; each book is enjoyable in and of itself, but tells basically a self-contained story with little overall impact on the series? story arc. If you skip a book, it really won?t matter much (although you?ll miss a good read).

TRHC is Wurts? apology for TWOLAS and her attempt to show what that series could have been had stricter editors limited it to 3 or 4 books. Take a close look at TRHC, and you will see that it is a simplified version of TWOLAS. It even has a ?dark? hero, suspected of black magic by the common folk, but in reality a lonely force for good. The relationship between Mykkael and Taskin mirrors (in a more likeable and sympathetic way) the relationship between Arithon and Lysaer in TWOLAS. The Fellowship Sorcerers are represented ?off screen? as the various viziers who Mykkael has known and worked with. The vague (and again largely off screen) threat of the demons is the Mistwaith. Both Mykkael and Arithon also spend large amounts of their time wandering the wilderness. Wurts even does a better job of reining in her tendency to overblown prose that has plagued TWOLAS (although as some reviewers have noted, it still pops up in TRHC).

I don?t want to give the wrong impression: I liked this book quite a bit, and I still enjoy and recommend TWOLAS. However, as readers have been telling Robert Jordan for the past 5 books of his overlong series, it is time to wrap of TWOLAS and move on to something else. TRHC shows that Wurts knows how to write a compelling ?short? story, and brings hope for the future of TWOLAS.

One star off because (as another reviewer noted), the ending was far too rushed compared to the pace of the rest of the book).

Rating:
Summary: Superb fantasy with fully rounded characters
Review: I would heartily recommend this book to both die hard fantasy fans and those who have never picked up Lord Of The Rings. The elements of fantasy writing are there, in the form of demonic magic, but it is the believability of the characters and the strength of the plot line that elevates this book to a five star ranking.

The backdrop is a mountain kingdom under a subtle attack from a demon, an attack that very few of those embroiled in the court politics realise. The integrity of the main characters forces them into conflict for the stakes are too high to allow for any mistakes and the plotting of the demon's minions makes following orders a path of destruction.

Ms Wurts has once again transcended the normal fantasy stereotypes. This is no wannabe Tolkien battle between a small band of men and elves against a massive evil army. Instead this is two people, six horses and a ride down the ravine Hell's Chasm.

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Summary: A Tale for Our Time
Review: In this time of global strife when it has become necessary to lean even more upon the strength of the warrior, it is important to remember that the warrior has a code of ethics that can be demanding in its exactitude. This tale of two warriors and a princess effectively illustrates the questions that are often posed to the warrior in the execution of his duty.

To Ride Hell's Chasm deals with these questions from two disparate points of view: that of Mykael who is the Captain of the Lowergate garrison and that of Taskin, Commander of the Royal Guard. Taskin is bound by the rules of the upper city and the royal court and as such many of his actions are dictated, but he brings a powerful sense of fair-mindedness to the execution of his duties. Mykkael is an outlander mercenary who won his position and whose experiences as a mercenary bring a different perspective to how he runs the garrison.

When Princess Anja goes missing before her betrothal it becomes the job of these two men to determine what has become of her. Has she been kidnapped or has she run off. Taskin and Mykkael must work together to find her but find themselves at odds as to just what has happened to the princess to the point that Mykkael himself becomes a suspect. The ethics of two men come into play as time becomes short in their efforts to find Anja.

This story takes place over just five days and is fast paced. There is enough action and magic to satisfy those readers who like a quick story. However, the story still contains the level of intricate detail of character and plot that are the hallmark of a Janny Wurts novel and, as is the case with any of her stories, you will be left thinking about the events and decisions until you have to come back and read it again.

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Summary: Interesting read but I hated it
Review: Love Janny Wurts and Curse of the Mist Wraith series.

Loved this book up till the middle of the book, peeked at the end, never finished it.

Go back to wriing about Arithon, stilted phrases of that I can deal with.


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Summary: Say What?
Review: Okay, of course I'm probably going to get like 40 no helpfuls for this, but what the heck?

Are you people insane? This was about the most unrealistic novel I have ever read. Granted it is fantasy, but hey, that's all I read. What is the point of a great fantasy if you can't fall into the unrealistic? This novel leaves me no opening. The characters are unloveable, unrelatable, unwanted. The narrator's voice, as well as the dialogue, was stilted and highhanded regardless of their status in society. I think the author was trying to be proseful (but prose has everything to do with flow and little to do with 10 syllable words).

What was with all the horses? I mean here is this princess that goes all blubbery over a horse, but doesn't blink an eye for her brother or fiance'? How realistic is that? And don't give me it was a breakdown. What? She breaks down for EVERY horse, but never for her supposed love ones?

And by God, what kind of ending was that? It was so beyond far fetched and against the description of the characters she gave that I almost trashed the novel, then I realized it belonged to the library and thanked my lucky stars that I didn't actually spend money on this rubbish.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling story
Review: The author is adept at creating incredible worlds of fantasy. She creates characters that are real and vivid. The plots are excellent, convoluted and compelling.

This book's hero is exactly like Prince Arithon in her other books, most recently Peril's Gate, and the Princess Anja of Sessalie is almost identical to Arithon's girlfriend,such that I found myself confusing the characters at times.
The following objective comments detail a few problems that I have with this book:

1. Unrealistic, overblown prose. All the characters dialog is in a backward type of stilted high style language. This is true of the hero, the princess, the pig farmer turned soldier, the king, courtiers, drunken trappers and shamans of desert tribes of other lands.
2. Metaphors such as this on p. 198 "smooth as butter left on a plate, the seneschal found himself cooling his heels on the carpet in the front hall". Say What?
3. The use of past tense verbs in front of adjectives or nouns that overstate and/or stall ongoing action, impact and meaning. Ex: p.510 "..He's still acting on Mykkael's left orders?" Is this vs right orders?
4. Through the entire book the term "desert-bred" is used on nearly every page to describe Mykkael.
5. The hero, like Prince Arithon is weepy, tormented, abused, hated and reviled.
6. The story's tone is negative in extremis. Speaking only for myself, it presents a bit of a trial to read. The ending was the only ray of light for the salvation of Mykkael.

What is excellent is the high magic of the shamans and the mystical elements that this author weaves throughout her stories. Overall the book is very engaging despite the excessively ornate, stilted prose. The beautifully spirited horses in the story were the champions. I felt them most
deeply of all.

Rating:
Summary: great story, difficult language
Review: This action packed story uses several unusual premises to move the story forward. The otherworldly demon moving through space, devouring world populations as it goes was a nice touch. The princess hides out with 6 highly trained horses and they are used imaginatively many times during her journey to seek aid for her people. Without the horses, I might not have finished the book. Mykkael the paragon of virtue and strength began to wear on me by the end of the story. I was relieved to see something good happen for him at last. The strangely formal language was heavily burdened with useless adjectives , many of them used again and again(if I ever see the words "desert bred" in print again, I may burn the book). In spite of my problems with the writing style, I enjoyed the book immensely and will probably keep an eye out for more by this author.