Marie - you read this book at age 11?
(awed gasp)
Quite amazing.
I wish I could have you on hand when there's a whiner about "couldn't read this because the vocabulary SUCKED!" - grin.
I am going to remember this…(wicked grin),
Thanks for your really nice comment - these books were made for re-reading, and new things will be found, at any age.
Perhaps you are the youngest reader, ever? At least, about the youngest I've heard of. One, at twelve, held the record before you.
originally posted by Phome
Wow, Marie. Reading this book at age 11. That's truly amazing! Like you, I ran out of books in the library early on (it was a very small village). My mom had to seek special permission from the librarian to allow me to read the young adult section which, to my horror, had no pictures in the books at all. I quickly learned to create the characters in my own imagination. 
We moved around a lot when I was growing. The toughest part for me was learning new languages along the way (e.g. English is my 4th lingo) because it meant I could not indulge in books as easily - what was once easy and fun suddenly became hard work. So it was a while before I rediscovered my passion for reading, what with distractions of homework and later "real" work. When I did, I realized how it helped me relax and I rediscovered sci-fi and fantasy, where I feel most at home.
I got to know Janny's work through Feist like many others here. The Empire series immediately appealed to me in a way no other in the genre had. For one, because I spent much of my time growing up in east Asia and the series resonated with the culture that had become part of me.
At the time, I lived in Singapore and a small bookstore had a system of exchange in which you got some money back if you returned a book you finished. I didn't return any of the Empire books. Instead, I kept them to remind me of who this wonderful author was, and started seeking out other work by her.
I was not prepared. Reading Curse of the Mistwraith for the first time was a real shock. The writing was more complex than anything I had ever attempted, but the story drew me in with its depth of character development and plot, and so I didn't mind the "hard work" that came with it. Unlike Susan, however, I am not able to read Janny's work when life throws me a curve ball or two – they just take too much concentration .
I've been hooked ever since the first time I picked up Mistwraith, and have reread the books several times. I often come and read posts here just to keep in touch with the "Janny community". I'm not surprised there is a dedicated fan base for Janny's work - it's truly wonderful. Over time, I've come to appreciate that more and more, especially as I have worked my way through most authors in the genre by now and finding anything that compares is difficult.
Anyhow, just a bit of my story, since we're sharing.
originally posted by Marie
Ah, yes! Another bit of deviltry to use against those who say it's too tough to read. I'm glad to be of service, though I'm sure you can more than hold your own!
On a side note, let me say that reading that series at a young age shaped me more than I realized at the time (only upon later re-readings did I see where some of my ideals came from). The wastefulness of war, the NECESSITY of always looking at things from all prospectives, and that most things are constantly in the grey realm (along with a certain penchant for dark-haired, green-eyed musicians, of course ). These were echoed in later things I encountered, but I believe CotM was the foundation upon which it was built. Thank you, Janny–I wouldn't have it any other way!
Hi Phome - welcome here -
Bless you people, these are exactly the sorts of story I hope will get out there and entice new readers.
originally posted by Technetus
Janny: He did get a book signed (and if memory serves, he also had his entire collection of Don's cards individually (!) done as well). I wasn't at Swancon that year, but if I remember the signing (in his copy of FP) correctly, it read "To Wade, welcome back to Athera!"
Mention was also made of his trying out the bagpipes.
If you're remembering a skinny blonde guy about 6' tall with glasses, that's him.
originally posted by Beldarius
I've actually known about this series for a few years now. An admin at a forum I frequent is a fan - she told me about the books and got me interested.
English books are hard to find in Finland so when I went to London in 2008, I instantly bought "To Ride Hell's Chasm" from Borders. When I got back home, I noticed that a few Finnish online bookstores had the paperbacks of WoLaS for sale.
…Just a few days ago - aka three years later - I decided to check the online stores again. The books were still there. So I bought the four first books. :3 They'll be arriving next week~
originally posted by Sleo
You're in for a treat!
Beldarius - welcome here, glad to hear the books have found a nice home with you! Enjoy.
originally posted by Melanie Trumbull
My experience was: I just found the SERIES itself. This particular book, the first title in the WOLAS series, is another matter.
I knew of neither Janny Wurts nor mr. Feist, at all.
Between the discovery and the present day, several years have now passed. When I finally picked up one of the Feist books, it was after getting acquainted with solo Wurts. Have not read their collaborations at this point.
The public library was my starting point, as well.
However, the only book they had was Book no. 9.
I had never before taken notice of the series in general, nor of the first eight books in particular.
So I did, in fact, "just discover" Book no. 9, and after reading that one,
I was compelled to look up the previous books.
As my posts have disclosed on other threads,
Curse of the Mistwraith, when I finally got my hands on a copy, was hard going. I had a real visceral gut-level dislike of the book. I had to force myself to read it. The opening chapters were a big fat turn-off. They left a sour taste in my mouth.
Curse of the Mistwraith is essential, of course;
the books after it don't make sense without the information in Book 1.
Now I will have to scare up a copy (borrowed from other branches in the library network locally) in order to go back, in Curse of the Mistwraith, and read the later pages without staggering and grinding my teeth. Which means skipping those opening chapters.
originally posted by john herrmann
i found Curse of the Mistwraith on the bookshelf in publix in orlando a very long time ago.
originally posted by Clansman
Melanie, I am very curious as to why you found the opening chapters so difficult. What precisely caused the "big fat turnoff"? I have long wanted to know more about Dascen Elur (especially a map, Janny!) and the brief glimpse we had in Peril's Gate was not enough (in Kewar).
Please be descriptive. I love exploring perspectives opposite to my own (I was hooked from that longboat cleaving the blood-red waters)…
originally posted by Melanie Trumbull
Well, Clansman, since you ask.
Book 9, Initiate's Trial, begins from the perspective of a gifted individual magically incarcerated, whose amnesia robs him of his history and his context in the world. He has his three great gifts of music, magic, and compassion. With these he receives one tormented spirit after another, and dedicates himself to their healing. This until a perfect stranger intervenes, and causes him to be released by a power beyond his own.
From this context of healing and post-traumatic recovery,
I found myself in Book I, confronting a captive under durance vile who responds to questioning with outbursts like "Go force your sister."
The contrast was positively dissonant.
originally posted by Traithe Heir
Morning Melanie.
Strange book to have started with Initiate's Trial, considering that both it and CoTM start with the master as a captive. But yes, the differences in how he responds to both situations is very different.
Clansman, I agree with you. Janny could we please get to know more about Dascen Elur and Meath, also all the other worlds beyond the worldend gates (maybe a few shorts for those worlds). ;D
I could recommend, immediately, a visit to the FAQ section of the paravia website that has a lengthy in depth explanation of how the feud between s'Ffalenn and s'Ilessid began, it's not simplistic at all.
I do have a map of Dascen Elur underway; unfortunately a short story deadline stalled it in progress, all the technical pens dried up, and had to be cleaned. I'm afraid to re load them with fresh ink unless I can see my way clear to finish it, which isn't now…we are renovating the office (a process that was on 'hold' for decades until our deadlines lined up to provide an opening) and after that, financial reasons will demand I paint stuff to sell at DragonCon.
If things go sideways politically and the health care goes unaffordable next year, our only chance to stay covered is to pay a LOT MORE, which means: income has to go up, and dramatically, or we lose our coverage.
I do have some short works also on the boards, hopefully one of them will be finished soon, AND the new draft for Song of the Mysteries.
The current discussion is totally fascinating: yes, Arithon reacts completely differently in the situations presented. I do wonder if some readers miss the significant point unveiled by the High Mage's seer in the little subchapter: that Arithon is acting reprehensibly BECAUSE, precisely, he is trying to provoke his captors into killing him rather than endure what he knows is coming. His situation (as he saw it then) was cornered and hopeless, and unlike other times in other books, he had NO ONE else dependent on him/he saw his death as the way to avoid being the scape goat and suffering the wrath of the entire feud; and if he died, maybe Karthan's people would be spared, since there would be no s'Ffalenn left to take the blame. This scene ties directly to another in Peril's Gate where he actually finds out he did not fail; so many connections, not surprising they get overlooked. Curious, though, if that motivation IS noted, if it alters the reaction of a reader…what was the 'moral' high ground in a situation where there 'appeared' to be none.
originally posted by Melanie Trumbull
Introduction of Arithon in "Curse of the Mistwraith" is a piece of writing that is going to get attention. This character, more than his half-brother Lysaer, is going to end up being a pivot on which the entire saga can turn in any given direction. So it is a big deal to me to see how Arithon is introduced.
In the bigger picture, however, there is the fact that in "Curse of the Mistwraith" alone, Arithon goes through so much change. Lysaer also has much to endure, but what Lysaer goes through is not all that big a transformation. Arithon could be said, in "Curse of the Mistwraith," to live an entire lifetime right during that book, with so much happening to him, and with him struggling to respond and confront what is before him.
And having looked at it from that perspective, it is clear that I need to go back and re-read
"Curse of the Mistwraith," and soon.