The Curse of the Mistwraith: Book 1 (The Wars of Light and Shadow) Paperback – 22 August 1994

Great start to an amazing series. When I read it for the first time I would have rated it 4 stars. However after a reread I feel it deserves 5 🌟.

Awesome first book in the 11 part series

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 truthYet 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!