Kevin's Watch

I bought this book "Stormwarden" years ago. It was part of trilogy called the Cycle of Fire. It was pretty good. Really origianal story, about the Sormwarden, who is this old wizard that controlls the weather. Centuries in the past, the Firewarden owed him big time, as the Stormwarden vowed that he would be repaid, either by the Firewarden, or an offspring, no matter hong long it takes. In later years, the stormwarden retires, but an evil king on the other side of the earth Awoke a bunch of demons...and I'm not goin to tell the WHOLE story. I've never been able to find the 2nd and 3rd books unfortunatly.
Has anyone ever read, or even heard of these books?
The reason I bought it, was the nice reveiw it got from Stephen R Donalson.

Heard good things about the StormWarden at least, but the only things I've read by her are the Empire series, which were written in collaboration with Raymond E. Feist. Those at least are excellent.

--Avatar

I've read them; they're actually very good and with some great ideas. The only fault I could find is that the protagonist is a bit overly wracked with guilt (and this from a Donaldson fan!) .

I'm actually in the inverse position from you - I've got books 2 and 3 (Keeper of the Keys and Shadowfane) but I lost the first one at some point in my various house moves.

If you want a loan, PM me and we'll sort something out.

Have them all. Love them all.

read half of Curse of the Mistwraith - then gave up.

Awful - derivative and lacking any depth. I was quite surprised how bad it was after Steve Donaldson's positive comments - he's enetitled to his opinion of course, but this author's not in the same league.

read half of Curse of the Mistwraith - then gave up.

Awful - derivative and lacking any depth. I was quite surprised how bad it was after Steve Donaldson's positive comments - he's enetitled to his opinion of course, but this author's not in the same league.

Agreed, I read the The War of Light and Shadow series, and The Alliance of the Light (what was out, and both in same setting/story) and came away knowing this is the worst example of epic fantasy I have ever read. I won't say it lacked depth, I agree with the derivative. Wizards living in a tower, old, and of a ancient power, but cannot intervene directly (Sounds alot like Tolkien's Istari), but the major point is that it's utterly boring. I certainly don't mind long sprawling epics, nor do I mind little action, however Wurtz's porse left me nothing to be desired, it simply wasn't interesting on any level, and remains one of the top 10 worst novels/series of any genre I have ever read.

Aside from the 'Cycle Of Fire' series, I've read the Raymond Feist collaborations and 'To Ride Hell's Chasm'. They're all amongst the finest examples of modern fantasy writing.

Derivative? Nope. Not in the slightest. On the contrary: refreshingly original writing and concepts. And as for depth, you can practically drown in them. As usual, SRD was right on the mark!

I've only read the collaborations, as I said, and I found them to be fantasic.

For taste, there is no accounting.

--A

In regards to the collaborations, The Empire series I have heard nothing but good things (Feist must have pulled off a miracle), as Wurt's sol effortsThe War of Light and Shadow, and the Alliance of the Light story arcs were utterly dire on all levels IMHO.

I guess it's a bit futile discussing the merits of an author when we haven't read the same books. Perhaps she's just one of those really erratic writers.

Reave the Just wrote:read half of Curse of the Mistwraith - then gave up.

Awful - derivative and lacking any depth. I was quite surprised how bad it was after Steve Donaldson's positive comments - he's enetitled to his opinion of course, but this author's not in the same league.

I also tried reading Curse of the Mistwraith a couple of times and couldn't get past the first 50 or so pages. Boring and nothing there at all to grab me. The book jacket was intriguing enough, but the actual story fell flat.

The Empire trilogy with Raymond Feist is rather good, though.

Gart wrote:If you want a loan, PM me and we'll sort something out.

That wasn't supposed to be an indefinite loan...it's been 6 months Drew, you should've finished 'em by now. So could you stick them in the post back, please? Ta.

I picked up Stormwarden at random in a used book shop, primarily because I'd heard the name of Wurtz bandied about - the SRD recommendation was a bonus. I haven't read it yet.

Incidentally, by pure coincidence, the Alliance of Light series came very highly recommended to me recently.

Okay...two weeks and no books, despite promises of postage. I know they're good books but as I said they were a loan, not a gift.

I'd hate to have to think badly of a fellow Watcher, but I'm afraid that's the direction in which I'm going . So come on Drew, rescue my faith in my fellow man and SEND MY DARN BOOKS BACK!

Just to let you know Gart, Drew hasn't been around much lately, you can check out the MIA thread (where he dropped in to explain) for his reasons.

Hope this works out alright for you.

--A