Product Description
After escaping from the slave-galleys of the bloodthirsty Murghai, Korendir, a man whose past is shrouded in mystery, sets off on a series of extraordinary quests: to battle the sorceress Anthei; to challenge the elemental Cyondide and win the lost hoard of the dragon Sharkash; to free the people of Northengard from the wereleopards that are decimating their population ... Always Korendir's goal is treasure: but never for its own sake. A driven man, Korendir determines to build a fortress at Whitestorm, impregnable against all comers, be they human or supernatural, to protect himself - its Master - from the dark secret of his ancestry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Good "one-man-against-the-world" book.
This stand alone book is mostly about one man who has had some big trouble in his life.Big enough that he is a galley slave doomed to a (short) life? of drudgery.He manages to escape with one other man and then he sets out to fulfill his dream of being "safe".Well, "safety" requires a lot of money, something which escaped slaves have a shortage of, so he goes into incredibly dangerous adventures one right after the other, so that he can raise the cash to build and outfit the "worlds strongest and safest" fortress.He succeeds, and along the way picks up a nice wife who assists him in his adventures.

Not counting the last chapter, I would rate this very well-written book a "9" if I could, but in Amazon's 5-star rating system, that make this good but less-than-perfect book a "4", but the ending, while well-done, doesn't end in the way, that I really enjoy for books to end, that is, with a "happy ending", so for me, that lowers this book to a 6-7 which equals 3-stars.Don't get me wrong the book has a good ending, just not a "happy" ending.

Wurts doing what she does best...
I love the characters that Wurts builds because they are always flawed.The obsession and drive that the main character feels are tangible and as you come to know his past it makes more and more sense.The story if exciting and has enough adventure to keep you interested.She deftly walks the line between spending too much time in trivial details and giving you a clear understanding of what Magic is.Great read and if you are a Wurts fan it's a must!

An excellent retelling
As mentioned by the other reviewers, Wurts has done an excellent job at telling a rich, character-driven, complex story in one book. Some other modern fantasy authors should take note of this!

The one thing that none of the other reviewers commented on was Wurts' phenomenal use of Beowulf as his source for this book. He has taken the heroic epic and woven it into a superb study of what drives a man like Beowulf to be the best.

Brilliant ,absolutely Brilliant!!!!
A Master of a tale.I was completely drawn into the story, being hauled head over heals from the first page.Frankly, this book is perfect.Mrs Wurts grabs the reader by the throat and squeezes.Korendir is an unforgetable character, his will and persistence appaudable.I read this book, over a 1000 pages, in one memorable sitting, I totally forgot about the outside world. Never, in all my years as an avid reader have I been so absorbed and fasinated about one book.I read it 3 times, it was so good.Expertly written, with almost touchable details and talk about character development!Janny Wurts, I believe, is the best Fantasy Adventure writer on God's green Earth and is still highly under-rated. In Lamens term, THE MASTER OF WHITESTORM is the BEST BOOK I'VE EVER READ!!NO EXZAGERATION.I hope more people disvover this magnificent writer.**********.... stars.

Move aside Terry Brooks, Janny Wurts is here! I plan to buy all of her books and read THE MASTER OF WHITESTORM AGAIN!

sincerely, Nian Blanchard

Brilliant ,absolutely Brilliant!!!!
A Master of a tale. I was completely drawn into the story, being hauled head over heals from the first page. Frankly, this book is perfect. Mrs Wurts grabs the reader by the throat and squeezes. Korendir is an unforgetable character, his will and persistence appaudable. I read this book, over a 1000 pages, in one memorable sitting, I totally forgot about the outside world. Never, in all my years as an avid reader have I been so absorbed and fasinated about ONE (thats right there is no volume 2)book. I read it 3 times, it was so good. Expertly written, with almost touchable details and man, talk about character development! Korendir will take his firm hold in your mind long after the book is finished. Janny Wurts, I believe, is one of the best Fantasy Adventure writer on God's green Earth and is still highly under-rated. In Laymans term, THE MASTER OF WHITESTORM is the BEST BOOK I'VE EVER READ!! NO EXZAGERATION. I hope more people disvover this magnificent writer. **********.... stars.

I plan to buy all of her books and read THE MASTER OF WHITESTORM AGAIN!

... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Competent fantasy illustration
This is a collection of Maitz's work from the late 70s through early 90s. The reasons for each commission vary - cards, book covers, promotions, etc.

There is a lot to enjoy here. Although Maitz has a certain style, the work and topics vary. There are sword and sorcery images, dragons etc., and some science fiction (The Cyteen covers are especially enjoyable.) All of the work meets high standards of workmanship. In the few cases I've checked, it's very well suited to the subject, too.

There are a few oddities, though. His female figures tend towards broad bands of pale eye makeup, a little raccoon-like, perhaps an artifact of the time the paintings were made. Many of the women, and some of the men as well, show a lot of white around the iris in their eyes, like a horse about to bolt. That look serves well in a few places, but becomes distracting.

It's a nice collection, and adds balance to a larger collection of fantasy art. I just can't that that any of the pieces are very memorable.

//wiredweird

Vividly colored realistically painted fantasy
This is the artist who painted the Captain Morgan Spiced Rum ads. Brilliant colors, beautifully done, and fantastic imagination.Inside cover are commendations from Anne McCaffrey, Ray Bradbury, C.J.Cherryh, whose books he has illustrated, also James Gurney, and Michael Whelen.

Great
A+ I loved the thrill and Fantasy of this book it is amazing! ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Janny Wurts, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 1754 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Customer Reviews (77)

Shogun II. This is an incredible series
In his Rift Wars novels, Feist included a world based on medival Japan, right out of Shogun.

In this series, we have a marvellous Shogun-like story of adventure and political intrigue, that's absolutely breath-taking.

If you liked the Original Shogun, then you'll find this series to be just as fascinating a read. That it's placed in a science-fantasy setting is but an insignificant detail. The authors could just as well have set this very same story in 17th century historical Japan!

Better Than I Expected!!
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. In the Riftwar Saga, the Tsurani sections are not among my favorites, so the thought of a whole trilogy set on Kelewan, making only brief mentions of Midkemia, did not overly excite me. But, I ended up really enjoying this book! Though Feist has strong female characters in the Riftwar Sagam they are not main characters by any stretch of the imagination, so this book with Mara, the Ruling Lady of Acoma, as its focal point was a great addition to the series as a whole!
The digital version that I read, unfortunately, was laden with typos. Since _A Darkness at Sethanon_ was pretty heavily rife with typos as well, I am curious over if the print version suffers from these errors as well. If so, I am very curious about the hiring standards of Bantam editors in the 1980s!
But not even the errors detracted from the excitement of a new book in the land of high politics, honour and warfare that Feist created in Kelewan. An interesting complimentary storyline, I am curious to see what heights Mara will achieve in the remaining two books of the trilogy.

Unbalanced
I have read and enjoyed Feist's novels ever since I was in high school.Though he borrows many elements from Tolkein's high fantasy approach, his Riftwar Saga remains one of my favorite fantasy series. That said, I am disappointed with this first installment of the so-called Kelewan trilogy.Though I do not claim to know for sure, I think that Feist had a minor role in the writing of this novel, for the style and subject is very different from any of the Feist books I have previously read. To be sure this story is exclusively set in Kelewan; the same Kelewan where Pug ends up in midway through Magician. Yet do not let the fact that the story is set in the world of the Tsuranuanni fool you, for there is very little fantasy and magic in this novel, indeed the fantasy elements are few and far between.When fantasy does appear it is presented in an awkward manner, such as the sudden introduction of the Cho-Ja or the deus ex machina role of the Great Ones in solving issues that the writers seem to be unable to resolve through the course of the plot.

Though I can enjoy a good novel regardless of the genre, the problem with Daughter of the Empire (DotE), is that once the original shock of false advertisement has subsided (about 250 pages in, I had figured out that this was not likely to be a fantasy novel) the rest of the story is not all that good. It is basically a survival/revenge story of a young girl in a male dominated society where she is seemingly hounded by enemies on all sides.Despite the fact that this seems like a good starting point, the truth is that Mara is not really all that harassed by her enemies, I mean over the course of 400 pages there may 3 or 4 real action sequences while the rest of the time is spend on describing her life and daily struggles in managing an estate or dealing with a boorish husband.All this told from a single perspective, since Mara is almost exclusively the only character viewpoint, makes for dull reading.

The premise behind the Tsuranuanni world is based on a medieval Japanese-like society, and I must admit that the attention to detail and thoroughness by which the customs and the Acoma estate are described closely matches the historical facts, but since I have already read Clavell's masterpiece Shogun, DotE does not impress as much as it should on this regard. To end on a good note, the story despite its tedious pace, has some very interesting characters, such as Arakasi, Tecuma of the Anasati and Teani, who add some much needed flavor to a mainly prototypical starring cast. All in all, I hope for a better continuation of this series, with hopefully more of an even collaboration between the two writers and theirs styles.

GREAT BOOK
This is probably one of my favorite series of books by the author. I was so wrapped up in the reading, which did pull emotions when read.

Stick out the challenge and be rewarded
I'll just review one aspect of this trilogy.I read Feist's four prior books, including Magician, and found myself strongly preferring the Europe-like Midkemian world over the Japan-like Kelewan world in which the Empire Trilogy is based.I wanted to read Feist's books in order that he wrote them, so I decided to next attempt to bear through the Empire books.

Boy am I glad I did.I now count the final book of the trilogy, Mistress of the Empire, one of my two all-time favorite fantasy novels.The Magician series, as much as I loved them, now seems almost amateurish by comparison.The Empire story is carefully crafted, the characters vary from two-dimensional to fully three-dimensional, and the end of the trilogy is exhilarating.

However, reading the trilogy was not always easy.I developed a love/hate relationship with the main character, Mara.There were times when I thought her a cruel monster and other times when I thought her a saint.There were at least two occasions where I got so angry with her, thinking her ugly, that I considered not bothering to finish the series.

But now I know that this is all by design.Mara is struggling with the culture she lives in.The first book, Daughter of the Empire, shows Mara as a person of that culture with some inclination to question it.The second book, Servant of the Empire, shows Mara coming to understand her culture and finding herself at odds with it.The final book, Mistress of the Empire, shows Mara in a final struggle with her culture, a struggle that starts out intensely personal but which later engulfs the entire Empire.

So don't you put those books down!Keep reading!Love Mara at times, hate her at times.It is as it should be.You won't experience the euphoria of the ending with out it; and because of it, you might just count Mistress of the Empire one of your all-time favorite books. ... Read more

Product Description
Winner of Foreward Magazine's Silver Book of the Year Award in the Science Fiction category

Finalist for the 2006 Prix Aurora Best Work in English Award

Fantastic Companions is an anthology of nineteen original short stories, chosen to illustrate the use of anthropomorphism in fantasy. Individual stories range from more traditional techniques, such as talking animals, to more unusual, such as the personification of constellations, ancient gods, and story itself. Aimed at both trade and educational markets, this diverse anthology is an amazing look at how writers deal with what makes us truly human, through the lens of imagination.

Customer Reviews (1)

Fun Story
I bought this book specifically because it has a story by Wen Spencer in it.The story is somewhat different from Spencer books I have read, but it is enchantingly funny and, to me, well worth buying the book to have. ... Read more