Unfortunately, as with many of my favorite authors, it appears that Janny Wurts has fallen prey to the lure and curse of an extended series. The series that was well-written and interesting has become boring and grueling to get through. I really enjoyed the writing and premise in the first few books, but as it gets longer and longer what was once fresh has become worn and overdone. Our hero has everything brutally ripped from him in every book, yet goes on and makes a miraculous escape each time - over and over and over. And how many Koriani plots have to fail before they just give up???  This particular book suffered from a severe overdose of description as we hear multiple times about the beauty of Ath's creation in excruciating detail, blah blah blah. I don't disagree with the philosophy, the problem is the repitition. Although I've read Traitor's Knot, I still hope that the NEXT book will mercifully kill the series before it has lost all redeeming qualities.

I would love to go to the store and pick up a single-volume fantasy novel. Book series seem not to know when to stop anymore.
Unfortunately, as with many of my favorite authors, it appears that Janny Wurts has fallen prey to the lure and curse of an extended series. The series that was well-written and interesting has become boring and grueling to get through. I really enjoyed the writing and premise in the first few books, but as it gets longer and longer what was once fresh has become worn and overdone. Our hero has everything brutally ripped from him in every book, yet goes on and makes a miraculous escape each time - over and over and over. And how many Koriani plots have to fail before they just give up??? This particular book suffered from a severe overdose of description as we hear multiple times about the beauty of Ath's creation in excruciating detail, blah blah blah. I don't disagree with the philosophy, the problem is the repitition. Although I've read Traitor's Knot, I still hope that the NEXT book will mercifully kill the series before it has lost all redeeming qualities. I would love to go to the store and pick up a single-volume fantasy novel. Book series seem not to know when to stop anymore.