Stormed Fortress (Wars of Light & Shadow #8; Arc 3 - Alliance of Light, #5)

Stormed Fortress (Arc 3 - Alliance of Light #5)

by
4.22 of 5 stars 4.22  ·  rating details  ·  424 ratings  ·  27 reviews
The spellbinding eighth instalment of The Wars of Light and Shadow. Though Athera may be free, the fight is far from over…The heartstopping conclusion to the Alliance of Light series brings Lysaer's army of Light to besiege the great citadel of Alestron. Master of Shadow, Arithon, with barely a moment's recuperation from his victory over the necromancers, has discovered th...more
Paperback, 624 pages
Published November 5th 2007 by Voyager (first published 2007)
more details... edit details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 779)
filter  |  sort: default (?)  |  rating details
Sandra aka Sleo
Of all the superlatives I've used in reviewing these books, I have to say this one tops them all. The story comes to a thrilling pause on its way to the next Arc, which Janny says will be out in the Fall. "Initiate's Trial." I can hardly wait! Even though there is no cliff hanger here, the story must continue. I felt such sadness to come to the end (temporary, to be sure) of my time spent in the world of Athera. Sigh. You've got to read these books. In order, please.

I'm adding to this review aft...more
Stefan
Stormed Fortress is the eighth novel in the WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW series by Janny Wurts, and the fifth and final novel in the Alliance of Light sub-arc. I’ve reviewed every novel in the series so far, and all of those reviews have been extremely positive, so by now it’s probably no secret that I’m a huge fan of these books and their author. That being said, Stormed Fortress is an outstanding novel even by the incredibly high standards of this series.

The conflict between the half-brothers Lysa...more
Clansman Lochaber Axeman
Nov 25, 2008 Clansman Lochaber Axeman rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: epic fantasy fans
This book has it all: intrigue, suspense, epic battles, romance, tragedy, bravery, evil, and incredible strength. The trouble is that I can hardly talk about the contents without creating spoilers.

This is the last book in The Alliance of Light, which is the third story arc in The Wars of Light and Shadow, and as a result a lot of sub-plots are wound up, and in a way that makes the faithful reader of this series almost explode with each turn of the page. This is easily the strongest book of The A...more
Beth (moonivy)
Dec 12, 2008 Beth (moonivy) rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: epic fantasy fans.
Read 12/7-12/31/07

Stormed Fortress is the 8th book in The Wars of Light and Shadow series. As the fantatics of the Light beseige the great citadel of Alestron, Arithon struggles to balance the needs of the free clansmen, the townfolk of Alestron and the mysteries of the lost Paravians. This is grand epic
fantasy,with vast, deep themes and a tangled rich set of plots. And in Arithon, a hero of gorgeous complexity - Masterbard, reluctant Prince, former pirate - he's ever fascinating. This is reput...more
Larou
I’m unlikely to be the first to wonder about this, but I’m starting to suspect that a not unsubstantial part of the enjoyment readers derive from long series of doorstopper Fantasy novels might lie in the mere fact of having made it through the massive of printed paper – maybe indeed not unlike mountain climbing (a pastime I do not indulge in, so just speculating here) a feat of endurance with its main reward the consciousness of having surmounted a huge obstacle.[return][return]So, after having...more
Kathi
The Alliance of Light arc in the War of Light and Shadow comes to a close in Stormed Fortress. The author clearly knows and loves her characters, with their strengths & their flaws--all the qualities that make each of them uniquely themselves. There is not a cardboard character in the bunch! The "secondary" characters develop with as much depth as the main characters, and each plays a critical role.

Many questions are answered and the story takes many unexpected twists and turns on its way to...more
Charles
Stormed Fortress offers Janny Wurts at her absolute best. In the center of chaos: love, devotion, loyalty and (as always) long-suffering still triumph, but always at a tragic cost. For those of us who like our fantasy reading to be progressive, emotionally charged, and sensitive to the major causes of our own time (anti-oppression, eco-sensitive, pro-healing, non-aggressive, etc.)Janny Wurts stands nearly alone. Stormed Fortress brings these themes to a new height, and unsparingly depicts the tr...more
Tammy
Lysaer rouses his warhost against the fixed target of Alestron. Prescient knowledge of the cost of the siege causes Arithon to withdrawn his support and the Fellowship to entreat the s'Brydion to abandon their ancestral home. Bransian s'Brydion refuses, and instead, seeks to entangle Arithon in the war against his will.

I love the intricacy of the characters and the story threads of the series, and oddly, I enjoy these books more in retrospect, after finishing a book and pondering it, than while...more
This Is Not The Michael You're Looking For
Although not the last book in the series, Stormed Fortress is the final book of the middle arc ("The Alliance of Light) of the Wars of Light and Shadow series and definitely feels like the conclusion of major threads, if not the story as a whole. For the most part the book serves as a solid finale of the (middle part of the) story, tying off a lot of loose ends, but with plot remaining for the concluding two arcs (three volumes). For the first time in awhile, the direction of future books is not...more
Ian Kennedy
Abysmal,turgid prose. Plodding. The series as a whole started out strong but has become progressively lumbering with each new volume. It's like a thesaurus monster vomited onto the page. After a few chapters I felt zero motivation to complete it.

Everyone weeps. EVERYONE. Stub a toe? Weep! Latte too cold? WEEEEEP! TEARS OF MISERY!
Luci
Entertaining but entirely unsatisfying. If you're going to call this the conclusion to the "Alliance of Light" portion of the series I need more than "he waved his magic wand and everyone went on their merry way".

Also, I am really sick waiting 10 years or more for fantasy authors to finish their stories.
Jen
Janny Wurts does it again. Anyone who has been writing a fantasy series for 15 years or more, spanning sprawling narratives of six or seven hundred pages should *not* be able to keep it so coherent.

And for me, who has always scan-read her novels, from a very young age, it's always shocked me how Ms Wurts' beautifully poetic and highly descriptive sentences always snare me, refusing to be skimmed.

Definitely liked this novel better than the two previous in this arch, however, and looking forward q...more
Laura
(view spoiler)[Mamma mia che bello e che ansia, soprattutto verso la fine (mi sento un po' in colpa anch'io per quello che hanno fatto ad Arithon) ... Mi è successo poche volte di soffrire così tanto per i personaggi di un libro e in particolare per uno!
L'unica cosa che non ho molto digerito è stata la fine di Fionn Areth; immaginavo che sarebbe morto perchè la profezia fatta alla sua nascita non lasciava molto scampo, ma sarebbe stato bello vedere una soluzione diversa. Il problema principale
...more
 Michelle
Lovely ending to the arc - wraps up so many secondary story lines (many in surprising ways), yet leaves me hungry for the finale! And beautiful writing...
Constance
As with all the others in this series, Stormed Fortress continued Arithon and Lysaer's trials with heart-rending action and moral-encompassing strategy. The myriad of characters played off each other brilliantly and somehow make you respect the deep compexities that make each person unique. I can't wait to read the next one and hope there will be many more to come!
Elizabeth
*sigh* Until October then. . .
Jon
Apr 15, 2011 Jon rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommended to Jon by: Beyond Reality Fantasy Series Group Read
I am participating in a group read of this entire series via the Beyond Reality group. Click here to join in the discussions, lead by the author, Janny Wurts.

Review later after group discussion winds down.
Deborah Mcnemar
As always, a beautifully woven tapestry of politics and deceit, of loyalty and love. I've been a huge fan from the first book (Curse of the Mistwraith). These books always take me longer to read because there is so much depth to them, so many threads that tangle and intersect. Love, love, love it!
Kevin Bott
I had to force myself to finish this. Way too wordy, and every emotion is described as am extreme event. It gets very tiring to continually hear the best ever this, most exquisite that, supremely talented whatever.
orannia
Four and a half stars.
Adrienne Mercer
I loved it - read it to refresh my brain as I had the next one ready to go.
Yune
Jan 01, 2008 Yune rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: owned
The eighth in an ambitious serious, and unexpectedly optimistic. I actually mourned the lessening of tragedy.
Michael Jones
Too long for a story marginalized by the next book.
Krista Vaillencourt
Done and done, now to wait for the next one. Tick Tock
Ruchel
Jun 11, 2008 Ruchel marked it as to-read
waiting for it to come out in America!
« previous 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 25 26 next »
Stormed Fortress (Wars of Light & Shadow #8; Arc 3 - Alliance of Light, #5)
Stormed Fortress (Wars of Light and Shadow #8)
Stormed Fortress (Kindle Edition)
Stormed Fortress (Wars of Light & Shadow #8; Arc 3 - Alliance of Light, #5)
8591
Janny Wurts is the author of War of Light and Shadow series, and To Ride Hell's Chasm. Her eighteen published titles include a trilogy in audio, a short story collection, as well as the internationally best selling Empire trilogy, co authored with Raymond E. Feist, with works translated into fifteen languages worldwide. Her latest title in the Wars of Light and Shadow series, Initiate's Trial, cul...more
More about Janny Wurts...
The Curse of the Mistwraith (Wars of Light & Shadow, #1; Arc 1, #1) Warhost of Vastmark (Wars of Light & Shadow, #3; Arc 2 - The Ships of Merior, #2) The Ships of Merior (Wars of Light & Shadow, #2; Arc 2 - The Ships of Merrior, #1) Fugitive Prince (Wars of Light & Shadow #4; Arc 3 - Alliance of Light, #1) Stormwarden (The Cycle of Fire, #1)

Share This Book

Your website