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To Ride Hell’s Chasm
An epic fantasy standalone novel from the author of the stunning Wars of Light and Shadow series.
When Princess Anja fails to appear at her betrothal banquet, the tiny, peaceful kingdom of Sessalie is plunged into intrigue. Two warriors are charged with recovering the distraught king's beloved daughter. Taskin, Commander of the Royal Guard, whose icy competence and impressive life-term as the Crown's right-hand man command the kingdom's deep-seated respect; and Mykkael, the rough-hewn newcomer who has won the post of Captain of the Garrison – a scarred veteran with a deadly record of field warfare, whose 'interesting' background and foreign breeding are held in contempt by court society.
As the princess's trail vanishes outside the citadel's gates, anxiety and tension escalate. Mykkael's investigations lead him to a radical explanation for the mystery, but he finds himself under suspicion from the court factions. Will Commander Taskin's famous fair-mindedness be enough to unravel the truth behind the garrison captain's dramatic theory: that the resourceful, high-spirited princess was not taken by force, but fled the palace to escape a demonic evil?
When Princess Anja fails to appear at her betrothal banquet, the tiny, peaceful kingdom of Sessalie is plunged into intrigue. Two warriors are charged with recovering the distraught king's beloved daughter. Taskin, Commander of the Royal Guard, whose icy competence and impressive life-term as the Crown's right-hand man command the kingdom's deep-seated respect; and Mykkael, the rough-hewn newcomer who has won the post of Captain of the Garrison – a scarred veteran with a deadly record of field warfare, whose 'interesting' background and foreign breeding are held in contempt by court society.
As the princess's trail vanishes outside the citadel's gates, anxiety and tension escalate. Mykkael's investigations lead him to a radical explanation for the mystery, but he finds himself under suspicion from the court factions. Will Commander Taskin's famous fair-mindedness be enough to unravel the truth behind the garrison captain's dramatic theory: that the resourceful, high-spirited princess was not taken by force, but fled the palace to escape a demonic evil?
704 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
About the author
Janny Wurts
89 books2,196 followersJanny 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, Destiny's Conflict, culminates more than thirty years of carefully evolved ideas. The cover images on the books, both in the US and abroad, are her own paintings, depicting her vision of characters and setting.
Through her combined talents as a writer/illustrator, Janny has immersed herself in a lifelong ambition: to create a seamless interface between words and pictures that will lead reader and viewer into the imagination. Her lavish use of language invites the mind into a crafted realm of experience, with characters and events woven into a complex tapestry, and drawn with an intensity to inspire active fuel for thought. Her research includes a range of direct experience, lending her fantasy a gritty realism, and her scenes involving magic crafted with intricate continuity. A self-taught painter, she draws directly from the imagination, creating scenes in a representational style that blurs the edges between dream and reality. She makes few preliminary sketches, but envisions her characters and the scenes that contain them, then executes the final directly from the initial pencil drawing.
The seed idea for the Wars of Light and Shadow series occurred, when, in the course of researching tactic and weapons, she viewed a documentary film on the Battle of Culloden Moor. This was the first time she had encountered that historical context of that brutal event, with the embroidery of romance stripped from it. The experience gave rise to an awakening, which became anger, that so often, our education, literature and entertainment slant history in a manner that equates winners and losers with moral right and wrong, and the prevalent attitude, that killing wars can be seen as justifiable solutions when only one side of the picture is presented.
Her series takes the stance that there are two sides to every question, and follows two characters who are half brothers. One a bard trained as a master of magecraft, and the other a born ruler with a charismatic passion for justice, have become cursed to lifelong enmity. As one sibling raises a devoted mass following, the other tries desperately to stave off defeat through solitary discipline and cleverness. The conflict sweeps across an imaginary world, dividing land and people through an intricate play of politics and the inborn prejudices of polarized factions already set at odds. Readers are led on a journey that embraces both viewpoints. The story explores the ironies of morality which often confound our own human condition - that what appears right and just, by one side, becomes reprehensible when seen from the opposite angle. What is apparently good for the many, too often causes devastating suffering to the nonconformist minority. Through the interactions between the characters themselves, the reader is left to their own discretion to interpret the moral impact of events.
Says Janny of her work, "I chose to frame this story against a backdrop of fantasy because I could handle even the most sensitive issues with the gloves off - explore the myriad angles of our troubled times with the least risk of offending anyone's personal sensibilities. The result, I can hope, is an expanding journey of the spirit that explores the grand depths, and rises to the challenge of mapping the ethereal potential of an evolving planetary consciousness... explore free thought and compassionate understanding."
Beyond writing, Janny's award winning paintings have been showcased in exhibitions of imaginative artwork, among them a commemorative exhibition for NASA's 25th Anniversary; the Art of the Cosmos at Hayden Planet
Through her combined talents as a writer/illustrator, Janny has immersed herself in a lifelong ambition: to create a seamless interface between words and pictures that will lead reader and viewer into the imagination. Her lavish use of language invites the mind into a crafted realm of experience, with characters and events woven into a complex tapestry, and drawn with an intensity to inspire active fuel for thought. Her research includes a range of direct experience, lending her fantasy a gritty realism, and her scenes involving magic crafted with intricate continuity. A self-taught painter, she draws directly from the imagination, creating scenes in a representational style that blurs the edges between dream and reality. She makes few preliminary sketches, but envisions her characters and the scenes that contain them, then executes the final directly from the initial pencil drawing.
The seed idea for the Wars of Light and Shadow series occurred, when, in the course of researching tactic and weapons, she viewed a documentary film on the Battle of Culloden Moor. This was the first time she had encountered that historical context of that brutal event, with the embroidery of romance stripped from it. The experience gave rise to an awakening, which became anger, that so often, our education, literature and entertainment slant history in a manner that equates winners and losers with moral right and wrong, and the prevalent attitude, that killing wars can be seen as justifiable solutions when only one side of the picture is presented.
Her series takes the stance that there are two sides to every question, and follows two characters who are half brothers. One a bard trained as a master of magecraft, and the other a born ruler with a charismatic passion for justice, have become cursed to lifelong enmity. As one sibling raises a devoted mass following, the other tries desperately to stave off defeat through solitary discipline and cleverness. The conflict sweeps across an imaginary world, dividing land and people through an intricate play of politics and the inborn prejudices of polarized factions already set at odds. Readers are led on a journey that embraces both viewpoints. The story explores the ironies of morality which often confound our own human condition - that what appears right and just, by one side, becomes reprehensible when seen from the opposite angle. What is apparently good for the many, too often causes devastating suffering to the nonconformist minority. Through the interactions between the characters themselves, the reader is left to their own discretion to interpret the moral impact of events.
Says Janny of her work, "I chose to frame this story against a backdrop of fantasy because I could handle even the most sensitive issues with the gloves off - explore the myriad angles of our troubled times with the least risk of offending anyone's personal sensibilities. The result, I can hope, is an expanding journey of the spirit that explores the grand depths, and rises to the challenge of mapping the ethereal potential of an evolving planetary consciousness... explore free thought and compassionate understanding."
Beyond writing, Janny's award winning paintings have been showcased in exhibitions of imaginative artwork, among them a commemorative exhibition for NASA's 25th Anniversary; the Art of the Cosmos at Hayden Planet
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October 30, 2023
Tout n'est pas à jeter, mais bon dieu que c'était long !
J'avais envie de lire un livre de Janny Wurtz, qui a coécrit la trilogie de l'empire.
Cette autrice a des talents d'écritures certains, adjectifs à profusion, verbes recherchés, mais je n'ai aimé ni où elle voulait nous amener niveau histoire, ni ses personnages.
Le personnage est un homme noir qui a tous les dons (escrime, magie, guérisseur, arts martiaux, archerie etc.). Il est aigri du fait de son histoire tragique et du racisme ambiant dans lequel le royaume baigne.
La princesse à sauver, personnage fort et joyeux d'après les rumeurs se révèle assez inintéressante au final, surtout vue depuis le personnage principal, qui trouve qu'elle est vraiment "différente des autres femmes" (comprendre, sait marcher en forêt et ne rechigne pas à porter des sacs, même si elle sait pleurer de temps en temps). La comparaison permanente à son précédent amour (c'était une princesse jamais sortie de chez elle vs une princesse éprise de liberté et de chevaux) m'a clairement gêné.
Sur le plan de l'histoire, on passe près de 300 pages à nous décrire le racisme dans le royaume. C'est-à-dire près de 300 pages à voir des idiots répéter que le personnage principal est douteux et qu'il a sûrement kidnappé l princesse avec ses pouvoirs démoniaques de noir.
S'il peut être intéressant de dénoncer (ou montrer) le racisme dans un livre, c'est fait ici de manière très maladroite, répétée (toujours les mêmes paroles), et honnêtement ralentit complètement l'enquête policière en cours pour retrouver la princesse. Les explications postérieures sur le fait que le mal règne dans le royaume ne suffisent pas à expliquer pourquoi on tourne avec un risque rayé.
Concernant la 2e partie, on accélère un peu, c'est bien, mais avec deux personnages inintéressants en tête d'affichage. Les personnages secondaires ont été relégués dans un trou et l'autrice ne s'en servira presque plus. Ils avaient pourtant plus de caractère que les personnages principaux, dommage.
En résumé : lisez la trilogie de l'empire, oui l'héroïne a très peu d'amies femmes et le livre date un peu, mais j'ai trouvé To ride Hell's chasm sexiste et rasoir. Point positif, j'ai appris pas mal de nouveaux mots en anglais, apprentis venez enrichir votre vocabulaires.
J'avais envie de lire un livre de Janny Wurtz, qui a coécrit la trilogie de l'empire.
Cette autrice a des talents d'écritures certains, adjectifs à profusion, verbes recherchés, mais je n'ai aimé ni où elle voulait nous amener niveau histoire, ni ses personnages.
Le personnage est un homme noir qui a tous les dons (escrime, magie, guérisseur, arts martiaux, archerie etc.). Il est aigri du fait de son histoire tragique et du racisme ambiant dans lequel le royaume baigne.
La princesse à sauver, personnage fort et joyeux d'après les rumeurs se révèle assez inintéressante au final, surtout vue depuis le personnage principal, qui trouve qu'elle est vraiment "différente des autres femmes" (comprendre, sait marcher en forêt et ne rechigne pas à porter des sacs, même si elle sait pleurer de temps en temps). La comparaison permanente à son précédent amour (c'était une princesse jamais sortie de chez elle vs une princesse éprise de liberté et de chevaux) m'a clairement gêné.
Sur le plan de l'histoire, on passe près de 300 pages à nous décrire le racisme dans le royaume. C'est-à-dire près de 300 pages à voir des idiots répéter que le personnage principal est douteux et qu'il a sûrement kidnappé l princesse avec ses pouvoirs démoniaques de noir.
S'il peut être intéressant de dénoncer (ou montrer) le racisme dans un livre, c'est fait ici de manière très maladroite, répétée (toujours les mêmes paroles), et honnêtement ralentit complètement l'enquête policière en cours pour retrouver la princesse. Les explications postérieures sur le fait que le mal règne dans le royaume ne suffisent pas à expliquer pourquoi on tourne avec un risque rayé.
Concernant la 2e partie, on accélère un peu, c'est bien, mais avec deux personnages inintéressants en tête d'affichage. Les personnages secondaires ont été relégués dans un trou et l'autrice ne s'en servira presque plus. Ils avaient pourtant plus de caractère que les personnages principaux, dommage.
En résumé : lisez la trilogie de l'empire, oui l'héroïne a très peu d'amies femmes et le livre date un peu, mais j'ai trouvé To ride Hell's chasm sexiste et rasoir. Point positif, j'ai appris pas mal de nouveaux mots en anglais, apprentis venez enrichir votre vocabulaires.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review