Beyond Wizardwall (Beyond Series, #3) in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

May 22, 2014 Cas Peace rated it it was amazing

This third novel in Janet Morris’ Beyond series begins with one of the most poignant and emotional opening scenes I’ve ever read. Niko, favorite of the Stepson’s commander Tempus, is desperate to save the life of his pregnant mare, and the half-Tros foal she struggles to birth. Niko fears that the enemies which beset him - Death’s Queen, the Nisibisi witch Roxane, and the dream lord, Askelon - have caused his current problems and that his treasured mare, the only thing he has left that he cares This third novel in Janet Morris’ Beyond series begins with one of the most poignant and emotional opening scenes I’ve ever read. Niko, favorite of the Stepson’s commander Tempus, is desperate to save the life of his pregnant mare, and the half-Tros foal she struggles to birth. Niko fears that the enemies which beset him - Death’s Queen, the Nisibisi witch Roxane, and the dream lord, Askelon - have caused his current problems and that his treasured mare, the only thing he has left that he cares about, will die because of his choices. Magical intervention is not an option - indeed, Niko fears it will worsen the situation - so Niko struggles alone, watching his stricken mare weaken, unable to help her. My heart went out to Niko in these opening passages, and it was continually wrenched and wrung throughout the novel by what this young fighter faced and endured.

Even the Stepsons, his sworn brothers, have turned against Niko. Critias, Tempus’ second in command, exhorts the Riddler to let Niko go - in his confused state he’s a bad influence on Band morale. Yet Tempus is loath to give up on Niko - he knows the young fighter still has a part to play, even if he has lost his balance, his maat.

Throughout this emotionally-charged novel, Niko is pulled this way and that. He is completely lost. Pursued by Askelon and Roxane both, he is also chosen to be the assassin who will kill the Rankan emperor and put another on the Lion Throne. He is wrongly charged with murder, and brutally tortured. He becomes an avatar of the Storm God Enlil, and fathers the god’s child. He spurns the attempts of Randal, the Sacred Band’s pet mage and Niko’s former partner, to heal the breach between them. So much is ranged against Niko; and for those of us who care about this deep, unique and complex, yet also strangely simple character, it’s often hard to read.

There were many times during the course of this novel when I failed to see how these situations would, or could, resolve to my satisfaction. It seemed inevitable that the Sacred Band would never be the same again. And of course, this would reflect how ‘real life’ often is - we hope, we strive, we pray and we despair, yet we are often powerless to affect the outcomes of wars or conflict or even our own personal lives. We lose friends, gain enemies - and sometimes, we prevail. Novels, if authors wish to affect their readers in a real and meaningful way, should be reflections of these our human struggles. Janet Morris is a past-master, a maestro, of the art. I trusted her to bring this series to a satisfactory conclusion, and that’s exactly what she did. Tempus and the Sacred Band are not unchanged - nothing ever is. Yet I emerged, whole if not unchanged myself, and remain avid for more. ...more

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Mar 22, 2014 Joe Bonadonna rated it it was amazing

I finish my reviews of the 5-star, Author’s Cut editions of Janet Morris’ classic of Homeric Heroic Fantasy, the Beyond Sanctuary Trilogy, with the third and final book, Beyond Wizardwall. This was the toughest of the three books to review because there is so much that happens and so much ground to cover. This is also the most dramatic, tense and emotionally powerful of the three books. After the mage-war on Wizardwall, Tempus and his Sacred Band ride into Tyse triumphant and settle in to wait f ...more

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Jan 19, 2014 Lori Myers rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

(By this point, you should have read Beyond Sanctuary and Beyond the Veil in that order)

I am a reader...but it is books like this that make me wish with all my heart, that I was a writer. I stand in awe of Janet Morris. To create such a sweeping masterpiece! by itself is amazing, but when you balance the plot with amazing characters...wow!
The character of Niko by himself would be quite the accomplishment. BNiko should have been a simple character- his only want is his inner balance. Sounds simp
(By this point, you should have read Beyond Sanctuary and Beyond the Veil in that order)

I am a reader...but it is books like this that make me wish with all my heart, that I was a writer. I stand in awe of Janet Morris. To create such a sweeping masterpiece! by itself is amazing, but when you balance the plot with amazing characters...wow!
The character of Niko by himself would be quite the accomplishment. BNiko should have been a simple character- his only want is his inner balance. Sounds simple, but in truth, very, very difficult to obtain, and even harder to keep a hold of. From the beginnings of the book we witness firsthand the utter despair of Niko as his beloved mare gives birth to the long awaited Tros blooded foal. What should be a joyous occasion is just wretched with angst. Those of us that are horse lovers can totally understand his indecision, his soul shattering grief at what he must do versus his deep abiding love for that mare....His balance is in tatters, shredded, beyond repair. I have to admit at that point to being upset....deeply upset. I have never, EVER been brought to that point so quickly in a book. I wanted to cry, I wanted to take up Niko's sword and hack into little tiny pieces anything that dared to even look at Niko askance....(Yeah, I am a Niko fangirl...big time...sigh) . It is a sign of a great author when you get immersed that quickly in a book and experience all the emotions the characters do. I wanted to slow time down and attempt to savor each sentence and yet, I needed, more than my next breath, to know how Janet would wrap up all the plot lines (major and minor) and end the book.
I felt like the author blessed me with allowing me to witness the continued evolution of Niko called Stealth. From his beginning in this book, I thought that Niko could not take one more hurt, mentally or physically. Then in the next paragraph, Niko takes yet more and we wonder when he will break, and if he does, what will it take to put him back together again. No spoiler here, but I admit to being overjoyed at where Niko's healing came from. I was also very pleased with how we got to witness Randal's evolution too. I remembered what Randal was like at his introduction and was very happy to see him start to reach his potential. Even Tempus unfolds some in these pages. We see him become more human, witness his inner turmoil at doing what he does so well. This book is very much character driven, but the plot does not suffer one tiny bit for that. I have read some epic heroic fantasy books that the plot is the most important thing, sometimes to the detriment of character. But in a series like this, I can't help but get caught up in the main characters, like I was watching some ancient historical soap opera from the front row, getting so close that I was getting splashes of blood, sweat and tears from the actors. Total immersion in her words .... I just love it when that happens!
Was there anything I didn't care for....hmmm....I admit to being rather taken aback at the treatment of Niko by the priests, but that was personal to me. Janet is meticulous in her correctness to history. Every detail is as is would have been present in the sacred band's real time of the 4th century BC, but if you are not a history buff, she does not bog the story down with boring details, but gives just enough to enrich and make a more realistic picture.
What did I love about this? Okay, other than being head over heels in love with Niko? I loved how I felt I was a spectator, privy to the innermost thoughts of the characters. From Tempus' thought processes and his remorse at what he must do, to the machinations of the priests, the hunger of Roxane, the emerging morals of Randal...I experienced it all! To a reader like me, that is a most precious gift from an author. At this point in time if Janet Morris published her grocery list, I would get an amazon card and buy it. I cannot recommend her books enough. ...more

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Nov 30, 2013 A.L. Butcher rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014, fantasy, dark-fantasy, swords-and-sorcery, sci-fi-and-fantasy-challenge, mythology, suar-challenge, sci-fi-and-fantasy-2014-challenge, book-vipers-square-challenge, sf-and-f-2014-challenge

The final instalment of the ‘Beyond’ series does not disappoint. Again it is an emotive read, Nikodemos suffers more than any other character and those scenes are heart breaking, yet not one scene or line is wasted, not one scene or line is out of place and reader has to continue reading to find out what happens. Does he survive? Does his maat return? Are plots within plots the breaking of the Stepsons? This is not a book for the faint of heart, but battle is not kind, nor gentle, nor pleasant. ...more

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Apr 19, 2014 Andrew Weston rated it it was amazing

In a way, I'm sad that my journey is over with this, the final chapter in the Beyond Sanctuary trilogy. And where to start?
In this story, everybody wants a piece of Niko...The 3rd commandos. Askelon, regent of the 7th Sphere. Roxanne, Queen of Death. Even Enlil, the Rankan Storm God. And all for different reasons. How on earth will Niko survive?
And what can Tempus do to save his friend whilst establishing some semblance of balance among all this burgeoning mayhem? Especially when his loyalties a ...more

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