Just when you think it can't get any Darker..... ( )

I am completely captivated by the Wars of Light and Shadow series.

And if I were not quite convinced, this second book of the Alliance of Light reaffirms once again all the elements that mark for me an encompassing adult fantasy experience: gorgeous writing, rounded, consistent characters, solid world-building, clashes and blood (oh yes), plots and counterplots, political intrigue, calculated endgames, pleasing unpredictability, witty dialogues, though-provoking themes and a cartload of entertainment. The ending, with all of its tight wrap up of all of the strings and characters, with the humor and the double-cross twists of fate I absolutely cherish in the series as usual caught me unawares, but with the following book, [b:Peril's Gate|1040471|Peril's Gate (Wars of Light & Shadow #6; Arc 3 - Alliance of Light, #3)|Janny Wurts|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1422571071s/1040471.jpg|1026842], timely at hand.

The key to this part of the story is the title, Grand Conspiracy: the book’s thriving, intertwining coils of conspiracy immerse the reader, along with all the characters involved (ever developing, ever intense in their flawed, passionate and human way) in a complicated and politically changing situation, where the established boundaries of right and wrong blur, yesterday’s enemies become today’s allies and vice-versa, ambivalence rules and the main players’ known and hidden agendas come to fruition or shift in failure with interdependent resolution. If revelations and conspiracies –and the implications beneath- take the main stage, the book is far from lacking in hammering action. The bedlam of the last chapters is priceless with its superb mix of humor and tragedy, and the mid-book focus on the s’Brydion strategies immersive and wily fast-paced.

"Two accursed princes hold the world’s fate between them".

Arithon keeps sailing the blue-waters seeking the vanished Paravians and finds his only solace in the maturing powers of his art. “Unable to lie for convenience” or “to break from the sound tenets of his character”, he heavily relies on his “sharp penchant for cleverness” to avoid disaster. Aided by Dakar, the clanborn and his secretive network of allies, he holds on his integrity struggling to maintain his sanity against the compulsion of the Mistwraith’s hate-geas. Yet his stolen reprieve may draw to a close, threatened by the Koriani plotting to exploit “his royal-born tie to compassion” to bring about his downfall and the Alliance, weaving its “growing tapestry of power linking cities east to west on the continent”, exacerbating the crusade against darkness and sorcery.

Lysaer, "dangerous beyond compare since no one alive can guess his preferred agenda", casts his net wider claiming divine inspiration and carefully tends his inner circle of powerful advisers. All exalted leadership and cool calculation, ever the consummate politician, he bides his time answering the nurtured fear of the masses with his “war-bent call to religion” and “steering Alliance interests to bind terrified trade guilds into a strangling dependency”. However, when the dictates of “cold bullion” and unexpected setbacks threaten mire his strategy “to key the next stage of his empire”, not only Lysaer keeps rallying mage talent to his cause, but he starts to court the advantages of the very same dark practices he pledged to uproot…

The factions and individuals involved (knowingly or not) in the feud between the royal half-brothers are driven by different interests and loyalties which may logically change over time, sport very subjective moral grounds, and play the game with their own sets of rules, often to the result of avalanching consequences for the world of Athera.

The Koriani Prime enchantress Morriel, nearing the end of her prolonged life, who patiently conspires and deftly sets her long-range intent to thwart the Fellowship authority. Lirenda, all citybred elegance and disowned groomed successor to the pinnacle of Koriani power, driven by blind ambition and conflicting passions, obsessed and compelled to capture Arithon for the purpose of reinstatement and personal vengeance. Elaira, oath-bound to Koriani obedience, yet inseparably linked to the Prince of Rathain, shining example of willpower and humility. Fionn Areth, plagued by a preordained fate and unwary pawn of a greater scheme. The charter law-abiding clans, bane of the town trade guilds, convenient scapegoats relentlessly hunted by Alliance soldiers and fleeing to neutral Havish or hiding in order to survive. The ever-present threat of the Mistwraith from the dead planet of Marak and the Rockfell prison. The s’Brydion family of Alestron, fiercely protective of its freedom and cunningly refusing to be anyone’s game piece. Cerebeld, First High Priest to the Prince of the Light, and the growing number of his gifted collaborators, whose born talents are drawn to Lysaer’s cause under the full awareness of his s’Ahelas farsight. The Fellowship Sorcerers, bound “to ensure Paravian survival no matter the cost of the sacrifice” and whose reserves are stretched painfully thin, have “no license to use power to influence mortal destinies” and “can act only by the Law of the Major Balance, inside a prescribed set of limits”, which leave them and their charges in a most precarious position.

One of the aspects I love of this series is how carefully the details are woven in the “world's broadscale tapestry of events”. Grand Conspiracy shows again deep and careful planning; particularly the denouement is testimony of the incredible craft of Janny Wurts, who manages to balance all the layers and levels of the story and to offer timely answers to the questions of the reader; what’s more, with each title in the series the delivery builds tighter and faster. She never fails to impress with her rare gift for words, delightful in humour, descriptions, dialogue and action. ( )

The fifth book in the overall arc The Wars of Light and Shadow, does not fail to deliver. Utilizing the magic of music and the music of language, the tale of how the Mistwraith twists Paravia, and its peoples continues.

Her characterization continues to delight. And layers that make up the world of Paravia continue to be revealed as plots within plots are unstrung against not only the Master of Shadow, but against the sorcerers sworn to protect Paravia and against the protective spells guarding the world itself.

Great epic fantasy, with depth and color and music. ( )

Each novel peels back layer upon layer, revealing more of the motivations between several key players and philosophies, making it nigh impossible to summarize any plot points, including the myriad conspiracies plaguing Paravia, without spoiling what was, what is and what is yet to come. The last three chapters' pace proved unrelenting, even unto the final triplet.

I'll be picking up the next novel ([b:Peril's Gate|1040471|Peril's Gate (Wars of Light & Shadow #6; Arc 3 - Alliance of Light, #3)|Janny Wurts|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1276188141s/1040471.jpg|1026842]) to continue this outstanding series. ( )

There are a couple of traits Janny Wurts’ The Wars of Light and Shadow series shares with with the current trend of New Grit in fantasy literature: her characters have a plausible psychology, she is willing to have bad things happen to good people if the story requires it, her world is populated not just with nobility, but with middle and lower classes who are more than just decoration and have an active role to play. But in Wurts’ novels, unlike those of, say, George R.R. Martin or K.J Parker, those elements do not serve to achieve a greater degree of realism. Instead, she is aiming for something quite different, namely the grand scope of the truly Epic, and that is nowhere as pronounced as in her use of language.

No "Knights Who Say Fuck" here - all the expletives Wurts’ characters use are colourful, often bizarre and sometimes quite imaginative, but always far removed from anything people would realistcally expected to say. Nobody talks “naturally” here, but everyone uses an artificial, archaic-sounding language, emphasizing the fact that those characters are not constrained to normal human proportions but considerably larger than life. And this holds true not just for the dialogue, but even more so for the descriptive passages, where one can almost feel how the writing strains to mold itself to the epic content of the tale it tells, feel it vibrate from the urge to transcend mundane diction towards the epic and the poetic. Sometimes it overreaches, and as a result the imagery is occasionally off, the prose purple rather than sublime - but I for one had rather see an author take the risk of grasping for greatness and fail at times than stay safely in the realm of the bland and boring.

What never falters, though, is Janny Wurts’ sense for the music of language – the compelling rhythm and colourful sound of her prose draw the reader in, and when I read her, I always have the sound of her sentences echoing in my head. There is (to name just one example) a passage of just a few pages in this novel that describes a caravan journey across the mountains in winter – nothing much happens in it, and it’s not of much consequence for the plot, but the way is written makes it so achingly beautiful that I was holding my breath while reading it. I usually do not like audio books at all, but I think Janny Wurts’ prose really lends itself to being read aloud, and I’d be very curious to actually hear the cadence of her prose some time.

As for the plot of Grand Conspiracy, like in the previous installment there is a slow build-up that gradually gathers momentum to then explode into a compelling grand finale – which is in turn a set-up, moving the characters into place for the next volume. Again, the main pleasure derived from this novel comes not from following its plot, although there are some nicely spun intrigues and surprising twists here, those being another trademark of this series.