Great beginning to a very nice fantasy saga. The two brothers are different sides of one coin. One is, Arithon, the Master of Shadows and the other, Lysaer, the Lord of Light. Of course on the surface it seems that Lysaer is the better person and everyone seems to see him that way. But really it is Arithon who is the stronger and wiser and ultimately kinder man. Of course he is misunderstood and hated and the fun is being the reader and knowing that he is really the good guy. The author did a good job making you care for Arithon and root for him and get discouraged and upset when others don't see him as you do.

Recommended to fantasy readers. If you're coming late to fantasy via Game of Thrones, you should go back and read some of the oldies. You won't go wrong starting here. ( )

The overall plot was fine, basic hero needs to save the world. The world was ok, I might have liked it better seeing it through the eyes of better characters. But the huge problem that dropped it to one star is that it would have been a better book if the two main characters had killed each other in the first chapter and been replaced by someone I could have any interest in whatsoever. Even a "Hero" I wouldn't like would have been better than these two non-entities that I had to force myself to pay attention to. It's the first book in 20 years I couldn't bring myself to finish(got to page 443), which is very sad, because I loved this author's co-op books with Feist - [b:Daughter of the Empire|589979|Daughter of the Empire (The Empire Trilogy, #1)|Raymond E. Feist|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1333694595s/589979.jpg|2960453] and had such hopes for this. I won't let it stop me from looking at other books by her, but next time I borrow them first! ( )

This book was like a solid dose of nostalgia for me. An old-style epic-high magical world with magic left and right, mages and high mages, legendary creatures - so Tolkienesque and yet not Tolkienesque. In fact there is quite a bit of stuff that can act as a critical commentary of Tolkien

If this book has one fault, it is that its a bit too slow. But that is understandable. I felt like 70% of this book was setup for the future series. Meanwhile there is some meticulous worldbuilding and painstaking character arc construction. I often got the feeling that the primary importance of the things I was reading was to create a juxtaposition to showcase future changes and developments.

Overall the feeling I got from this book was awe as I gradually understood the scope of the series and the world. I am eager to get into the later books ( )

The first time I read "The Curse of the Mistwraith", it endowed a great sensation of frustration upon me. The characters' motivations were beyond me, Arithon was the only engaging character, but Lysaer bored me and the Fellowship of Seven seemed just as bad as the Koriathain. The prose was overwhelmingly flowery, which made the plot as easy to grasp as the eponymous Mistwraith. I gave it three stars, but decided to give the rest of the series a chance because it had potential.

Less than three months later I ended up stuck in the middle of Initiate's Trial….the ninth book in the series…I was, and still am, totally engrossed by the series. I realised that (a) I needed to see these characters again, and (b) I needed to re-read Curse.


All the frustrations I had with Curse disappeared - there are very few problems with this book that relate to the author or the plot. I was the problem.

Wurts' prose is unique. It reminds me a little of Steven Erikson, but their voices are completely different and, despite its density, Wurts' prose can be quite jovial. I paid more attention to the plot, especially the parts I struggled with the first time round, although there are parts of the book where the plot lags. And after nine books, and despite the number of times I've shout abuse at him, Lysaer is one of my favourite characters.

It's a shame that there are readers who are missing out on the series because of Curse. Yes, the prose is difficult to get into, but it's worth the investment :) ( )

I really like the ideas behind this book. The exploration of both sides of a feud acting sympathetically, and looking at how history is coloured towards the winners is an interesting one.

However, it is a very long fantasy book in a very long series that is not yet finished, and I am clearly too much a product of modern life - I would happily have invested half a day in the story, but I did find the pacing slow, and I am not sure I fancy ploughing through eight more books.

Also, a lot of the characters' motivations come from prophecy. Which is totally fair game in a magical world, but 'he had to do this terrible thing, because he Knew TM it was the only way to achieve Important Thing' is a bit simplistic. And it did leave me thinking 'if you Know TM, could you not just tell people a bit more?!?!' The wise all powerful wizards who don't trust the common man enough are a bit frustrating as a common man. (I'd love to know if the rest of the series plays with that, or if the wizards are just Right.)

It's also very Divine Right of Kings - the heroes are descended from the Kings Of Old, and the current democratic rulers are portrayed as stupid and short sighted.

Still, poor Arithon, wanting to be a simple musician, but knowing destiny means he must rule, even though he doesn't want to. ( )