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GRAND CONSPIRACY This is book five in the Wars of Lights and Shadow sequence, or book two in this particular trilogy. Lysar and Arithon are still at it hammer and tongs and this time Arithon is in trouble; the Master of Shadow has become Public Enemy #1 through his nemesis' machinations and a purge of mageborn is in progress. It looks as though the Master of Light is winning as even his beloved Elaira has turned against him but this is only book two after all and a lot can happen in 643 pages. .But perhaps not quite enough to actually fill them. The characters get put through their paces and Wurts enjoys herself with reams of hyperbolic descriptions and even got around to designing the cover. In my opinion "less is more" and in addition a few lighter moments might lift the gloom and doom (these wars go on for 500 years we have been told) which makes this story seem a shade monochromatic at times. But Wurts is adept at creating atmosphere and describing places as though she has been there herself (although more often in fifty words that ten) and her characters are well realised if increasingly less than sympathetic. What she needs for the final part of this trilogy is a new angle to breathe life into a once vivid and exciting but now slightly tired story. |