Sorcerer's Legacy

This was a fun read & well written. It definitely deserves 4 stars but gets a fifth as it was the author's first book. I've heard that after reading it, Raymond Feist asked her to collaborate on the Empire Trilogy which takes place in the midst of his Rift War saga. Congrats on a fantastic decision, Ray! They were some of my favorite books in the series & I liked them all. The crux of the book is an ugly succession where our heroine plays a key part. She's tough, but very believable. She's feminine, but not a helpless princess. She's a real lady, in every sense of the word. Her motivations & actions were very believable. The story takes place over most of a year, but never bogs down. Lots of twists & turns as the plot unfolds, but very easy to follow. The world is a fairly 'normal' one for a sword & sorcery universe. Obvious good & bad, along with black & white magical arts. Pretty much a medieval setting; courts, kings, councils & such. Tough decisions & key events build a lot of suspense & where most books would have stopped (midway through this story) the damsel, who is in distress & durance most vile, is rescued only to find that there is still a lot more to deal with. It's a wild ride.

This is the first book written by Janny Wurts and is a wonderful breath of fresh air in that it's a self-contained story. Much of modern Fantasy seems bent of many volumes and epic scope while Legacy is content to be a single volume and a complete story. It is essential to appreciate the artistry and craftsmanship that Ms. Wurts puts into her writing and for one familiar with her more recent works, this novel is just plain fun. The storyline follows a female main character, Elienne, whose life has been destroyed. Her husband is dead, the Kingdom they ruled has been conquered and she is about to be victimized by the conquerors. From such difficult circumstances we are lead to a whole new world where Elienne is given a chance to start again. This new world is fraught will magic and her situation becomes immediately intertwined with the political machinations of an evil Sorcerer. The pace of the story is quick and the character's who are used are interesting and in some ways very, very familiar to those familiar with recent work by Ms. Wurts. Central to the theme of this story are honesty and courage. The main character accepts a situation that is not ideal for her and requires a degree of deception that is in many respects alien to her personality. She is strongly defiant, fiercely independent, but with the classic heroic characteristics of loyalty and even compassion for those who wrong her. Elienne leads us on a harrowing course until at last she is able to triumph in the end although not without considerable pain and loss in the process. If you are a Wurts' Fan then this book is worth searching high and low to add to your collection. If you are not familiar with her work then this represents a great way to get a taste and see if you like it without investing yourself is a huge novel. For the ability to write a complete story that entertains and inspires I give this 4.5 stars. It's a great book and could deserve 5 stars if I hadn't read so much of the rest of her work and new how good it gets. As an aside, I am an admitted Fan, so it's pretty tough for me to find faults and in this case I saw very few.

I absolutely loved this book. It is one of my favorites. The story has such depth. The characters are well developed. It is layered with action, excitment, and intrigue, with emotions bringing it all together to form a story with depth. So many of the books today are frivolous and shallow with no emotional content. I highly recommend this book. The Khadrach hordes have overrun her home and murdererd her husband. Elienne the widow of the Duke of Trathmere, is imprisoned in the dungeons of her own castle. There a powerful sorcerer comes to her and offers her a choice. Come with him and become the Bride of an unknown Prince, or stay where she is and either die or become the Khadrach Inquisitor's concubine. At first she does not want to go, her husband has been dead less than a day and the thought of being with anyone else repulses her, for she loved her husband greatly. Then the sorcerer reveals that she is pregnant with her deceased husband's child. In order to save the child and herself she agrees to go with him. The sorcerer, Ielond takes her forward in time, to a different place and a different world of which Elienne knows nothing. But the cost of transporting her into a time which is not her own, means that upon their arrival Ielond must die. With Ielond dead, she is set adrift in her new world. With the help of instructions left by Ielond, his apprentice Kennaird, and the sorcerer Taroith, Elienne acclimates to her new world and sets about saving the prince. Prince Darion of Pendaire was cursed at seventeen by the evil Regent Faisix (who doesn't want to give up control of the realm) with dark magic that left him sterile. In Pendaire, a king cannot inherit the throne unless he can prove he can continue the bloodline by providing an heir. Since Darion cannot he is scheduled for execution whereupon his cousin would inherit the throne; his cousin who is completely controlled by Faisix. The prince's Guardian, the sorcerer Ielond, searched through five thousand years of history to find the one woman who could give Darion an heir and spare his life. That woman is Elienne, her unborn child (passed off as Darion's) will ensure he will be crowned king. Elienne doesn't want a new husband, but Darion demonstrates that he's a caring and compassionate man who doesn't deserve the fate that awaits him. Putting aside her grief and heartache, she decides to help him and uses her wit to foil several of the evil Faisix's plans to discredit her and Darion. Gradually she begins to fall in love with Darion and he with her, but a prophecy given to Elienne by a Seer makes her think that she is doomed to fail Darion. In order to spare Darion grief and heartache should she fail, Elienne remains aloof, cool, and distant. Their relationship grows strained as her pregnancy advances. She is restless, a sense of doom hangs over her and she knows its a matter of time before Faisix strikes again. It is up to her to see that Ielond's hopes come true, to make sure that at wh

Janny Wurt's careful structure makes Pendaire pass in flowing images of reality, then the reader is cast into the enchantment of shinning sorceries swept over and beyond her charater's awareness and deep into the heart of her readers.Allowing the feelings of her characters to seep into a readers soul and and blossoms into the sudden reality of our own real lives. I have but one question:who forced the Seeress to take her own life?I am still consumed with admiration, If I could write as well. I would be happier than any young author.Eileen and Darion create a powerful and gripping tale of love and betrayal that is irresistable to any reader. Ms Wurts, you have my admiration and congratualations on such a piece!!!!!!!

Fantasy is one of the fields in which a pool of a few basic concepts are regurgitated repeatedly and it is very rarely that one comes across a truly original fantasy novel. Sorcerer's Legacy is one of the few examples of true originality in the fantasy field. With a novel system of sorcery, an unparallelled addressing of the problems of time travelling and a plot that cannot be predicted even if one wishes to to. An as for its style, rapid paced, marvellously characterised and in this and her other books Wurts' use of imagery is of the best in the field