Ask the Author: Janny Wurts
Answered Questions (26)
Janny Wurts
Hey, Shane, thank you for giving the series a shot! The differences in cover style are due to publisher marketing - the portrait style covers were the original USA hardbacks where that region tended to focus on characters. The first set of UK illustrations were landscapes, which, the editor there explained, was due to the fact the audience wanted to get away from people and this world and go 'somewhere else' - so the wide view landscape suited the style, over there. Then, there was a move toward more 'adult' style covers - so that adults reading fantasy were not 'embarrassed' to be seen with the books. Then, publishers shifted to the 'icon' style cover that tended to say far less about the book's contents. Since I was the hired cover artist, I had to follow the trends being set. At least with the hard shift toward graphic art, I managed to put a lot more information into the images than 'just' a stone statue on a plain background. LIke you, I definitely would love to see the series have unified covers - and I would love to do the portrait style all the way thorough if only to complete the set. Maybe make your wishes known to a small press special edition publisher, and we could see it happen. Thank you so much for your interest and enthusiasm, and my thanks to John and Jakob at Talking Story for bringing the books to your attention.
Janny Wurts
There is a downloadable series navigation sheet in PDF on the Paravia website.
The series proper, in order:
Curse of the Mistwraith
Ships of Merior
Warhost of Vastmark (if you have the USA hardbound, ONLY, Ships/Warhost are under one cover)
Alliance of Light's five volumes come next:
Fugitive Prince
Grand Consparacy
Peril's Gate
Traitor's Knot
Stormed Fortress
Followed by Sword of the Canon's two volumes:
Initiate's Trial
Destiny's Conflict
Finale volume:
Song of the Mysteries
There are six short works of fiction that 'connect' to the back history. These can be read at your own timing, they are not necessary to comprehension of the series proper, but they will flesh out some critical backhistory.
Can be read as an OPENER before Curse of the Mistwraith/lending some deeper insight into the shape of the world's factions before society fractured:
The Gallant (six hundred years prior to opening of Mistwraith)
Child of Prophecy (set roughly five centuries earlier)
Reins of Destiny, The Decoy - can be read at any time at all without spoilers.
Sundering Star - suggested read after Fugitive Prince, takes place way, way earlier, and in the wider universe.
Black Bargain - do not read this one until AFTER arc III, Stormed Fortress, because it will spoil some reveals about one of the characters.
Hope this helps!
The series proper, in order:
Curse of the Mistwraith
Ships of Merior
Warhost of Vastmark (if you have the USA hardbound, ONLY, Ships/Warhost are under one cover)
Alliance of Light's five volumes come next:
Fugitive Prince
Grand Consparacy
Peril's Gate
Traitor's Knot
Stormed Fortress
Followed by Sword of the Canon's two volumes:
Initiate's Trial
Destiny's Conflict
Finale volume:
Song of the Mysteries
There are six short works of fiction that 'connect' to the back history. These can be read at your own timing, they are not necessary to comprehension of the series proper, but they will flesh out some critical backhistory.
Can be read as an OPENER before Curse of the Mistwraith/lending some deeper insight into the shape of the world's factions before society fractured:
The Gallant (six hundred years prior to opening of Mistwraith)
Child of Prophecy (set roughly five centuries earlier)
Reins of Destiny, The Decoy - can be read at any time at all without spoilers.
Sundering Star - suggested read after Fugitive Prince, takes place way, way earlier, and in the wider universe.
Black Bargain - do not read this one until AFTER arc III, Stormed Fortress, because it will spoil some reveals about one of the characters.
Hope this helps!
Janny Wurts
Hi Allison, it should be there now - it is possible that they did not list it very well (you may have to poke about a bit) to see it. I will write to my editor today and inquire. But it totally should be there! If I find a reader who can give me a link for you, I will post it herel Thank you for flagging this. I can't fix a problem I can't see.
Janny Wurts
Ray had a concept for the opening, and what became the ending of Servant of the Empire, where Mara is awarded the highest title of honor. Nothing in between, except for his barely sketched out bits from Magician. He contacted me to collaborate based on my novel, Sorcerer's Legacy, a standalone with a female lead. After badgering me for two years, I agreed to co-write - we sat down and made an outline for what became Daughter and Servant, intending it to be one volume. We wrote chapter 1 face to face, then, since he lives in CA and I am on the east coast, we selected 'sections' of the story to draft. Then we exchanged those draft files and overwrote them, again and again, until the style was seamless. When the first book got too chonky, we also realized: Mara could not become that powerful without crossing the Assembly of Magicians. At that point, we contacted the publisher with a proposal to expand the original contract into a trilogy - and here we are. It was a 50/50 effort in every sense, with our collaborative effort to expand the world of Kelewan and Tsurani culture built off of what Ray had placed in Magician. Quite a bit of flavor was added by my travel to Korea. Thank you for your interest and enthusiasm, it's a pleasure to answer your question.
Janny Wurts
It is certainly not the central theme of the story, whole volumes will focus on other things. Some of the characters do have relationships - but only the significant ones will be shown/and they're not going to take up much space beyond a handful of significant moments spread over 11 books. The 'will he/she/- won't he/she' - aspect of those relationships will not be the force driving the suspense as a whole.
Hope that answers your question, if you need to ask further, be welcome.
If a more central romantic plot is important to you. I'd suggest my standalone title, Sorcerer's Legacy.
Hope that answers your question, if you need to ask further, be welcome.
If a more central romantic plot is important to you. I'd suggest my standalone title, Sorcerer's Legacy.
Janny Wurts
Those certainly are interesting questions!
Janny Wurts
Yes, this is a 'transition' period for the e books - watch for an announcement soon! It is definitely not gone, will return, and you can still acquire it in paper print from HarperVoyager UK, and in audio from Audible, in the meantime. Simon Prebble's narration of the story is spectacular! Thanks for your interest and enthusiasm.
Janny Wurts
Thanks for your very lovely note.
No, Ray and I have no plans to 'continue' with this series, we both feel that we accomplished what we set out to do, and anything more would retread the same sorts of ideas. I appreciate that you'd love to read more, but unless a story has something truly relevant and new to reveal and surprise, it can overstay its welcome.
I can only recommend that you read Ray's solo work, or give mine a try - many readers who loved the Empire series also enjoyed To Ride Hell's Chasm, which also has themes of politics, honor and caste in society, threaded through plenty of lively action and vivid characters.
Again, thank you for letting me know of your enjoyment. Best always, JW
No, Ray and I have no plans to 'continue' with this series, we both feel that we accomplished what we set out to do, and anything more would retread the same sorts of ideas. I appreciate that you'd love to read more, but unless a story has something truly relevant and new to reveal and surprise, it can overstay its welcome.
I can only recommend that you read Ray's solo work, or give mine a try - many readers who loved the Empire series also enjoyed To Ride Hell's Chasm, which also has themes of politics, honor and caste in society, threaded through plenty of lively action and vivid characters.
Again, thank you for letting me know of your enjoyment. Best always, JW
Janny Wurts
Yes. There is an entire fourth volume in outline - the title would be Starhope, and it expands the picture into the aftermath (not good) of the greater interstellar 'war' beyond the little haven on Keithland....the projected tale joins the planetary story with the remnant human survivors in space who are driven to the fringes and scrapping for bare survival....I hope to finish it out one day. War of Light and Shadows' final volume comes first - then I'll have to assess what cards I have to play going forward.
Janny Wurts
I did, thank you so much for the heads up - I had word from my publicist at Harper360 - both of us thrilled for the perfection of timing, with the USA release of Destiny's Conflict this week.
Janny Wurts
Wow, serendipity, yes!
The latest: Audio book for Curse of the Mistwraith (volume 1) is up for release in April, narrator TBA when that is locked down.
This update replaces the old (maybe) answered before this changed:, an update is in the wind! Just today I received word of the first gleam of light on this - not sure, yet, how extensive, or whether the early volumes will be issued in this format. I will re-post on your query just as soon as I have more information, which ought to be soon. Keep your fingers crossed!
Meantime, letting the powers that be know that you want it is never a bad idea.
The latest: Audio book for Curse of the Mistwraith (volume 1) is up for release in April, narrator TBA when that is locked down.
This update replaces the old (maybe) answered before this changed:, an update is in the wind! Just today I received word of the first gleam of light on this - not sure, yet, how extensive, or whether the early volumes will be issued in this format. I will re-post on your query just as soon as I have more information, which ought to be soon. Keep your fingers crossed!
Meantime, letting the powers that be know that you want it is never a bad idea.
Janny Wurts
Working on that, now, fingers crossed!
Janny Wurts
The band played there, but there was no contest due to no other band in their grade competing. Not this year, for me; travel funds being scant, need to save for two later contests this fall.
Janny Wurts
Hi Alan, this is terrible to hear, I'd understood that HarperCollins UK who did the editions was very careful and thorough, and you are the very first reader I've received a complaint from. If you got the actual releases from HarperCollins, and not a bad scan done on the sly from elsewhere, and you would be so kind as to flag those errors, you could direct the request for corrections to HarperCollins Voyager in London. I'd also appreciate a cc of that error list, so I can follow it up from my end, also. (I actually have correcting some formatting errors (mostly capitalizations) on my docket, here, so if your corrections land on the volumes I'm reviewing, I can easily (and gratefully!!) include the corrections. Further: I have the Kindle editions here on my e reader and if you would list the volumes, I can check to see if the errors are concurrent. I care about your reading experience, and the accuracy of the text, very much, so thank you for the heads up. I'd be pleased to work with you further to get the problems corrected.
Janny Wurts
Hi Charles, totally, this series was designed for so many layers, it's impossible to get everything in one sweep. So pleased you are appreciating this! The official release date for Destiny's Conflict is Sept 7, 17 - but if you are USA based, it may take a little time to get the press run from London across to the states and into the system. I believe there is a pre-order page up already, and of course, Book Depository will ship anywhere in the world, which may circumvent the time gap entirely.
Thanks so much for your interest and enthusiasm, hearing from a happy reader is such a lift as I shoulder the first stages of the draft for the final volume, Song of the Mysteries.
Thanks so much for your interest and enthusiasm, hearing from a happy reader is such a lift as I shoulder the first stages of the draft for the final volume, Song of the Mysteries.
Janny Wurts
Hi Kathy, thanks and you're welcome. Yes, there will be two more books to complete the Wars of Light and Shadows series. The finale for arc IV, Destiny's Conflict, is in production now, and will release on September 7, 2017. I am completing the last little details on the cover art, and expect to turn that in next week. After that, there is the closing volume under contract, Song of the Mysteries, fully outlined with fragments written. I will begin the draft for that very shortly, and it closes the series proper. I've got 5 related short stories that detail back history - three are available as e releases from www.paravia.com/catalog, and another just released in Unfettered II by Shawn Speakman, which benefits cancer research and help for authors in medical difficulty; and the last one is coming in Evil is a Matter of Perspective, edited by Adrian Collins, to release very shortly. Thanks for your interest and your enthusiasm.
Janny Wurts
I would leap for joy if this were to happen. No deal in the works, yet, but I agree with you, it would make a fabulous and colorful series with many angles that would seem to suit what's being shown these days. Thanks for your interest and enthusiasm, let's hope one day!
Janny Wurts
Hi Dick Nielson, Ray read my first novel, Sorcerer's Legacy, which was a court intrigue with a female lead. He had this idea to do a novel in Tsurannuni, with a female lead - in fact had only the idea for the first chapter, (the scene opening Daughter) and the ending (of what later became the finish of Servant). He admired the intrigue my my book, and didn't feel comfortable doing a female protagonist. So, he started badgering me to collaborate. I refused for a very long time, having plenty of my own works under contract (I was working on my fourth book at that time, actually finishing the last volume of Cycle of Fire, and facing Master of Whitestorm, next up). I told him I'd read anything he wanted and help advise, for the female protagonist, as much as he needed. That wouldn't do. He kept at me, until finally, the concept of the story won me over. We began by writing that first scene and the first chapter, and together came up with an outline for what became Daughter and Servant. We sold the story on that conceptual start.
At that stage, we went back through the outline and detailed who would draft which scenes. Then we traded those drafts, back and forth, several times as electronic files, each of us overwriting them until the style was totally seamless.
When Daughter got too long to fit under one cover, we split it into Servant, and at that stage we both realized (forget who said it first, doesn't matter, the whole process was a fifty fifty synergy) -- Mara had gotten so powerful by the projected finish of Servant, that she would certainly run afoul of the Assembly of Magicians.
So Mistress was outlined on the spot, and we re-negotiated Daughter's contract, expanding it to a trilogy, and there you are.
While it takes place in Ray's universe, the development of the cultures in Tsurannuani were only very lightly sketched in (what you see in Magician). We worked out Tsurani society, fleshed it out, together, and built on the ideas of the Thuril and the Cho-ja he had introduced in his first book.
The whole process went very smoothly, we worked well developing the characters and plots together, and in many ways, our approaches compliment each other. If you ask either of us, we'll tell you what's true of any "fifty fifty" collaboration - we BOTH did two thirds of the work! Because taking two disparate styles and melting them together seamlessly takes more than doing your own.
Ray was a joy to work with, and we are friends to this day.
Thanks for asking.
At that stage, we went back through the outline and detailed who would draft which scenes. Then we traded those drafts, back and forth, several times as electronic files, each of us overwriting them until the style was totally seamless.
When Daughter got too long to fit under one cover, we split it into Servant, and at that stage we both realized (forget who said it first, doesn't matter, the whole process was a fifty fifty synergy) -- Mara had gotten so powerful by the projected finish of Servant, that she would certainly run afoul of the Assembly of Magicians.
So Mistress was outlined on the spot, and we re-negotiated Daughter's contract, expanding it to a trilogy, and there you are.
While it takes place in Ray's universe, the development of the cultures in Tsurannuani were only very lightly sketched in (what you see in Magician). We worked out Tsurani society, fleshed it out, together, and built on the ideas of the Thuril and the Cho-ja he had introduced in his first book.
The whole process went very smoothly, we worked well developing the characters and plots together, and in many ways, our approaches compliment each other. If you ask either of us, we'll tell you what's true of any "fifty fifty" collaboration - we BOTH did two thirds of the work! Because taking two disparate styles and melting them together seamlessly takes more than doing your own.
Ray was a joy to work with, and we are friends to this day.
Thanks for asking.
Janny Wurts
Hi Jasper - thanks for your interest and enthusiasm - looks to me like the first book was the typo, the 's' is pronounced, and not meant to be silent. Hope that clarifies, and so sorry for the mistake in the text. One tries very hard to catch everything, but the odd little bit can fall through the cracks. Your observation has been noted, here, and I will put it on a revisions list. Thank you!
Janny Wurts
Hi Justin,
I did a quick check to see what books you have listed with high ratings to steer my response, given each of my books are different, and your request for 'traditional' can be taken in several ways.
You seem to enjoy Stephen King, and many King readers (my husband included) enjoyed my standalone To Ride Hell's Chasm - traditional in that, the Captain of the Guard is tasked with finding a missing princess. My husband likens it to a cross between King's Eyes of Dragon and The Gunslinger - I've got 3 chapters posted as an audio sampler on my website, so you could check it out and see if it bites.
If by 'traditional' you mean coming of age - then my Cycle of Fire trilogy starting with Stormwarden follows three younger characters, all of whom are flawed, and not all will make the right decisions. It has wizards and pirates, and some deeply buried secrets under the way of the world. It is not 'traditional' in the sense it has elves or dwarves in it, but there is a threat to the world as they know it, and certain doom if they fail.
If you prefer a more sword and sorcery approach, and a single character, adventure oriented, but that unfolds into the psychological depths behind the legendary hero, then the standalone Master of Whitestorm might work. It has some very strange magic, and lots of action, so perhaps this could be a great pick, given you like Sanderson's work.
The most complicated series I've done would be the Wars of Light and Shadows beginning with Curse of the Mistwraith, and that one is really 'off the deep end' for complexity and layered concepts. It has a slow burn approach, builds very carefully to a half point, then converges into a hammering finish - but I'd not call it a simple or a skim read, it has depths and heights that unfold and twist your conceptions, but it won't tip its hand quickly, it's a slower build. The approach that 'seems' traditional at the outset is going to develop (as the volumes progress) into something very different, so much so, your 'assumption's will kick you in the teeth and reverse your stance, not once, but several times over. I don't normally recommend people start here, because it's not the easiest entry to my work, but if you love thought and depth and are able to ride with the shades of gray and the differing (and sometimes contradictory) views on morality until the hammer falls, then it might click straight off.
A cruise through my website will provide you with excerpts in all formats. You're welcome to my input if you have any more questions, and thank you for asking, I hope this response has been helpful.
I did a quick check to see what books you have listed with high ratings to steer my response, given each of my books are different, and your request for 'traditional' can be taken in several ways.
You seem to enjoy Stephen King, and many King readers (my husband included) enjoyed my standalone To Ride Hell's Chasm - traditional in that, the Captain of the Guard is tasked with finding a missing princess. My husband likens it to a cross between King's Eyes of Dragon and The Gunslinger - I've got 3 chapters posted as an audio sampler on my website, so you could check it out and see if it bites.
If by 'traditional' you mean coming of age - then my Cycle of Fire trilogy starting with Stormwarden follows three younger characters, all of whom are flawed, and not all will make the right decisions. It has wizards and pirates, and some deeply buried secrets under the way of the world. It is not 'traditional' in the sense it has elves or dwarves in it, but there is a threat to the world as they know it, and certain doom if they fail.
If you prefer a more sword and sorcery approach, and a single character, adventure oriented, but that unfolds into the psychological depths behind the legendary hero, then the standalone Master of Whitestorm might work. It has some very strange magic, and lots of action, so perhaps this could be a great pick, given you like Sanderson's work.
The most complicated series I've done would be the Wars of Light and Shadows beginning with Curse of the Mistwraith, and that one is really 'off the deep end' for complexity and layered concepts. It has a slow burn approach, builds very carefully to a half point, then converges into a hammering finish - but I'd not call it a simple or a skim read, it has depths and heights that unfold and twist your conceptions, but it won't tip its hand quickly, it's a slower build. The approach that 'seems' traditional at the outset is going to develop (as the volumes progress) into something very different, so much so, your 'assumption's will kick you in the teeth and reverse your stance, not once, but several times over. I don't normally recommend people start here, because it's not the easiest entry to my work, but if you love thought and depth and are able to ride with the shades of gray and the differing (and sometimes contradictory) views on morality until the hammer falls, then it might click straight off.
A cruise through my website will provide you with excerpts in all formats. You're welcome to my input if you have any more questions, and thank you for asking, I hope this response has been helpful.
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