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The White Mists of Power
Presents a story of mistaken identities, treacherous journeys, close escapes, and a hero of extraordinary charisma and strength
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
2 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
About the author
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
1,365 books720 followersKristine Kathryn Rusch is an award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy writer. She has written many novels under various names, including Kristine Grayson for romance, and Kris Nelscott for mystery. Her novels have made the bestseller lists –even in London– and have been published in 14 countries and 13 different languages.
Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.
In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".
She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances
Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.
In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".
She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 28, 2009
Given that every fantasy writer out there seems to be producing trilogies (at least), it's good to get my hands on a standalone novel every so often!
In The White Mists of Power, Rusch initially starts with two storylines, one involving a crazy duke who likes to hunt people with hounds (see cover) and one involving a young prince, the son of a figurehead king, who wants to see the real world for himself. In the former, the duke's latest prey is a bard who manages to outwit the dogs, with a little help, while the prince gets lost in the city and things get decidedly unpleasant for him.
All of this is underpinned by a world where the rulers live in uneasy relationship with those who control its natural forces, with the eponymous white mists being a sign of whether someone will become a leader. Where the novel falls down is when the two storylines collide and you discover that Rusch has somewhat pulled the wool over her reader's eyes - one of her main characters is not who he seems to be, but there's also things going on in the space between the storylines that we don't know about until the exposition dump towards the end.
I finished it, but I can't say it's a book I would read again, because that whole set-up and authorial sleight of hand vexed me too much.
In The White Mists of Power, Rusch initially starts with two storylines, one involving a crazy duke who likes to hunt people with hounds (see cover) and one involving a young prince, the son of a figurehead king, who wants to see the real world for himself. In the former, the duke's latest prey is a bard who manages to outwit the dogs, with a little help, while the prince gets lost in the city and things get decidedly unpleasant for him.
All of this is underpinned by a world where the rulers live in uneasy relationship with those who control its natural forces, with the eponymous white mists being a sign of whether someone will become a leader. Where the novel falls down is when the two storylines collide and you discover that Rusch has somewhat pulled the wool over her reader's eyes - one of her main characters is not who he seems to be, but there's also things going on in the space between the storylines that we don't know about until the exposition dump towards the end.
I finished it, but I can't say it's a book I would read again, because that whole set-up and authorial sleight of hand vexed me too much.
February 9, 2011
This book is one of Rusch's first published novels, and it shows. I thought the book had a lot of promise in the beginning--and it wasn't bad--but it got too complicated too quickly, trying to fit too many characters and too many plots into a fairly short book.
There are two threads at the beginning of the book, one following the magician Seymour (or really, following the bard Byron, since Seymour is following him after a very short time), and one following the young prince Adric. When they come together, about three-quarters of the way through the book, it's in a way that I never predicted. That sounds like a good thing, but even when I thought back through it with my new knowledge of how they fit together, I could find no clues. It could have been a really cool revelation if there had been a few clues that I could have said on hindsight "oh, that's what that meant," but that didn't happen.
As I said, there were too many characters; several even had POV sections only to disappear or at least fade away. I would have loved to have seen more of the faerie-like Enos, and though they did take a greater part toward the end, I never really got to understand the beings. I think there would have been more room for them, and other world-building (I'm not even certain what technology level the country had), with a more judicious choice of characters.
The ending was disappointing as well; I won't spoil it, but it seemed rushed and some secrets I hoped would come to light never did.
There are two threads at the beginning of the book, one following the magician Seymour (or really, following the bard Byron, since Seymour is following him after a very short time), and one following the young prince Adric. When they come together, about three-quarters of the way through the book, it's in a way that I never predicted. That sounds like a good thing, but even when I thought back through it with my new knowledge of how they fit together, I could find no clues. It could have been a really cool revelation if there had been a few clues that I could have said on hindsight "oh, that's what that meant," but that didn't happen.
As I said, there were too many characters; several even had POV sections only to disappear or at least fade away. I would have loved to have seen more of the faerie-like Enos, and though they did take a greater part toward the end, I never really got to understand the beings. I think there would have been more room for them, and other world-building (I'm not even certain what technology level the country had), with a more judicious choice of characters.
The ending was disappointing as well; I won't spoil it, but it seemed rushed and some secrets I hoped would come to light never did.
August 23, 2018
I haven't read anything by this author before and, in hindsight, maybe starting with her debut novel wasn't the best idea. Because although this was an ok read, it read like something that needed a tad more polishing.
The story basically tells of a power struggle between greedy lords and a King that is mysteriously attached to the land. His eldest son seemingly dies while visiting the city, although the reader is aware that this is a lie, as we follow the boy through a number of adventures. A second story line tells of an inept wizard saving the life of a bard, and of them travelling together to visit the king. The two plots swap back and forth, but don't always follow straight on from the last time, so it was all to easy to get a little lost. After a while, although still enjoying the read, I found myself becoming a little bored with the 'action'.
I loved the idea of the Enos and wonder if the author has explored them more in other books. They were the most fascinating and only original thing about the story, yet they only appeared sporadically until the climax of the book.
So overall, an ok read, but not something I would need to return to again.
The story basically tells of a power struggle between greedy lords and a King that is mysteriously attached to the land. His eldest son seemingly dies while visiting the city, although the reader is aware that this is a lie, as we follow the boy through a number of adventures. A second story line tells of an inept wizard saving the life of a bard, and of them travelling together to visit the king. The two plots swap back and forth, but don't always follow straight on from the last time, so it was all to easy to get a little lost. After a while, although still enjoying the read, I found myself becoming a little bored with the 'action'.
I loved the idea of the Enos and wonder if the author has explored them more in other books. They were the most fascinating and only original thing about the story, yet they only appeared sporadically until the climax of the book.
So overall, an ok read, but not something I would need to return to again.
July 7, 2025
Just thinking back fondly on this book, which left me with the perpetual need to consider whether disparate plotlines in a novel are actually taking place concurrently or whether it's possible that one of them is secretly a series of flashbacks, lol. The things that stick with you after 30 years...
July 3, 2020
Long story. Many years ago, while discussing great fiction writers that started out writing short fiction for magazines (mostly pulps) one person said we should all be subscribing to current fiction magazines to keep a small training ground open for the next generation of great fiction writers. Because it was cost effective at the time, I subscribed to Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Analog, Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazines and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
Because I expected to be discovering lots of bright young talent, I wrote and app to track the stories so that authors with five-star ratings could be sorted out of the chafe and I could go out and buy their books.
One such author was Kristine Kathryn Rusch. I had never heard of her, but she was writing for almost all the magazines mentioned above and after a year, my app told me that she was my favourite short story writer.
That was then, this is now. Most magazine subscriptions are just too darned expensive, and, as I discovered, most of the people writing for them have been writing for them for years, so there isn't a lot of new talent there (but I did discover a few writers that I actively follow).
About this book, I was disappointed. It moved along briskly and interestingly until about three quarters of the way in when things suddenly changed, like the author was running out of time or pages. Characters that were in every-other chapter suddenly disappear. Lots of things start happening off-stage and the Enos who were barely in the book suddenly take center-stage.
I really wanted to like this book, but it sort of washed out in the last quarter. Also, my biggest peeve was that Lord Ewehl leaves the castle with Prince Adric, if full site of the King and Queen and returns without him. I don't care how you spin this. A lord loses the crown prince in town, why doesn't that lord lose his head. The handling of this whole scenario made not sense and when it didn't get tied up, it really burned my biscuits.
Because I expected to be discovering lots of bright young talent, I wrote and app to track the stories so that authors with five-star ratings could be sorted out of the chafe and I could go out and buy their books.
One such author was Kristine Kathryn Rusch. I had never heard of her, but she was writing for almost all the magazines mentioned above and after a year, my app told me that she was my favourite short story writer.
That was then, this is now. Most magazine subscriptions are just too darned expensive, and, as I discovered, most of the people writing for them have been writing for them for years, so there isn't a lot of new talent there (but I did discover a few writers that I actively follow).
About this book, I was disappointed. It moved along briskly and interestingly until about three quarters of the way in when things suddenly changed, like the author was running out of time or pages. Characters that were in every-other chapter suddenly disappear. Lots of things start happening off-stage and the Enos who were barely in the book suddenly take center-stage.
I really wanted to like this book, but it sort of washed out in the last quarter. Also, my biggest peeve was that Lord Ewehl leaves the castle with Prince Adric, if full site of the King and Queen and returns without him. I don't care how you spin this. A lord loses the crown prince in town, why doesn't that lord lose his head. The handling of this whole scenario made not sense and when it didn't get tied up, it really burned my biscuits.
April 1, 2020
I love fantasy but I loathe derivative fantasy that reads like a reworking of Lord of the Rings. Thankfully this book is nothing like a reworking of Lord of the Rings. This is a fresh and original novel, with a delicious twist.
The world is rich and intersting, the characters are well drawn and intriguing. The adventure is fast paced and draws the reader into the book. I loved it - one of my favourite fantasy books.
It is hard to accurately detail the story without giving away some of the plot twist. Nevertheless ithis was an original story. Elves get a small mention but not Tolkien elves. there is a prophecy and some political intrigue and a power struggle, but mostly this is a book about the characters you find - and those are interesting characters. I wish this book was more widely known.
The world is rich and intersting, the characters are well drawn and intriguing. The adventure is fast paced and draws the reader into the book. I loved it - one of my favourite fantasy books.
It is hard to accurately detail the story without giving away some of the plot twist. Nevertheless ithis was an original story. Elves get a small mention but not Tolkien elves. there is a prophecy and some political intrigue and a power struggle, but mostly this is a book about the characters you find - and those are interesting characters. I wish this book was more widely known.
September 19, 2022
Despite a bit of an unfocused final section (I hesitate to call it a third act; the climax & third act seem to get solved on about page 225/300), this was still a great read with something that I've really only seen done before in modern television, so it totally took me by surprise. I laughed once everything clicked into place and realized I'd been fooled.
I only picked this up b/c I read in an interview w/Kevin J Anderson that this was based heavily on the RPG group he was in w/Kristine, where she was the DM. This utterly intrigued me, and I figured I'd pick it up. I loved the way that this focused on character, and how sometimes obviously bad rolls were behind how things played it - things don't always work out perfectly.
Utterly enjoyable read. I'm definitely going to check out more of Rusch's stuff (I'm sure I read her Star Wars book LONG ago, but I don't even remember it).
I only picked this up b/c I read in an interview w/Kevin J Anderson that this was based heavily on the RPG group he was in w/Kristine, where she was the DM. This utterly intrigued me, and I figured I'd pick it up. I loved the way that this focused on character, and how sometimes obviously bad rolls were behind how things played it - things don't always work out perfectly.
Utterly enjoyable read. I'm definitely going to check out more of Rusch's stuff (I'm sure I read her Star Wars book LONG ago, but I don't even remember it).
December 2, 2025
This is the kind of book that can be read with a smile on your face. Put your arms in the air when the momentum builds, whoop and holler when the track flips you upside down. This is the kind of story that needs a reader willing to keep their arms inside the ride at all times. The characters know what they are doing, why, and can accurately guess the effects of their actions with the far seeing eye that an author should try to hide. There’s a really cool premise here and I enjoyed the story until it became time to start wrapping the plot up. Seymour disappears and characters become one dimensional. A very fun read so long as you don’t look too closely at the set dressing.
November 12, 2017
This was a spectacular find. I loved this novel and found it very hard to put down. There was no way for the reader to know which direction the novel was going to next as there was a new twist around every turn. The characters are very real, and never stray from the form the author has constructed for them.
The story line was also one of the most original I have read to date. Yes, this is set in the time of castles and magic, but you will be amazed at how different the story is from others in its genre. I wasn't disappointed.
The story line was also one of the most original I have read to date. Yes, this is set in the time of castles and magic, but you will be amazed at how different the story is from others in its genre. I wasn't disappointed.
March 7, 2024
This has sat on my shelf for a very long time and I don’t remember where it even came from. It has a colour in the title so it fitted the reading theme for this month. There are two main story lines going on, a prince lost and a bard and wizard who become friends. I wrongly assumed that they were running in parallel but it turns out were on two different time lines entirely. I also struggled to work out who it was aimed at - young adults or older. But that said it was a pretty entertaining read, and it crammed a lot in for such a short book.
April 30, 2023
Absolutely Lovely.
I like the unique difference from other fantasy novels in that there are no centuries old, dark magical kingdom threatening enemy that needed uncovering or vanquishing, by a chosen select few.
Just a land of magic woven into a strong narrative, and characters, told so well that you are drawn into the story, loving every minute of it, and the plot surprise as well.
I like the unique difference from other fantasy novels in that there are no centuries old, dark magical kingdom threatening enemy that needed uncovering or vanquishing, by a chosen select few.
Just a land of magic woven into a strong narrative, and characters, told so well that you are drawn into the story, loving every minute of it, and the plot surprise as well.
December 6, 2020
Eh, what can I say? While it's certainly a really good attempt at a first book, it's very obviously also the first book the author wrote. I had some hope for this book, but ended up just thinking it was OK. Some cool elements made up for some sometimes less than stellar writing.
June 6, 2021
Her explanation of the magic, of the blood lust of the land/trees if humans went to war, wasn't well explained or developed. I liked the story of the prince and how members of the court plotted against him, and his development.
March 25, 2022
I have no feelings on this novel.
August 31, 2023
👍👍👑👑🪄🪄🌳🌳👍👍
December 11, 2024
An enjoyable fantasy adventure that (I agree with the other reviewers here) is a bit wobbly in places, but forget all that. It's pure pulp. Embrace the pulp and enjoy the journey.
December 26, 2024
A solid book set in a low-fantasy world. The writing is good, but the story kinda peters out somewhat in the second half.
November 25, 2011
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's a grand romp through epic fantasy. The one qualm I had with the book was that it was too short. Rusch seems to job around a lot in time, sometimes having a couple months pass between chapters. Yes, I know that's fine, but yet... it seemed a little choppy. The book didn't flow as smoothly as it could have. Rusch could have made the book a bit loner, and in doing so made the flow a lot smoother.
As for the actual plot, it was superb. Lots of action, lots of fun. Rusch has created a great little world. I thought the climax was awesome, all the rising action lead up to an amazing culmination of events. I saw the plot twist coming, then dismised it as a crazy idea, but it wasn't crazy. Read this novel. Once you get to the end you'll be marveled at the story that Rusch was able to create.
As for the actual plot, it was superb. Lots of action, lots of fun. Rusch has created a great little world. I thought the climax was awesome, all the rising action lead up to an amazing culmination of events. I saw the plot twist coming, then dismised it as a crazy idea, but it wasn't crazy. Read this novel. Once you get to the end you'll be marveled at the story that Rusch was able to create.
January 4, 2013
Overall, I really liked it, the real problem lying in the fact that I loved the beginning/middle and started to get bored through the late middle/ending. The plot started to octopus out of control a bit, and the pacing became a little hectic. Also, the romance angle was just completely predictable and blah.
Okay, I'm complaining and I liked the book. First off, I liked most of the characters. They weren't good/bad, there was some depth there. The author had no qualms killing likable characters, which is not always the case in fantasy. There was a bit of mystery to it as well, which I'm always up for.
I think the book could have been improved by turning it into two books. Also that way I'd have another one to look forward to.
Okay, I'm complaining and I liked the book. First off, I liked most of the characters. They weren't good/bad, there was some depth there. The author had no qualms killing likable characters, which is not always the case in fantasy. There was a bit of mystery to it as well, which I'm always up for.
I think the book could have been improved by turning it into two books. Also that way I'd have another one to look forward to.
September 12, 2010
I bought this book years ago and never got round to reading it then it caught my eye the other day so thought I'd give it a go and was suprised at how much I'm enjoying it. Very easy to read, builds the pace up nicely, there's a feeling that something big is going to happen so it adds tension. I was kind of disappointed by the ending - it was a bit of a damp squib. And it got a bit confusing towards the end until it dawned on me that one part of it was set in the past, then it all became clear. Certainly not one of the best books I've ever read but far from the worst
December 7, 2007
I had really liked Rusch's short stories, and Pulphouse. I remember buying this novel with great anticipation and finding it to be generic. I haven't really liked the look of any of her books since then...
February 5, 2008
This book has a parallel story structure (the author is telling two stories set in two different time frames), but it isn't clear until about halfway through. Both stories are enjoyable, so even when you realize what's going on, you're not likely to throw the book against the wall.
March 22, 2019
Well written story. Some really good dialogue. Compelling main character. The author kept me interested in his fate. I read this at least twenty years ago and it holds up after all that time. Three and a half stars.
November 1, 2013
I like Ms Rusch's writing, whatever the genre or series.
Want to read
July 26, 2015This is copy 75 of 400 signed numbered copies.
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