The Mists of Sorrow

The Morcyth Saga #7

by Brian S. Pratt

The quest to find a friend whose life hangs by a thread, leads James and Jiron back into the heart of the Empire. The impetus behind the hunt is not as it would seem. The life of their friend is but a lure used to draw James to the appointed place at the appointed time.

James is ultimately maneuvered to face the power behind the Empire, a dark being whose orchestration of peoples and powers has brought the world to the point of annihilation. He discovers that he, too, has been manipulated in furthering the dark plans of this sinister being.

Can James defeat a being that has walked this world for over a millennia? Or will he face defeat and the destruction of all that he has come to hold dear.

Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Fiction

458 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2006

About the author

Brian was born in Modesto, California. He graduated high school in 1985 and went straight into the Air Force where he was trained as an Avionic Specialist on the F-117A Stealth Fighter.

When his tour of duty was over, he joined Pizza Hut as a delivery driver where he quickly rose to become a General Manager of a delivery unit in Edmonds, WA.

Then after a short stint as a taxi driver, he spent two years as a driving instructor and now writes full time.

He currently lives in Boswell, OK and missing the three most wonderful children in the world: Joseph, Breanna, and Abigayle. They truly are the lights of his life.

Reviews

[Kane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't believe I have been going through this series so fast. That's just how good it is. I haven't read many books, I didn't even read the books that were assigned in high school, "thank you cliff notes" (even those I didn't enjoy reading....but this series and surprised me as how much I like reading it. I almost finished each book in the series in two maybe 3 sittings. It's not record breaking for many but believe me, it is a first for me.

[Helen Mansfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Couldn't put this fast paced series down!

Just what I like to get my teeth into, full of adventures and loved all the ingenious twists and turns. Couldn't put it down, the kids have been taken into care because I stopped feeding them, the husband has left me because he couldn't get any sense out of me and now I discover there's more to read. My next review will no doubt be from my homeless tent.
Only bug bears were, proof reading needs to be tightened up alot.

[Willie Aquino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting and well written

Enjoyable as the first books in the series. Continues to surprise and intrigue, which is interesting in that not many series can retain interest like this.

[Jerry McKenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Eddings and Raymond Feist ride again

For those who like the Belgarion and Pugs sagas. This series embraces that genre of storytelling with many novel ideations.

[Sebastien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alors nous y voici, le grand finale, l'ultime livre de la série, celui qui fermera toutes les portes et nous fera vivre la jouissance d'une fin heureuse. Après nous avoir fait sourire et aimer les 4 derniers livre on pourrais croire que l'auteur nous réserve le meilleur pour la fin, qu'il s'est garder du stock pour nous faire applaudir sa série et nous faire oublier les écart d'éditing, de typos et de redondance. Ce livre nous fera-t-il crier sur les toits que si tu n'a pas lu la Morcyth Saga tu est un inculte?

He bien non. Ce livre n'est pas le bijoux tant espéré, il n'est pas le meilleur de la série et en plus il n'est pas original. Aucune des idées rafraichissante de l'auteur n'y prend place et on doit relire, à notre grande peine, l'histoire du deuxième volume...

He oui, l'auteur devait être fier de on idée dans le deuxième volume car il reprend exactement la même prémisse. Le héros entend parler de quelque chose, il va de ville en ville vers ce quelques chose, lui et ses alliers meulent tout ce qui bouge et en suite continue vers le site qu'ils veulent aller (tout en meulant tout ce qui bouge). Si vous avez aimer le deuxième livre, vous allez aimer celui-ci aussi. Mais si comme moi c'est le pire de la série, he bien lui devient le deuxième pire car il est mieux écrit au moins.

C'est à croire que l'auteur à manquer d'idées. Quand je disais que le sixième livre semblait faire un build-up vers un final épique, c'était ça. Comme l'auteur l'a gâcher en la mettant à la fin de son sixième livre, il ne s'est pas garder de jus pour donner une raison au héros de faire le chemin pour aller affronter son méchant final. Donc, solution facile, faire promener le héros sur toute la map et l'attirer vers le lair du méchant final et faire un final fight.

Il existe tellement d'idées meilleurs pour obliger le héros à se battre contre le méchant que c'est exaspérant de penser qu'on soit obliger de relire ce concept à la final fantasy 7 (En effet je suis des rare qui trouvent que final 7 est à chier). Mais je comprend qu'en finissant son sixième livre de la manière que l'auteur l'a fait, il ne se laissait pas beaucoup de manœuvre.

Donc, comme le livre se lit comme le deuxième livre, on pourrait se dire que l'auteur va, comme pour le deuxième livre, sauver la face avec le final. Pas cette fois-ci. En fait le livre fini exactement comme le deuxième livre. Donc aucune surprise, on voit le final arriver à des miles à la ronde et quand on dépose le livre, la seule chose qui sauve ce final, c'est que l'auteur nous fait au moins le bonheur de nous dire ce qui se passe après.

J'ai été très déçu par cette finale et ce dernier roman. Je m'attendais au mois à quelque chose d'original ou tant qu'à être dans le cliché, bien le faire. Là on a droit à du réchauffé de réchauffé de restant. Même assaisonné à une meilleur sauf, sa goûte quand même le réchauffé.

Donc, de toute manière si vous voulez savoir la fin vous avez, comme moi, pas le choix de lire en entier ce roman. Au pire, garder vos espoirs bas et peut-être aurez vous plus de plaisir que moi à finir cette saga qui aura eu ses hauts et ses bas.

[ConnieM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the final book of The Morcyth Saga. I must say right now, if you want a really good read, this 7-book series is one to get and keep. However, there are pluses and minuses in this series. First, the minuses. This author has an awful writing style - bad, bad grammar - he crams more prepositions into one sentence than I ever thought could be possible! Misspelled words - I frequently had to guess the word or the character in the sentence. The unabashed use of repetitive phrases - I bet Pratt used the cut and paste buttons more than any author in the computer age. Every fight scene has nearly the exact phrases and certainly they all have the same order of action. I skimmed through each of these only to be sure my expectations of the outcome weren't left in the dust by an unexpected death. The Same goes for every inn, every road trip, every town ... same action sequences everywhere.

So, you may be asking, if the writing is so awful, why did I persevere? Because there are some pluses that are mightier than the minuses. Pratt very capably paints an incredible world full of beauty, mystery, exotic cultures and magic. His characters are amazing - some you hate and some you love. The bad guys are seething with evil and some of them made me feel very uncomfortable spending time in their presence. The ones you love, you fear for them in every fight scene. You see, there is another reason to skim rapidly through those long, drawn out cut/pasted fighting scenes - to find out who lives and who dies.

In this final book, as in all the others, there is a very high creepy factor, too. Lots of dark, underground caves with sparkling gems, lakes, rivers with an adrenaline junky's dream of a water slide. There are nasty underground dungeons and evil creatures, red, glowing domes of evil magic, and a creepy cult of warrior priests that use human slaves for their evil magic. And that's just the tip of the ice berg - the story is the real achievement. It holds you through the bad writing style, even if it is a write up of a Dungeons and Dragons game - at least, that's my feeling. The unsuspecting young mage, James enters this dangerous, magical world with only his familiarity with Dungeons and Dragons to use for survival. How unsuspecting a mage he is is not revealed until the very end of this final book. If you like magic, lots of creepy stuff and high adrenaline action, you will love these books, as do I. A great read!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mists of Sorrow, the final book in the series has a very satisfying ending.
The reasons why it gets only a three from me are the style and the extremely unedited state (sometimes there are even ungrammatical sentences), having lots and lots of word repetition, and poor wording of sentences.
The characters really do not feel lively. They are extremely easy to convince (even experienced generals and fighters), and they are mostly devoid of any gesture during conversations, as if they are performing in a theatre.
James, the main character is the most curious, however. He, having completely no experience of most things that he gets to know in this new world, grows into commanding experienced men as if he was doing this throughout his entire life, which, let's face it, is not too long so far. Character development is, of course, part of the story, but he becomes really unbalanced. After just about a few paragraphs, he is able to do anything, or accept anything (see the loincloth in book seven).
Meanwhile, we rarely see what happens inside any of the characters during the story. A notable example of this is the question of morals. James has trouble accepting the fact that he murders so many men, but there is no indication of this until it suddenly appears in a passage. Two passages later, all's good again: he accepts that he is doing something necessary, and it is never mentioned again.
As I have stated in other reviews of the series, with a bit of editing, and possibly rewriting parts of the story, all of this can be improved.
Apart from these serious issues, The Morcyth Saga is a pleasant read, however in this state, I feel, it is not going to be remembered for too long.

[pdarnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must say I am truly saddened to see this series end. I have looked forward to seeing more of James and Miko. My mother and niece devoured this series, I tried to make it last as long as I could. I think I laughed more in this final book, read quicker not wanting to put it down than I had any of the others prior. The story wraps the series up nicely and gave me a sigh of contentment. The search for Tinok is the main focus with many interruptions along the way. Miko is again more prominent in this book as well. There is a lot of action, mystery, giving the empire grief and puzzling trials. I will be rereading this series again in the future. Lots of fun. The characters were what made this series so enjoyable.

[Connie Fogg-Bouchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

all good things come to an end

Jihon will not give up on his best friend whom he'd thought lost forever. But battling the evil of Dmon-Li is overpowering the combined strengths of two High Priests and a mage. will a sacrifice be demanded?

the series matured as it was written. the endless rides and constant fighting which were so prevalent in the first several books faded to the background as the characters developed. I chose five stars for all of the books as i choose to be entertained rather than critical of writing. anyone who reads this series will find their own favorite part. mine was the discovery of Black Hawk.

"May your swords drink deeply."

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was captivated till the end - and just when I was thinking - "No, don't end," - what do you know there are more to read on the exploits of James.

Loved the 7 books - now I'm eager to read the continuation. Definitely a recommend to all adventure, magic lovers.

Well done! And Thank You so much Brian.

[Ramdas Ormond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story, weak writing. This is the case throughout the whole series.

"Then we do stood a chance," he said with a grin.

This quote, lifted from the third book is only one of many examples. I read the series anyway and enjoyed it. The writing did set my teeth on edge at times.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the books about James and friends I am currently reading the Dark Mage I don't want them to end I have'nt enjoyed reading as much as reading these books Will there be any more?

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last book in the saga seemed to have been written in a hurry. Despite the many errors (Morcynth was used instead of Dmon-Li etc.) I did enjoy the book. The ending could have been better but it was what I had expected..

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series started out good and ended poorly. I think it had every cliche in the book (see how I did that)

[Dan Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent ending to the series.

Will read this series again.

[Muhammad Gibran · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 day marathon to read this saga has ended with satisfaction. Great book, great story.

[Laura-Grace Coley · Rating 1 out of 5]

If it wasn't for my compulsive need to finish a series once I've started, I would have never read this. I would have loved to see the series grow to its full potential, but sadly that didn't happen.

[LeAnn Jones]

Beautiful ending, loved how quickly the story was wrapped up with a bow.

[Alan Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it, like the rest, sure there could be more stories in this world I hope..

[Johnathan Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book because he has this epic battle between good and evil.... who will win it will be better in the next series.

[Audrey Moberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome series jam packed with action! Loved it!