What an Arc finale, a sweeping wrapping up and great balance of murderdom and beauty. Full circle indeed.

In this exceptional, flawless last book of the Alliance of Light Arc the story converges with intense and natural ease, and many plot threads are harmonically tied up against the backdrop of the siege of Alestron. The fortified citadel itself, with its charming atmosphere and dire straits, is a full-fledged protagonist as well as the stage of moral and armed conflicts, heroic deeds, petty revenges, opposed interests, complex strategies and fascinating mysteries permeating the book.

As always, one of the great skills of the author is to paint human feelings in impeccable prose, from tragedy to the highest form of exaltation, from sorrow, dread and ruin, to inspiration, hope and joy, inextricably intertwined with the gorgeous magic and life-force system of the world of Athera. The pace is relentless, the story superbly well-grounded yet unpredictable, one revelation follows the other, the characters are real, very rounded in their strengths and weaknesses, and they change, mature, or stay unmoving in their course, with all the nuances of the human soul which embraces both light and shadow. In this book, the themes of friendship and love are further explored, in their purest forms, free from selfishness, as the concept of loyalty to an ideal, to a cause, to a person, to a place, up to the extreme. All the involved factions pursue their goals with varying degrees of honesty and awareness, and the interests of the great opposing forces on the game-board (and beyond) converge on Alestron to influence its fate, and with it, that of the whole world.

There are many intense and expressive scenes, deliberately designed to immerse the reader in a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts; it is impossible not to feel part of the great cast of characters who, once again, enchants and surprises, particularly the half-brothers whose cursed conflict has seeded insecurity, attracted interests, escalated old enmities and invariably driven mankind to take sides.

I held high expectations for this book and the performance is impeccable. I was in awe of the delivery, with its seamless story and with Janny Wurts’ mastery for managing every scene, every character, down to the last little detail sown in the previous volumes, with consistency and originality. Depth and no sprawl, the accuracy and the boundless, scientific creativity I’ve come to expect from the author of this timeless fantasy series is evident in all the descriptions, the locations, the actions and the witty dialogues. I'm a fan of historical fiction, too, and sieges, with the maelstrom of psychology and physicality they entail, are one of my favorite themes, so I was thrilled to read such compelling and engaging siege description of a most original coastal city, it gives the story another flavor of uniqueness. This book totally enchanted me.

I can’t get enough of Athera. After a little time to recoup from the engulfing finale, I started the next book, [b:Initiate's Trial|6706844|Initiate's Trial (Wars of Light & Shadow #9; Arc 4 - Sword of the Canon, #1)|Janny Wurts|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351619263s/6706844.jpg|6902659]; many questions have been answered, but the last few chapters of Stormed Fortress open new horizons with natural grace, along with the story continuation, once again raising the stakes, and setting the markers further ahead. Terrific!! ( )

This book represents all the things I love about reading a series as opposed to individual works. Change, based on learning, experience and exposure to events, the world deepening and revealing  before unknown depths, the characters having to survive mistakes and the vagaries of plans gone awry because of things not understood or known, or simply because neither people nor plans are perfect.

Wonderful ending to this arc. Looking forward to finding out where in the universe the rest of the series goes I have no idea! And that’s brilliant. ( )

I am participating in a group read of this entire series via the Beyond Reality group. Click here to join in the discussions, lead by the author, Janny Wurts.

Review later after group discussion winds down. ( )

I’m unlikely to be the first to wonder about this, but I’m starting to suspect that a not unsubstantial part of the enjoyment readers derive from long series of doorstopper Fantasy novels might lie in the mere fact of having made it through the massive of printed paper – maybe indeed not unlike mountain climbing (a pastime I do not indulge in, so just speculating here) a feat of endurance with its main reward the consciousness of having surmounted a huge obstacle.

So, after having read all five fat volumes of the Alliance of Light arc of Janny Wurts’ epic The Wars of Light and Shadow in slightly over three weeks I’m feeling a bit exhausted when I look back on it and, yes, a bit proud at the sheer amount of novel I’ve managed to get through. There’s something almost physical about it, like a marathon runner making it through the whole distance, maybe even slightly masochistic – but then, it is definitely not limited to big Fantasy novels; the reader who turns the last page in the final volume of War and Peace or the Recherche feels exactly the same way.

It’s a literature of exhaustion, if you want, and I think the arrival at that state is an integral part of the reading experience – that deep sigh that mingles with the soft thud of the book clover closing, merging into a sound that signifies relief, satisfaction at an achievement and a bit of nostalgia for all things ending. And there are some things that are only possible if you do not rush but go for the slow, long duration – like a sense of development, be it of characters changing for better or worse, be it for history unfolding. You get both in Alliance of Light – looking back, the characters that survived until the end have come a long way indeed, both secondary characters like Sulfin Evend or Lirenda and major ones like Arithon, who is significantly less annoying by the end of this arc. (As an aside – with all his wallowing in self-pity and tragic postoring he reminded me more than once of Dorothy Dunnett’s Francis Crawford of Lymond – in fact, seeing how both Dunnett and Wurts have a penchant for convoluted, intricate plotting as well as a highly stylized language, I am sure there is a distinct and most likely conscious influence on The Wars of Light and Shadow here.) I also liked to see Lysaer get some attention in Stormed Fortress – in the previous volumes he seemed on his way to become a one-dimensional villain, but here he is once again presented as the tragic figure he is (much more so than Arithon, in my opinion at least).

This final installment of theAlliance of Light arc revolves, as the title indicates, mostly around a siege – and while that would appear mandatory for any work of Epic Fantasy, you do not get anything usually associated with this kind of thing in Stormed Fortress – no grand military action, no dashing sorties, no desperate last stands. What you get is almost the contrary of all that, humanity and compassion in the face of overwhelming aggression (and how many Fantasy epics are there that have given the ethics of their world and the characters populating serious thought? The only other one I can think of straight away is Kate Elliott’s Crossroads trilogy), and in general the siege of Areston is a fine example of how Janny Wurts only rarely does what you’d expect her to.

A lot of threads converge in this novel and it moves at an unusually brisk pace for this series – but that is to expected at the climax of an arc. Of course, there are even more threads left hanging, as there are still two more arcs composed of three more novels to come which I am eagerly looking forward to reading.

Superb. Classic epic fantasy from the first word right through to the final wrapping up of this arc of the story. Dramatic tension from the beginning and gripping characters throughout beguile and entrance the reader into one long journey of highs and lows.

The Stormed Fortress in question is, as was foretold in the preceding volume of Traitor's Knot, Duke Brandion's Pavarian warded citadel of Alestron. Given previous opportunity to flee the Duke is secure in his knowledge that the fortress has never fallen, and even the vast might of Lyessar's Alliance of Light armies are not enough to scare him. Besides with Jyessa trapped within, the fortress also holds Arithon's promise to keep her safe. Arithon has changed - the perils of Kewar's maze have enhanced his natural compassion, and even to spare the citadel's population, he will not shoulder the burden of more deaths. This leads to all kinds of desperate straits, with the Mistwraith's curse still active to snare the brothers into unrestrained animosity.

Meanwhile of course the Koriathians are still desperate to snare Arithon and ensure the Compact is broken, whilst the Fellowship Sorcerers are hard put to maintain their responsibilities as every manifestation of Arithon's ingenuity taxes already strained futures for the Pavarians and mankind's presence on Athera. Davien the Betrayer, is still active with his own vision of the future - but even he has promises that have to come due.

There are a couple of very minor bits that could have been improved - mostly relating to events in previous books. Unless you have a very good memory (better than mine anyway) I find I can't accurately recall the precise details of prophecies that were detailed sometimes several books previously. Whilst the prophecy is sometimes mentioned, I could have done with a refreshing of the important details, as many of these now come due. Fionn's especially needs more detailing. And my other personal dislike is the continued practice of scrying into the next scene that happens occasionally.

All the rest is magnificent, even if wrenching at times. I will never get used to favourite characters being killed, but the handling of death and importance of free choice is one of the key themes of the series. Elaria gets special mention, which given she barely featured in a couple of books is very gratifying. Her personal fate remains fraught with tension - and many question remain to be answered in next story arc. Lyessor also gets a lot more detailing and complex motivations rather than just becoming the focus of evil he appeared in some of the previous books.

A real highlight of the series this is the conclusion to many of the storylines. Simply a superb wrapping up of many characters' complex fates, and a wonderful story. I'm sure I'll be re-reading the entire series several times, purely to wring more joy from this ending. Read them all.

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After re-read:
Very little to add to that. It remains a stunning and captivating book. Of which the actual siege is perhaps the least important, which shows how much else is going on in the world!. Although all the main plot points are tied together, there remain many key details left for the ongoing books in the series to pick up upon. I'm sure they will become important.

This time through I did notice a few ebook specific publishing errors where an extra space was included between certain words. This is the least annoying error I've come across, but still shouldn't be there. ( )