Intensely satisfying on so many levels., 30 Dec 2002

Intricate, challenging, beautiful, yet accessible. Buy it. Read it. Sit in awed wonder as you remember that fantasy can be so much more than Dragonlance.

Longer Reveiw:

For those of you who have never read anything by Janny Wurts..

Are you sick of characters that have been taken from the pages of "Stereotypes and Their Common Derivatives"? Are you frustrated by plots that rely on stupid coincidences, idiotic assumptions, frustratingly stubborn characters refusing to acknowledge the obvious, or even dialogue that could be substituted with that of several other fanatasy 'works'? If so, then 'To Ride Hell's Chasm' is most certainly an opportunity for you to rediscover that Fantasy is not just for 11 year old boys who should get outside more.

Put simply, Janny Wurts doesn't dumb things down. She won't spoon-feed you with justifications and explanations you don't need. She assumes that you are an intelligent reader, that you have the ability to pick up on subtleties and emotional nuance. And having made these assumptions, she then takes you by the hand and leads you down a path that other mainstream authors are afraid to tread.

And does she deliver? Is the proverbial bacon brought home?

Now, keep in mind that none of my comments here are made lightly. I've read my share of reviews, and I know how easy it is to be cynical about somebody else's high praise. But there really is no other way to go about this - with 'To Ride Hell's Chasm', Janny doesn't just deliver. No way. What you receive when you read this book is no less than a package of Total Literary Satisfaction.

So, what are the Characters like? Well, let's just say that we finally have an author willing to give us an assortment of protagonists that are intelligent enough to be believable. But it goes deeper than that, even the minor players are wonderfully developed - you truly get an appreciation not just of WHAT people are doing, but WHY they are doing it. And more importantly, why they are doing it in their particular way. I can't go into detail without spoiling your enjoyment of the story, but I will say this - never has a Fantasy book made me constantly reassess my interpretations of the characters and their roles to the extent that To Ride Hell's Chasm did. I never saw a lot of the developments coming, and they added an immense amount of depth and texture to the story. Satisfying does not begin to describe how it feels for an author to place so much trust in me as a reader.

And the plot! When I started reading it, I thought I was in familiar territory, that I was in for a comfortable stroll through well known material. Five minutes later, I was gripping the book a little harder than was strictly good for it, trying to second guess where everything was leading. Half an hour later, I was as good as dead to the world around me, a stupid grin fixed on my face, resigned to the fact that I wouldn't be sleeping til the story was over. This book is one long crescendo of building tension, excitement, and action - which is great. But where this novel really shines is in the way it doesn't follow the formula you'd expect it to. It's a story that will mess with your preconceptions, it will constantly lead you into territory both unfamilliar and exciting, and it will culminates in a climax that you will not expect but rather find to be wholly and utterly fulfilling. This is not your average hack-and-slash must-find-the-sacred-artifact-and-save-the-world fantasy. This is not a book written to formula. This is not a story which allows its genre to compromise its integrity.

This is, quite simply, an accessible, well-paced, stand-alone novel that will make you wonder why you've been putting up with the second rate drivel that many major publishing houses think we want. On the whole, Fantasy is read by intelligent, creative, highly imaginative people. In this case, both the Author and her book do justice to the audience.

So there you have it. If you want an exciting read, buy this book. If you want to read Fantasy that you can finally relate to, buy this book. If you think you've read everything there is to read, and life holds no more wonder for you - buy this book.

No matter what your motivation, you won't go away disappointed. It's just that good.

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