Janny Wurts

Everyone knew that there was no escape from the slave galleys of the Murghai: once chained to an oar the only release is death. But Korendir refuses to recognize impossibilities and aided by his rowing companion, Haldeth, he leads a desperate but successful revolt.

The Master of Whitestorm

the escapades of korendir, the eventual eponymous master of whitestorm, aren't exactly what I was prepared for when I started reading this book. it's not bad, but it feels more like a somewhat abbreviated series of cool vignettes of adventures in the life of an OC for whom the author had a single idea.

which, yeah, honestly, the blurb on the back listing the first three major undertakings of his and claiming "always korendir's goal is treasure; but never for its own sake" could've clued me in slightly. frankly, if you simply broke these quests off into their own short stories, little else would change about the structure of what is contained in this book, and I think the pitch as a novel instead of a collection of short stories does it more harm than good.

the prose is often evocative, but borders on purple at times when magic or the realm from which it hails are in play, leaving me in a spot where I need to reread a paragraph or two to try and get a grip on what exactly happened in a pivotal moment.

I don't think the characters here have much depth, either, unfortunately, which is perhaps why it wasn't super motivating to continue on. there is only so much character development to be wrung from a man whose Mysterious Parentage and Assorted Habits leave him with every tool he needs to solve every problem he's faced with, and whose only flaw seems to be that he simply cares too much. his story was always bound to end the way it did, bound to a single volume.

Valori

the escapades of korendir, the eventual eponymous master of whitestorm, aren't exactly what I was prepared for when I started reading this book. it's not bad, but it feels more like a somewhat abbreviated series of cool vignettes of adventures in the life of an OC for whom the author had a single idea.

which, yeah, honestly, the blurb on the back listing the first three major undertakings of his and claiming "always korendir's goal is treasure; but never for its own sake" could've clued me in slightly. frankly, if you simply broke these quests off into their own short stories, little else would change about the structure of what is contained in this book, and I think the pitch as a novel instead of a collection of short stories does it more harm than good.

the prose is often evocative, but borders on purple at times when magic or the realm from which it hails are in play, leaving me in a spot where I need to reread a paragraph or two to try and get a grip on what exactly happened in a pivotal moment.

I don't think the characters here have much depth, either, unfortunately, which is perhaps why it wasn't super motivating to continue on. there is only so much character development to be wrung from a man whose Mysterious Parentage and Assorted Habits leave him with every tool he needs to solve every problem he's faced with, and whose only flaw seems to be that he simply cares too much. his story was always bound to end the way it did, bound to a single volume.

The Master of Whitestorm

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