Wars of Light and Shadow

Wars of Light and Shadow is an epic fantasy series by Janny Wurts, chronicling the conflict among many different factions as they battle for control of the fictional world of Athera. The main story explores in depth the ambiguities of good and evil; both sides are portrayed with equal sympathy, avoiding the usual tendency to portray the winners as justified heroes and the losers as unequivocably evil.

When completed, the series will consist of five story arcs, of which the first three are currently complete.

Books in the Series:

Arc 1

 * Curse of The Mistwraith

Arc 2

 * Ships of Merior
 * Warhost Of Vastmark

Arc 3: The Alliance of Light

 * Fugitive Prince
 * Grand Conspiracy
 * Peril's Gate
 * Traitor's Knot
 * Stormed Fortress

Arc 4: Sword of the Canon

 * Initiate's Trial
 * Destiny's Conflict (to be confirmed)

Arc 5

 * Song of the Mysteries (to be confirmed)

Short Stories
 * Child of Prophecy
 * The Sundering Star
 * Reins of Destiny

This series has a character sheet. All character-specific tropes should go there.


 * All There in the Manual: The FAQ section of the author's website has a lot of information about the setting that can't be fully described in the books, such as background of some major conflicts and an in-depth look at how Athera's magic works, as well as an art gallery. Be warned, though, as the FAQ does contain spoilers.
 * Another Dimension: There are very powerful, very ancient Worldsend Gates linking different worlds together; Dascen Alur is described as a "splinter world", a sort of buffer zone between major worlds.
 * Apocalypse How: It is implied that the humans of Athera initially escaped to that world from a Class 5 or Class X, caused by the Fellowship - and if anything happens to jeopardize the Paravian races' return, the Fellowship may have to do it again.
 * Barbarian Tribe: The clans of Deshir.
 * Cain and Abel: The cursed enmity between Lysaer and Arithon touches off the bulk of the story.
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: According to Word of God, the clothing and eye color for many, if not all, of the characters have significance; for example, Arithon's green eyes and the colors of s'Ffalenn royalty represent the inherited gifts of empathy and compassion. The Fellowship Sorcerers and Lysaer, at the least, also share this for their respective clothing.
 * Costume Porn: Even the simplest of clothing is described in loving detail.
 * Scenery Porn: So are the surroundings.
 * Doorstopper: Most of the books are pretty hefty, even in paperback form. Wurts indicated that she originally wanted to have each story arc be its own book.
 * Arc two was its own book when it was published in hardcover (Entitled Ships of Merior). It turned out to be too large to convert to paperback, so the paperback version was split into two books, Ships of Merior and Warhost of Vastmark. So anyone looking for a hardcover edition of Warhost of Vastmark, don't bother.
 * Elemental Powers: The powers of Light and Shadow commanded by Lysaer and Arithon, respectively.
 * Fantastic Drug: Tienelle, or seersweed, a highly toxic herb valued by spellcasters for its mind-expanding properties.
 * Fictionary: Anything in Paravian.
 * Fisher King: The High Kings appear to be this. Their coronation ceremonies link them with the elements and directly connect them to the lands they rule, as dramatically demonstrated in Peril's Gate. Exactly what this connection means isn't clear yet, though.
 * Fridge Logic: Most of Lysaer's propaganda against Arithon depends on this. The first battle in the war started because Arithon was a sorcerer. This was revealed to the public by Arithon using sorcery to defend himself when Lysaer used sorcery to attack him for no apparent reason. Since that battle, people line up to serve in armies against the Master of Shadow due to the horrific number of people he's killed. These volunteers consistently fail to grasp that 90% of those casualties were inflicted on armies that were trying to kill him at the time, and the rest mainly stem from incidents where he was sorely provoked.
 * Functional Magic
 * I Know Your True Name: Knowing something's true name is to know absolutely everything about that individual, making it possible to cast binding magic on a given creature. The inscrutability of the Mistwraith's true name has made it nigh impossible to stop it, until the events of Curse.
 * Grey and Grey Morality: Wurts portrays both sides with equal sympathy, allowing the reader to decide who is right.
 * High Fantasy
 * Language of Magic: Played with, as most spells are cast in Paravian.
 * Subverted Trope: Not all spells are cast in Paravian.
 * Ley Lines: Each of the Twelve Lanes of power offers a conduit for scrying and magical travel as well as energy for spellcasting. They seem to be arranged along the longitudes of the planet.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: Each with their own agenda.
 * Mage Tower: Many of these are left over from previous Ages, built by the Paravians and often used by the current magic users for their research.
 * Magic Music: A lyranthe, a type of Paravian stringed instrument capable of complex harmonics, is the primary means of especially talented bards utilizing their brand of magic. A Masterbard's voice alone can achieve the same effects.
 * Meaningful Name: Just about everyone and everything. The Fictionary in the back helps clarify things.
 * Medieval Stasis: Enforced by the Fellowship. Or Else.
 * Narrative Profanity Filter: A number of characters mutter unspecified speculations on the parentage or personal habits of others.
 * Not So Different: The respective trials, successes, and failures of Lysaer and Arithon are frequently set up as counterpoint to each other.
 * Obstructive Code of Conduct: The Law of the Major Balance, which states that "no force of nature should be used without consent, or against the will of another living being."
 * Oh My Gods: Characters often utter oaths referencing Ath creator, Dharkaron (an angel of vengeance), and Daelion Fatemaster.
 * Omniscient Morality License: The Fellowship because they do know better.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: The Khadrim, described as flying, fire-breathing reptiles.
 * As well as the great drakes themselves, Reality Warpers whose dreams created life without understanding the emotions behind it. Although long dead, their remains must be kept contained inside Fellowship-maintained grimwards, or the remnants of their dreams in death could tear apart the fabric of the world.
 * Our Fairies Are Different: The Paravians, which included such creatures as elves, unicorns, and centaurs.
 * Our Ghosts Are Different: Three characters, Davien, Kharadmon and Luhaine, exist in a "discorporate" state. Kharadmon and Luhaine seem to be unhindered by their lack of body, and in fact use it to their advantage, traveling nearly instantaneously across Paravia. They can manifest, looking much as they did when alive, but usually only do so when talking to someone.
 * Poltergeist: Iyats are invisible minor spirits that feed on miscast magic and strong human emotions. Once attracted by the former, they will do everything in their power to get the latter, mainly by annoying the hell out of nearby mortals.
 * Psychic Dreams for Everyone: Those with the gift of foresight tend to have these, either spontaneously or induced by trances or herbs. Dakar stays astonishingly drunk to avoid them, with varying levels of success.
 * Psychic Powers: A number of characters are gifted with prophecy or foresight, often to their detriment.
 * Punctuation Shaker: The names of the noble families follow the example of s'Ffalenn and s'Ilessid.
 * Restraining Bolt: The gifted geases granted to the five royal bloodlines to emphasize certain traits that the Paravians believed would make the resulting kings and queens immune or resistant to corruption from outside.
 * Royal Blood: The founders of the five royal dynasties were all given a certain trait (compassion, justice, etc) which would be inherited by their successors. Plus, the charters under which the monarchies were established were an important part of the deal which gave humanity permission to settle in its current home. The fact that the monarchies were all overthrown a few centuries before the start of the story is a significant plot point.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Lysaer and Arithon, though technically half-brothers, are nearly polar opposites. Lysaer, the master of Light magic, is a blonde, charming, and charismatic prince, possessed of an irresistible geas to seek justice (even where none exists), and becoming a hero to the townsfolk and merchants. Arithon the Master of Shadows, meanwhile, is quieter, keeps to himself, is an outlaw in their homeworld despite his own royal blood, and possessed to an irresistible geas of compassion, to the point that he "will forgive the knife that kills him", becoming a hero to the poor.
 * Star-Crossed Lovers: Arithon and Elaira love each other deeply, but Arithon knows that Lysaer's people might strike at her to hurt him, and Elaira knows that the Koriani Order will use their bond to cast baneful sorcery against him. The simplest solution is for them to stay as far away from each other as possible.
 * Un-Equal Rites: There has been a long-standing rivalry between the Fellowship of Seven and the Koriani. One of the results is that Sethvir has possession of the Great Waystone, a powerful Koriani artifact, which he states he will happily give back if Morriel asks - knowing full well that Morriel would rather eat her own arm than ask him for anything.
 * Unstoppable Rage: The Mistwraith's curse causes this whenever Lysaer and Arithon see each other, even through magical means.
 * War Is Hell: The battle sequences are described in unflinching detail, with no effort made to gloss over or glorify the often horrifying violence.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Lysaer receives several of these speeches throughout the series as he sinks deeper and deeper into Knight Templar territory (One example being shortly after legalizing the enslavement of clansmen in Grand Alliance, when he had decreed that he'd rather be in chains himself than permit slavery in Ships of Merior). Unfortunately, they all fail to penetrate his Desh-Thierre enhanced self-righteousness.
 * Wizards Live Longer: The Fellowship have been around for over 10,000 years, and will not even be stopped by dying. They have also taught their apprentices various ways to stop or reverse aging. Even the Koriathain have their methods.
 * World Building: Hells yes.

Warhost of Vastmark

 * Coming in Hot: Kharadmon's return to Athera, with nine unbound wraiths in hot pursuit.
 * Death World: The two splinter worlds that originated the Mistwraith, now lifeless and abandoned.
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me!: When Tharrick, helping rebuild one of Arithon's ships while recovering from injuries suffered when he was caught torching the whole fleet, finds a pile of silver coins waiting for him in his room at the inn, he is initially livid, thinking Arithon was offering him a token of charity. Turns out they were his wages.
 * The Florence Nightingale Effect: Possibly the root of the romance that develops between Tharrick and Jinesse while the latter cares for the former's injuries.
 * Gone Horribly Wrong: The scientific research carried out beyond the South Gate. Small wonder the Paravians had forbidden it in the first place.
 * Heel Face Turn: Tharrick.
 * Weapon of Mass Destruction:
 * You Had Us Worried There: Sethvir's battle to allow his voluntarily disembodied spirit to escape the nine wraiths trying to possess him is carried out largely in the aether, with his colleagues largely helpless to aid him other than to craft a magical ward to sift out the attached wraiths. It is hours before his shed body finally stirs, and they are still cautious until they determine that Sethvir is back (instead of a wraith possessing his body).

Peril's Gate

 * Secret Test of Character: The Kewar Tunnel.

Traitor's Knot

 * Cannot Spit It Out: Sulfin Evend. Sulfin finds out his best friend and king, Lysaer, has been cursed by necromancers. There is a special ritual to save him. The ritual requires sneaking into Lysaer's room, stabbing him with a magic knife to wake him up, and then miming that Lysaer needs to make a specific gesture with the knife, all the while dealing with the fact that Lysaer really hates Magic. Justified in that if he had spit it out, the ritual would have been interrupted.