Les guerres de l'ombre et de la lumière - La série

Lysaer et Arithon sont demi-frères mais tout les oppose. L'un est un prince éduqué pour hériter d'une couronne et possède le don de lumière ; l'autre a été élevé par les mages et domine les ténèbres. Séparés par les affres cruelles d'une guerre de sang, ils se vouent une haine féroce. Pourtant un événement prodigieux va les forcer à se supporter et peut-être à s'entendre... Emportés par un portail magique vers un monde inconnu, on les y accueille comme de véritables sauveurs : seule l'alliance de leurs pouvoirs peut triompher de la Brume spectrale qui a plongé le monde d'Athèra dans l'obscurité. Mais ce n'est pas le seul enjeu, comme les sorciers de la Fraternité des Sept le savent parfaitement. Car entre les mains des demi-frères qui se déchirent reposent l'équilibre du monde, son harmonie et son avenir.

Les demi-frères Arithon et Lysaer ont vaincu la Brume des spectres et dispersé les nuées qui étouffaient le ciel d'Athèra. Malheureusement, la victoire leur coûte cher : la Brume a jeté sur eux une puissante malédiction qui les oblige à s'affronter. Lysaer détient le don lumineux et semble né pour régner. Avec un charisme majestueux, il relève un royaume de ses cendres et rassemble une armée pour créer un nouvel ordre. Il a juré de détruire son demi-frère, celui que l'on appelle désormais le maître de l'Ombre. Arithon, formé aux arts magiques, se passionne pour la musique, pas pour la guerre. Contraint de fuir, il devra faire appel à toutes les ruses en son pouvoir pour défier les forces qui le poussent inexorablement à la confrontation.

Une fois de plus, Lysaer a été trompé par son demi-frère Arithon. En effet, accompagné du Prophète fou, Arithon traverse à pied les traîtres monts Kelhorn pour rejoindre les clans de Vaste-Marche et rallier ceux-ci à sa cause. Mais lever une armée coûte cher. Est-ce une coïncidence quand la princesse Talith - l'impétueuse épouse de Lysaer - est enlevée et retenue en otage pour une importante rançon par un maître brigand ? Tandis que les forces de l'Ombre et de la Lumière se rapprochent irrésistiblement, la Fraternité des Sept sorciers et les enchanteresses korianies observent et se préparent au conflit final...

Where there is light, there must always be shadow… The fourth volume in Janny Wurts’s spectacular epic fantasy. The schism began with two half-brothers empowered to subdue a Mistwraith. In revenge it cursed them to a life of perpetual conflict. Each believes absolutely in his cause, and loathes the other for opposing it… Lysaer, Prince of the Light – a charismatic leader sworn to set humanity free from sorcerous oppression. He claims divine power to safeguard his people from an enemy he is convinced will destroy them. Arithon, Master of Shadow – a trained mage who wishes for nothing but to defuse war, and search out the vanished old races who hold the key to restore the world’s shattered peace. When Koriani enchantresses join forces with Lysaer, new intrigues upset Arithon’s hard-won autonomy. Faction is set against faction, heart against heart, and the scene is set for an explosive recurrence of war. The curse of the Mistwraith echoes eternal…

Where there is light, there must always be shadow… The fifth volume in Janny Wurts’s spectacular epic fantasy, now re-released with a striking new cover design along with the rest of the series. The wars began when two half-brothers, gifted of light and shadow, stood shoulder to shoulder to defeat the Mistwraith. Their foe cast a lifelong curse of enmity between them that has so far woven three bitter conflicts and uncounted deadly intrigues. It is a time of political upheavel, fanaticism and rampaging armies. Distrust of sorcery has set off a purge of the talented mageborn – none reviled more than Arithon, Master of Shadow. Through clever manipulation of events at the hands of his half-brother Lysaer, Lord of Light, Arithon’s very name has become anathema. Now the volatile hatreds that spearheaded the campaign against Shadow have overtaken all reason. Those that still stand in Arithon’s desperate defence are downtrodden, in retreat and close to annihilation. The stage is set for the ultimate betrayal.

Where there is light, there must always be shadow… The fourth volume in Janny Wurts’s spectacular epic fantasy, now re-released with a striking new cover design along with the rest of the series. The curse that hangs over the Master of Shadow, Arithon, and Lord of Light, Lysaer, is drawing the two half-brothers ever closer towards direct conflict. For the Natural Balance to be maintained, the two must never fight. If they do, one is sure to perish and the Mistwraith will regain its evil power over their world. Even now, Lysaer – convinced of his own godhead and aided by the treacherous Koriani Sisterhood – is tracking Arithon the Masterbard through the snows and wastes of the winter-locked mountains and the Barrens of Daon Ramon. Arithon is tortured by the knowledge that for the sake of future generations he must not be killed, no matter the cost of others’ lives now. Fighting valiantly to prevent unnecessary suffering, he strikes out on his own; but he is injured and failing fast. Meanwhile, the ancient Paravians are stirring, summoned by trespassers on their sacred domain; and the Fellowship of Seven are battling on many other fronts, as the Mistwraith’s wards begin to break, and khadrim and free wraiths roam the land…

The gripping penultimate instalment of The Alliance of Light. When half brothers Lysaer and Arithon defeated the Mistwraith its revenge left them cursed to lifelong enmity. Having conquered the maze and acheived self-redemption, Arithon, Master of Shadow, is now the guest of the formidable sorcerer, Davien the Betrayor. No one knows how his influence will affect Arithon’s recovered mage power, or his newly awakened rogue talent for prescience. Meanwhile Arithon’s relentless enemies will stop at nothing to acheive his downfall. The Koriani enchantresses are determined to make him their captive and their pawn. And as the Alliance of Light fanatics regroup after their defeat, the core of their priesthood now stands corrupted by a drak cabal who plot to enslave their leader, Lysaer, and use the Mistwraith’s curse as their own private weapon to break the world’s order. The sorcerers of the Fellowship compact are sorely beset and the clans are counting their ruinous losses. Arithon, who holds their last hope of survival, chooses the most dangerous course: heart and mind he dedicates himself to avoiding killing, though allies and enemies muster for war, single-mindedly blind to the consequences.

The spellbinding final instalment of The Alliance of Light. Though Athera may be free, the fight is far from over… The heartstopping conclusion to the Alliance of Light series brings Lysaer's army of Light to besiege the great citadel of Alestron. Master of Shadow, Arithon, with barely a moment's recuperation from his victory over the necromancers, has discovered that young Jeynsa s'Valerient whom he has sworn to protect, has joined the ranks of his disowned allies within the threatened citadel. Worse, following a failed rescue attempt, his beloved Elaira, his double, Fionn Areth, and the spellbinder Dakar are also trapped within Alestron's walls. The chancy wiles of Davien the betrayer must spirit Arithon across the enemy lines to attempt a bold and perilous rescue mission. Arithon must seek the heartcore of his talent, even while embroiled in a savage battle against those he has vowed to protect. But treachery strikes from deep within the duke's ranks. Lysaer's fanatics will be unleashed to claim their bloody revenge. With the Fellowship Sorcerers in mortal danger, and all under threat from a collapsing grimward, Davien the betrayer is unable to intercede to save his colleagues and so will be forced to invoke the dire terms of an ancient and most secretive bargain. Arithon stands alone at the hour of reckoning as the true purpose of the Koriani enchantresses becomes, at long last fully, unveiled – with the covetous Prime Matriarch now poised to snatch a prize, a prize beyond that of merely integrity and life…

The long-awaited beginning of the fourth story arc - Sword of the Canon - in the epic fantasy series, the Wars of Light and Shadow. Betrayed and double-crossed, Arithon s’Ffalenn is held captive by the Order of the Koriathain. The desperate Fellowship Sorcerers have gambled the weal of Athera and forced through the perilous bargain that spared him, as the last Prince of Rathain, and their sole hope of unity. To suspend the Prime Matriarch’s decree of execution, Arithon lives only to battle Marak’s horde of free wraiths, unleashed one by one from the shielding grip of the star wards. But on the day the last wraith is redeemed, the inflexible terms sealed by Dakar’s oath of debt will be forfeit… Against a backdrop in which the Religion of Light has undergone schism, the fanatical True Sect’s high priesthood stands consumed by its thwarted ambition: to conquer Havish, the backbone of order that secures the terms of Paravian survival. Now Lord Mayor of Etarra, Lysaer s’Ilessid must fight the pull of the Mistwraith’s curse, and battle for sanity to uphold his just ethic. Another young defender will stand at his side, newly sworn by the Sorcerer’s auspices. As Arithon’s life once again becomes the fulcrum that shifts the game board, Elaira’s choice might save or break the unstable future; while at large and answerable to no mortal law, Davien and the dragon that holds his service throw in the wild card no one predicts…