supernatural transformation. The Ascending(1994)
initially appears to be a variation of The Place,with
the protagonist psychically linked to a killer, but
changes direction when we discover that the killer’s
original personality has been supplanted.
Possibly due to the decline of the horror mar-
ket in the 1990s, Wright fell silent for seven years
and has only recently returned with a spate of new
novels. Sleapeasy(2001) is stranger than any of his
previous work. Its main character dies and wakens
in a new life, cast in the role of a private detective
in a world not quite our own. The House on Orchid
Street(2003) resembles his earlier novels, the story
of a house that is somehow supernaturally con-
nected to a series of murders in the past. A police
officer with an affinity for the dead draws upon
that resource in Laughing Man(2003), and ghostly
lovers meet in Cold House(2003). It does not seem
likely that Wright will ever write a best-selling hor-
ror novel because his plots tend not to be com-
pletely straightforward and linear, and most of his
horrors are very subtle and understated. He does
have a very strong following among hard-core hor-
ror fans, in part because he provides such a clear
alternative to the more homogenized mainstream
horror.
Wurts, Janny(1953– )
The fantasy artist Janny Wurts’s first novel, Sor-
cerer’s Legacy(1982), is a very traditional high-fan-
tasy novel in which a woman is rescued from the
dungeons by a sorcerer but later finds herself on
her own, caught in the middle of familiar court in-
trigues and magical schemes. Although the plot is
occasionally awkwardly constructed, there are sec-
tions that move quite well. Her next project was
much more ambitious and better constructed,
however, the Cycle of Fire trilogy consisting of
Stormwarden(1984). Keeper of the Keys(1988), and
Shadowfane(1988). A sorcerer is accused of a terri-
ble crime and gains limited freedom at the behest
of a sorceress, who enlists him in her campaign to
rid the world of a variety of demon that preys upon
humans. As the story progresses Wurts introduces
elements borrowed from science fiction and im-
plies that the magic is a form of mental power ac-
quired by merging with unusual crystals, brought
to this planet by an alien race. The demons are
aliens as well and must be stopped before they con-
tinue their plans of expansion and conquer all of
humanity. Despite the attempts to rationalize the
situation, which is reminiscent of The Storm Lord
(1976), by Tanith LEE, the trilogy is clearly fantasy
by intent.
The Master of White Storm (1992) is an
episodic adventure that reads more like a collec-
tion of linked stories, culminating in the construc-
tion of a daunting castle. Wurts does a much better
job of characterization, however, possibly having
learned from her experience coauthoring a trilogy
with Raymond E. FEIST,Daughter of the Empire
(1987), Servant of the Empire(1990), and Mistress
of the Empire(1992). Her growing willingness to
explore the personalities of her characters is even
more evident in her next, The Curse of the Mist-
wraith(1993), the first part of the Wars of Light
and Shadow. Two rival princes are forced to put
aside their personal rivalries to combine arms
against a supernatural creature that threatens their
world. The sequel, The Ships of Merior(1995), is so
large that it is sometimes split into two titles, the
second part as Warhost of Vastmark(1995). Al-
though the mistwraith was destroyed, its legacy is a
magical curse that causes the two allies to become
violently disposed toward each other, throwing the
world into war. Their animosity spills over into
other domains and threatens the entire world in
Fugitive Prince(1997). The climax came in Grand
Conspiracy(2000).
Wurts’s most recent novel, To Ride Hell’s
Chasm(2002), is a competently told but overly fa-
miliar quest story. Her short fiction is generally
slight, and the best of her fantasy stories are con-
tained in That Way Lies Camelot(1994), although
many of the stories are science fiction. In general,
Wurts has proved to be a competent writer whose
better work suggests she may be capable of more se-
rious endeavors but who has yet to produce a book
that will separate her prominently from her peers.Wurts, Janny 393