#2 in The Cycle of Fire

Keeper of the Keys by Janny Wurts

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Cycle of Fire continues, with Jaeric running from his destiny because of his horror of ending like his father.  How contemporary is that?  The elements of science fiction are more plausible than they were in the first book.  Sailing and the sea are vivid elements in the story, well written, making me feel the wind and the surf and the salt spray.



The demons are nasty and disgusting critters, the magic intriguing, and the characters finely drawn.  It's interesting reading this early work after reading the Wars of Light and Shadow and seeing the hints of elements that are much further developed in the later series.



Janny does have a way of weaving an intriguing fairy tale, scary, seductive, and at the same time comfortable... a place I really like to be.



The magic has a lot to do with using the mind's telepathic abilities and 'dream sense'. I was thinking about how little we know about the mind and wondering if the brain could be developed to the point where some of these capabilities could be used by us humans.



In other books by Janny, 'mage' sense is mostly a heightened awareness achieved through rigorous training and native talent to observe things that most of us never see -- energy emitted by growing things and rocks, auras, and the like. I really don't think it's so far beyond the realm of possibility that the brain could be trained or utilized more fully to encompass some of those skills.



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