| Title | : | Witch Star (The Banned and the Banished, #5) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0345442652 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780345442659 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 608 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2002 |
Enter Harequin Quail.
Some might call him a fool, but the little main in the jester's suit claims to be a spy. And he comes fresh from the foul fortress of Blackhall itself, where the Dark Lord dwells. There he uncovered things that spell certain doom—for a final Weirgate remains, the most ppotent one of all. And with it, in just one moon's time, the Dark Lord will avenge his earlier defeat, destroying the heart of the land and ushering in a reign of evil without end. Only Elena, with the awesome magicks of the Blood Diary, has the power to stop him.
Blackhall is all but impregnable. And according to Quail, the Weirgate is well hidden, in a place known only to the Dark Lord himself.
Thus begins a desperate quest like no other. Hunted by the Dark Lord's minions and threatened by clandestine betrayals, Elena and her brave companions reunite in the effort to locate the last Weirgate and destroy it. Along the way, many questions will be answered and illusions will be smashed. Brother will turn against brother, and the strongest bonds of magic and love will be tested to the breaking point...and beyond.
Witch Star (The Banned and the Banished, #5) Reviews
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Wow...just freakin WOW!!
The first thing I have to get off my chest is the narrator of the story. Before each book, we get a little story of the writer of these retellings of the wi'tch in which he is cursed of immortality until he writes the story of Elena and her friends.
Now, I thought I knew who it was throughout all the books until this one...then I changed who I thought it was....then I was proved wrong. I absolutely LOVED being wrong and then surprised at the end.
Now, on to the story...so, we are at the end and maybe the final battle could have been a bit more climatic but in my eyes - I gave it a free pass because of all the battles leading up to this one was above par.
I'm totally sad that this series is over and would loved to have seen this played out on the big screen - I think it would have been a great summer movie hit! -
Wit'ch Star (The Banned and the Banished #5), James Clemens
The three deadly Weirgates are destroyed, but the threat of the Dark Lord remains. And so Elena and her companions have gone their separate ways to prepare for what is yet to come. Elena herself has journeyed to the beautiful city of A'loa Glen, there to recover her strength and spirit. -
Thoroughly enjoyed my reread of this series. It isn't flawless for sure but I do feel it deserves more credit than it is getting. Interesting mixture of epic fantasy and grimdark and of tropes and new ideas. The character growth and well rounded story line were particularly well done. It has its detractions but is well worth the read. The ending in particular was a bit rushed. Nevertheless I shall happily be returning to this in a few years time.
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I was so sorry to see this series end. I fall in love with the characters and just what it to go on forever. I may now have to read one of his other series.
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It took me a while longer to finish my re-read of this final volume in the series than I thought it would (to be fair, it's 700+ pages long), but I'm sad it's over. Re-reading this series has been like spending time with an old friend. I'll miss wandering through this world.
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Wit’ch Star is a worthy finale to a wonderful fantasy series. I cannot recommend it enough. The Banned and the Banished series never became repetitive, and the character development throughout the books is a pleasure to experience. Even the plot of these books remained fresh; Clemens is able to avoid some of the major pitfalls many fantasy authors unfortunately fall into when attempting epic fantasy. >Wit’ch Star is also one of the best conclusions to a series I have ever read; everything is tied together, and we finally discover the author of the scrolls. (As a side note, another beloved fantasy author of mine invented almost the same ending, which makes me slightly disappointed in him, as Clemens’ novel came out first). I will be advocating for this series for years to come.
If you love fantasy, I strongly recommend you check out this series. I’m happy to lend out my copies! -
Good conclusion to the series. All the characters have their parts to play and there is a good buildup to the final battle. A new character was introduced although he didn't really feel very necessary. It did seem to end a little abruptly, but I confess to wanting to know how everybody's lives turned out; after five books I'd like to know everyone lived happily ever after. :)
I do like that the series actually does come to an end instead of just continuing forever. Remember when fantasy came out in trilogies? -
Me voici enfin arrivée à la conclusion de cette saga fantastique.
S'il m'a fallu du temps, ce n'est pas tant à cause de la qualité du récit que par les trop nombreuses pauses que j'ai faites entre chaque tome, ou parfois même pendant ma lecture d'un seul tome. À refaire, je ne lirais ces livres qu'en vacances, genre pendant l'été. En effet, les très nombreux personnages principaux et secondaires, leurs noms et histoires personnelles particulières, étaient parfois difficiles à retenir pour peu que se soient écoulés 2 mois entre mes lectures. C'est une série à laquelle il faut se consacrer pleinement, le temps nécessaire à sa lecture totale. Sinon cela donne une fausse impression de longueur et de lourdeur.
En conclusion, c'est une bonne série fantastique que je suis très contente d'avoir découverte. -
Une fin superbe pour cette série qui m'a happée!
Malgré des longueurs, cette série fantasy m'a vraiment séduite, avec des personnages intéressants, des relations passionnantes, un traitement des relations de genre agréable, et un vrai scénario. Le dénouement final s'est fait attendre et a été un peu rapide, comme souvent dans ce genre de séries longues, mais il a répondu à un grand nombre de questions (pas toutes!) et ça se tient!
Je recommande complètement cette série, moins connue que d'autres, mais riche de ses personnages profonds et attachants et de ses intrigues originales et nombreuses! -
and so it ends;
took me a little less than two months to finally wrap everything up but it was all worth it
p323: "...it would make the four weirgates seem like a whore's glass baubles."
p329: she was not the only to make this connection.
p377: two quivers of arrows were crossed on his back.
p456: they fell with a scatter. -
http://arianafae.com/2018/05/witch-st...
I can't believe The Banned and Banished story is done and I have to close the book on these wonderful characters James Clemens created.
In WIT'CH STAR the stakes are even higher, the quests harder, the battles more bloody, the sacrifices more heart rendering, and the characters develop more-some shifting to the side of good and others to the side of evil...some you would be shocked to discover. Not only are there betrayals, there is love found and strengthened, motives finally revealed, and characters finding the strength within themselves to overcome the odds stacked against them.
WIT'CH STAR was a wonderful conclusion to the The Banned and Banished story. Although there is magic, epic battles, prophecies, and dangerous quests, in my opinion at it's heart WIT'CH STAR is about redemption and what one is willing to sacrifice for it. Out of the thousands of books I've read, The Banned and Banished books are one of the few that have a permanent spot on my bookshelves. -
I have read the whole series of the “Wit’ch” books twice now, and while I have to say they are good stories, very creative with a lot happening, I find the writing style to be a little annoying at times, with the author alternating between an easy reading, practical style to a more flowery mode bordering on heroic. I got the impression he was trying a bit too hard to be clever.
There are numerous adventures within the whole series but the writer draws each episode out as far as he can by bogging down in too many details. Book Five seemed to be the worse for this and I got the inkling that he was stretching the story out as far as he could possibly go, to fill the pages in order to pack has much as he could into each book, so much so that it became monotonous and I was glad for the ending; like sitting waiting for the sun to come up over the horizon!
The amount of cliff-hangers within each book was also slightly annoying and tedious so that I ended up having to put the books down to have a break then pick them back up the following evening.
There are some similarities to the David Eddings’ series, but Clemens as been very subtle about it. However, after reading the fantasy Eddings’ series a number of times, I have spotted the correlations.
Clemens’ stories are broken up into other smaller books and, as a result, there are far too many characters, with different groups of characters all doing different things in different places at different times. Therefore it can be hard for the reader to remember who is doing what, where and when and with whom!
It might have been helpful to have had a full list of people, creatures and places in the back of the book as well as a Map of Gul’gotha in the front. I kept looking to where Elena’s group had travelled to in’ Book Four’ only to find no map reference to that part of the world.
I won’t be reading the series again. I think the long-windedness has but me off.
Still, having said all that, the adventures, plots, relationships between the characters, creatures, non-humans and imagination is all there and not a bad job at all!
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This is the final (fifth) book in the Banned and the Banished series, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Clemens is not afraid to put his characters through the wringer, and his early-on death of some of the major characters in earlier books leaves you astounded at the fragility of it all. Given that the story is also being told by someone else, many many many (like, immortal-many) years later, you also know that something semi-bad happens at the end already, but it might be the narrative voice's bitterness showing (and who is the narrator, anyway?).
Clemens' world is one where elemental magicks are fairly common, and a dark corruption force is taking those with elemental abilities and turning them into dark mockeries of themselves. One woman, a wit'ch (Elena) has been given the task/fate/ability/curse of trying to stop it all from happening. As the good guys blur greyer and greyer, things get harsher and harsher for all of the characters you've grown to love, and you're sure it's all going to end with a bang and a whimper, but I didn't see the end that came coming. It was that good.
If you enjoy George R.R. Martin, and/or are sick to death of Robert Jordan's complete apathy for his fans, then these are the books for you! -
The Conclusion to the Banned and Bannished series left me aching and breathless. The characters are purely human and emotion shines through even at the worst of times. You can't help but feel it all as intense moments are around every chapter, and magic and corruption springs off the pages.
The ending, although it was the final conclusion and you are left of no doubt there is no more left... still, blatantly tells you there is more. Something not yet spoken, something not yet happening, and you are left gripping the pages in a foul mood that.... there is nothing left. It has finished. The journey, the adventures, the foes, the heroes... are all over. But somehow... it shouldn't be!
I loved this book. I loved this whole series with a passion and I read it faithfully, and with love and determination and a loyalty to the characters that probably bordered on obsession. Yes, I loved them all. Until the last page. -
Decent ending to this story overall - the final battle certainly met 'epic climax' expectations so that part especially was fun to read! This final book in the series featured the tightest writing in terms of the plot, & in my opinion the most key character development. I only wish the previous 4 books had been like this one.
I still have certain Issues with a couple of things in this series, but overall an okay read for a classic epic fantasy. If I never see race names with unnecessary apostrophes ever again, it will be too soon. -
What a fabulous series. All the bits that needed tying up were and everything made sense. It hurt when characters were killed off, but hey, that's the way it should be. I'm off to see what else Clemens has published. Have to say I'ma little sad I've finished this series.
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Ce tome clos une série époustouflante ! On ne s'ennuie pas une seule seconde, on est à la porte du mal comme les personnages, en attendant la fin, une fin qui est loin d'être rose d'ailleurs (si vous passez l'expression).
Très bonne découverte, certainement une des meilleures série de fantasy. -
Gripping to the very end. I was sorry to have finished. Luckily, I have managed to get my mom into the series :)
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Gelukkig is het slot van de reeks beter dan het vorige deel.
Een mooie afsluiter van een prachtige reeks. -
The ending was a little outside of what I would expected, but I was definitely intrigued in it and enjoyed it.
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Without a doubt, I have to start this off by saying this is the best of the Banned and the Banished series. Something seemed to change between book 3 and book 4 - the writing had vastly improved and the characters were actually showing some semblance of depth and development. It was a refreshing uplift to the entire series.
Wit'ch Star followed through with that, and the writing quality - as far as it goes for this series - was very spot on. Obviously still not perfect - no writing is. But considering its very, very shaky roots, this was really enjoyable to read and I'm pleased it turned out that way.
Spoilery bits after the cut ~
All in all, I enjoyed this book. I'm amused to admit that I had a lot more fun reading these than I'd originally anticipated, especially once the story picked up in Gate. It's highly unlikely I'll read them again, but I'm happy to have them on my bookshelf. Not only because they were a gift, but because they collectively rather remind me of the internet-wide obsession for exceptionally aderpable animals. -
Suite à l’avant dernier volet plus que renversant, je n’ai pas eu envie d’entrecouper mes lectures et me suis directement plongé dans la suite des aventures d’Elena et ses nombreux compagnons de route. Malheureusement et quand bien même j’ai apprécié cet ultime épisode, ce dernier m’a semblé manquer de panache et d’audace en comparaison de ce que nous a précédemment offert James Clemens.
En effet et pour la première fois, j’ai ressenti certaines longueurs dans le déroulement de l’intrigue. Sans pour autant manquer de piment, L’Étoile de la Sor’cière manque parfois cruellement d’action et de punch. Je ne suis pas habitué à ce que l’auteur s’attarde tant et cela m’a parfois dérangé et freiné dans mon immersion. D’autant plus que certains retournements de situations ou d’autres révélations ne m’ont pas semblé à la hauteur de toutes les promesses laissées présager dans ses précédents écrits même si ce dernier le laisse aucune question en suspend. Ainsi et quand bien même j’ai apprécié découvrir la conclusion de cette série, cette dernière se démontre réussie mais souffre d’un manque d’apothéose et se dévoile peu spectaculaire et fortement linéaire. James Clemens semble alors prendre que trop peu de risques et après avoir fait braver tant et tant de dangers à ses personnages, je m’attendais à une finalité épique et bouleversante et ce ne fut pas tout fait le cas. Ce dernier suit le schéma traditionnel du genre et seule la poésie de sa conclusion sauve la donne. Indéniablement, le titre de ce dernier volume est des plus évocateur et pourtant je ne m’attendais pas à autant de poésie et encore moins à de magie. Celle-ci baigne et immonde totalement l’univers de l’auteur et se veut d’une puissance renversante. C’est pourquoi, en réalité et avec quelques passages réduits, je suis certain que ma lecture aurait été bien moins monotone et toute aussi excellente.
Néanmoins et peu importe ces légers manques, je suis plus que triste de devoir faire mes adieux aux attachants et éloquents personnages composant cette palpitante et magistrale épopée. L’auteur mise bien plus sur ces derniers que sur son intrigue et cela se ressent totalement. Ainsi, chacun se dessine à son apogée dans cet épisode et tous auront le droit à leur propre conclusion même si, au vu de leur toujours plus important nombre, certains traitement peuvent sembler manquer de profondeur. Néanmoins et en ce qui concerne les personnages principaux, j’ai adoré les choix réalisé par James Clemens quant à Elena et Joach, tant chacun d’eux s’est à nouveau vu mis à nu lors de cette ultime bataille. Ces protagonistes centraux brillaient déjà grâce à leur construction ainsi que leur profondeur et j’en ai été encore davantage saisi par leur complexité et leur moralité durement mis à l’épreuve. Mieux encore, l’auteur boucle la boucle avec réussite et brio en apportant toutes les réponses à nos questions. Les identités encore secrètes sont dévoilées et j’ai été surpris de découvrir qui se cachait derrière l’auteur de ces livres interdits. Finalement, ce dernier laisse des pistes dans chacune de ses œuvres et bien que plus qu’évident, j’ai réussi à me faire surprendre par ce choix plus que certain.
Enfin et malgré une narration légèrement plus bancale et moins entrainante qu’à l’accoutumé, James Clemens apporte un point final des plus juste quand bien même l’absence d’audace et d’ambition. Ainsi, j’ai pris un incroyable plaisir à suivre les dernières aventures d’Elena et sa bande de parias à laquelle je me suis plus qu’attaché et que je ne suis pas prêt d’oublier. -
Voilà le cinquième et dernier tome de la saga de la Sor’cière Elena. Après 5 tomes de plus de 600 pages chacun au moins (soit plus de 3000 pages) on arrive au bout des aventures sur les terres d’Alasea. Et mon premier choc est qu’à plus de 2 500 pages d’histoire nous n’avons toujours pas vu le GRAND MECHANT, le Seigneur Noir, le Parjure… Pas une fois on ne voit ses plans ou quelqu’un qui lui parle face à face ou un des héros qui essaie de le voir ou d’en apprendre plus sur lui…. Pourquoi ? Pourquoi personne ne s’intéresse à ses plans et ses origines ? Pourquoi juste des attaques éparpillées ? Si on compare à Sauron il y a une vraie différence. Et du coup ça m’a manqué. Ne voir que les gentils c’est un peu simpliste. Trop manichéen. Même si l’auteur a essayé de rendre ses aventuriers un peu doubles. Mais franchement…
Donc après toutes ses pages et autant de batailles, mes deux chouchous sont définitivement Tol’chuk et Tyrus. J’ai beaucoup aimé le pouvoir granitique de Tyrus et l’histoire de sang-mêlé de Tol’chuk. Par contre je suis fatiguée des héroïnes faibles qui ont besoin d’un homme pour les soutenir… Et en plus où l’histoire commence par leurs règles et se termine par la perte de leur virginité…. pfff
En somme je suis contente d’avoir été jusqu’au bout, certains passages m’ont plu mais je ne recommanderai pas cette saga. Il y a de belles idées mais des longueurs et surtout un manque de description du côté sombre alors qu’on se perd dans les batailles plus ou moins utiles des gentils. -
Holy CRAP this book is amazing! I love this series so much, but this finale is on a whole different level! The end made me feel every emotion known to man and my heart is still aching. James Clemens said a long, long time ago that he might come back to this series some day, and I desperately hope that he does. Because even though this series is enormous and spans years, the end also feels like a beginning. I have so much to say about this book and this series as a whole, but my brain is all whacked out from emoting so much for so long (I marathon read the final portion of this book) that I can't really articulate all my feelings properly right now. I hope to come back to this review and add to it later. (I especially have a lot to say about Er'ril and Elena's relationship and how aware they both are of how wrong their love would be under any other circumstances... I really love the way their relationship was dealt with, it's really beautifully done. I need to go recover now... this series is so damn stressful. But in the best kind of way.
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A fitting conclusion to the series, with most plot lines wrapped up in a nice bow. A few deus ex machina moments to help the characters along meant the stakes didn't feel as high. Not sure about the necessity of the two (!) framing devices - I guessed one a book ago and the other was pretty obvious from the circumstances of this book.
Overall, I'd say the series is worth reading if you have extra time on your hands and you're looking for an easy-to-devour fantasy story. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to everyone, though. There are definitely some troubling relationship aspects, as the author seems to enjoy partnering very young women with much older men (including a born-yesterday trope) and the fantasy races tend to be ranked according to their utility to the main character. -
Ok ich wollte die Reihe unbedingt beenden und habe es auch geschafft aber es hat sich echt etwas gezogen. Die Story hätte für meinen Geschmack bei 5 Büchern irgendwie etwas mehr hergeben müssen. Das Ende war jetzt auch nicht wirklich der Aha Moment, irgendwie hat sich doch alles recht praktisch gefügt. Außerdem fand ich die erblühende Liebesgeschichte zwischen Elena und Errol, eher zum würgen als sonst was *pedophilenalarm*.
