Reviews

It really is well named. This is the darkest of the Deverry books, and it's taken me a few years to realize this is why it's also my least favorite. That said, every time I reread the series (about every 2 years) I still feel the compulsion to include this one, because without darkness how do you recognize light? It's Darkspell that leads to Dawnspell, the dawning of hope and the resurrection, and it's Darkspell that shows how bad choices - or the lack of choices - can pull an entire civilization down.

pamela22's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is my third read of this novel, spread over a few decades. My favourite fantasy series ever.

two_rivers_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

strawberrypinch's review against another edition

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1.0

This book was so disappointing! I really enjoyed that in the first one, while the characters certainly rode into battle against opposing armies, their true enemies were their own human flaws & their past mistakes. In this book, we are introduced to a group of mustache-twirling villains whose characterizations are completely awful. Just about everything charming about book one was left out of this installation.

dreamreader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

There were certainly parts of this second installment in the series that I didn't like, but overall there was more that I did like, and giving this book anything less than five stars feels like doing it and Katharine Kerr's writing a disservice. I've never read anyone do a reincarnation plot as well as Kerr does it. I'm sucked into the past lives of Jill, Rhodry, and Cullyn just as much as I am their present lives. I love Nevyn. The world opened up in such a fantastic way in this book. Yes, we're introduced a bit more to the dark side of this world. And yes, the bad guys are seriously bad. But I found I was so much more interested in everything happening in this book than the first, and I really enjoyed the first. No second-book syndrome here. This book was amazingly well done.

mirtlifthewise's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

dapper's review against another edition

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3.0

I almost stopped reading this because I began to think that it was just going to be a series of tragic past lives that we all basically know the ending to. Speaking of.. poor Gerraint! Wtf? Why do the fates keep making him a family member to bragnwen? It’s rude. He’s always in love with her and the one time he isn’t her fam, she’s a celibate zealot. Poor dudes wyrd is destined to be frustration and eventually madness.

I’m glad we went back to Jill. Another reason I was bummed about this books starting with another past life was because I was invested in Jill.. I mean, we followed her from childhood! Rhodry is like a child. He pouts, doesn’t understand why he can’t turn in every bad guy, can’t be trusted not to spend all his money on treats etc.

And he touts about honor, so much so that he won’t let Jill settle down anywhere and insists on dragging her around. It’s quite frankly, honorless. But I’m still into her story and down to read more. I hope Rhodry gets a better head and grows up a bit in the next one

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