Blood & Memory [Paperback]

Fiona McIntosh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 26, 2004

Wyl Thirsk has seen his best friend murdered and his sister imprisoned by King Celimus of Morgravia. Now the king has turned his attention to the neighbouring realm of Briavel - and the woman Wyl loves. Whl is desperate to return to Valentyna and prevent her marriage to Celimus, but fate has other plans.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this enchanting sequel to Australian author McIntosh's fantasy Myrren's Gift, young Wyl Thirsk finds to his surprise that the "gift" the condemned witch Myrren granted him in the first book wasn't just a one-shot deal—every time he "dies" he takes on the outward appearance of his murderer. Worse yet, the gift has its own goals, chiefly to kill tyrannical King Celimus and put Wyl in Celimus's place as the rightful ruler of Morgravia. Trapped in an ever-growing number of different bodies, Wyl is desperate to stop the gift from continuing its inevitable progress toward King Celimus. Yet the more Wyl learns about Celimus, the more convinced he is that the evil king must die. Despite this being the middle of a trilogy, McIntosh manages to sustain suspense while deftly handling a large cast of characters and an intricate plot.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Second in McIntosh's fantasy trilogy from Down Under, hard on the heels of Myrren's Gift (p. 90). Gripped by a powerful enchantment known as the Quickening, warrior Wyl Thirsk now occupies his third, female, body, that of Faryl the assassin. Passed to Wyl by the witch Myrren, whose horrid death Wyl was obliged by the merciless, calculating King Celimus of Morgravia to witness, the magic forces Wyl's mind to occupy the body of the person who kills him. First, mercenary Romen Koreldy killed Wyl in his true body. As Romen, Wyl became the beloved of Queen Valentyna of Briavel. But then Romen was murdered by Faryl, so now Wyl occupies her body and has three sets of skills and memories to draw upon. The insanely ambitious Celimus intends to win Briavel, by marrying Valentyna if he can-or by conquest if he can't. Poor Valentyna, perfectly aware of Celimus's ruthlessness and brutality but unwilling to subject her people to a war they cannot win, ponders her limited options. Wyl, meanwhile, tries to discover the fate of his sister, Ylena, finding that the monastery where she took shelter has been burned, its monks tortured and murdered at Celimus's orders. Wyl must also confront the magical being whose contrivance Myrren's gift is. Various other subplots keep the pot bubbling merrily. The drawback here is that Wyl's persistent failings-inability to learn from his mistakes, take elementary safety precautions or pay attention to his surroundings-drive the plot. Still, McIntosh's narrative, with its distressed damsels, contending sorcerers, blackhearted villains and double-dealing courtiers, remains compulsively readable. (Kirkus Reviews)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd (May 26, 2004)
• ISBN-10: 0732278678
• ISBN-13: 978-0732278670
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Promise of book 1 dies horrible agonizing death., June 23, 2006

By 

C. Kluver - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood and Memory: The Quickening Book Two (Paperback)

The first book in this trilogy started well with interesting charecters, new ideas for motivating the protagonist, and at least a semi-original plot tool. Every ounce of potential is ruined by this second book. Both the hero and villain become as one dimensional as the paper they are printed on. All characters in the book become both blindingly intuitive and amazingly dense depending on what the author needed for an outcome in a given scene. Someone who can spot a certain trap from miles off in one scene mindlessly falls victim to a second trap in another. The unique plot tool is used once to achieve something that could have been profound or at least interesting but the way the scene is contrived to use it is so ludicrous that it spoils the effect. One can hope that her next book will avoid these pitfalls but this one is doomed to garage sales and remainder piles.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars just okay.., May 28, 2006

By 

Mim (WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood and Memory: The Quickening Book Two (Paperback)

Picked up this book for it's potential from the first book. I finished it, but definately lets say it was a struggle. The main characters seems to fall into the same mistakes that failed them in the first book. Do they ever learn from their mistakes? None of the characters seems to really do anything (besides celimus) other than just talk about their problems and after they talk about it the baddie just comes along knowing everything and makes them have more things to talk about. As I've said earlier, Celimus is sooo annoying in his 1 dimensionality that it makes me sick. I wanted to really like this book for what it could had been!!! Really!! I tried!!

2 1/2 stars

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Facinating Tale Continues, September 13, 2006

By 

A. Lee (L.A., CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood and Memory (The Quickening, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

The magic of Myrren's Gift has saved Wyl Thirsk's life again, although not his body... He finds himself now in the body of the female assasin who has killed the last body he inhabited, that of Romen Koreldy. Wyl still needs to try and protect his sister from the evil king Celimus. He also needs to find a way to protect his love, the Queen of Briavel, from having to marry Celimus. Plus find a way to rescue his friends from the northern kingdom. ... And he needs to find out what is behind Myrren's strange gift to him by finding her mysterious father.

Surrounded by an assortment of interesting characters, Wyl proceeds in his various quests--ultimately to save the kingdom he loves from destruction.

Several questions are answered, but many more remain, and I eagerly look forward to reading the next book.