Blood and Memory (The Quickening, Book 2) [Mass Market Paperback]

Fiona McIntosh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 27, 2006

The fate of nations hangs
in precarious balance
as a young soldier urgently
seeks answers to a
sinister blessing . . .

General Wyl Thirsk of Morgravia has seen his best friend slain, his sister tortured, and his mentor consigned to a certain death -- all at the sadistic whim of his sovereign, King Celimus. Now Celimus hungrily eyes the neighboring realm, Briavel, and its inexperienced Queen Valentyna, pressuring her into a doomed political marriage -- and thereby forcing Wyl's hand toward confrontation and treason, for only he can save the woman he loves from her hideous fate.

But destiny will send Wyl far from the evil machinations of the despicable king. And as war threatens from the north, where the hated King of the Barbarians plots against the south, Wyl must find the mysterious bestower of Myrren's gift in a bid to control the curse that has thrown his life into chaos . . . and is intricately and terrifyingly woven into the future of three realms.

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

“[A] terrific dark fantasy . . . the story line is action-packed . . . . a fabulous saga. (Midwest Book Review )

“Strongly conceived, believable characters and a swift plot.” (Library Journal )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Harper Voyager (June 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060747595
• ISBN-13: 978-0060747596
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #969,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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.