Customer Reviews

Bridge of Souls: The Quickening Book Three

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is amazing to me that a series as full of holes and inconsistancies as this one can still be not only enjoyable, but gripping. I didn't see the main premise of the story-line coming and was interested to know what would happen to the main character. That said, I feel the characters were rather black and white in either evil or goodness, characters' emotions were not explored in enough detail, the author did not make use of her own smoking guns and she seemed to consistantly forget that her characters had been told something the chapter before and set them up in the next chapter as if they had never been told. This is good but will never be a classic.

I waited with baited breath when I ordered this book. Now that I received it I devoured it in three days. What an exilerating ending to a great series. To finally gain retribution on the one who killed him was very satisfying. Great book and hope Fiona comes out with more.

If you like books like this one, might I suggest another I've recently come across. The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. It's another fantasy adventure sure to please. I highly recommend it.

I loved the first book, was still fascinated by the second book, but by the start of the third book I thought I know what to expect. After all, Wyl Stark had the curse of Myrren's Gift, which caused him to switch bodies with whomever kills him. Crazy twists had already happened because of this. I assumed more would. But the ending had to be predictable, right? I mean, all he had to do was get killed by the evil King Celimus who was to marry Wyl's true love, Valentyna, and all would be right, yes? NOOOO! It turns out that the curse/Gift may not work if Wyl intentionally gets himself killed by someone (although what about that time...??? Well, I don't want to spoil the book, but it's not a huge plot-hole since they really didn't know everything about the Gift, so that may be wrong). The problem is that Wyl is certain that he could not stand to be Celimus, no matter if he does get his dream girl and a chance to live happily ever after. He knows he absorbs a bit of the personaility/life of the bodies he inhabits and the idea of being THAT close with Celimus just is too much for him. One wants to yell and scream at him, of course. But it does make the ending a bit more interesting!!! If he refuses to continue living if he becomes Celimus, then what? Well, you'll have to read and see! --I found my interest almost petering a bit by the third book, but I still thought it very much worth the read. I enjoyed the characters and didn't think they were that two-dimensional. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the body-swapping. I like all the threads being wrapped up, even if they were a bit too neatly done for true belief (some deus ex machina involved!). I have read hundreds of books and most are enjoyable but difficult to remember after a while, but despite a few flaws, this trilogy was still striking and an adventure to read.

This is the third and final book in The Quickening trilogy (after Myrren's Gift and Blood and Memory).

In the Wild, Wyl now knows that he has to become king of Morgravia in order to put an end to Myrren's curse. However, he cannot provoque the magic or he will have to face even more terrible consequences. There also is Fynch's destiny revealed to him: with the help of the creatures of the Thicket, he must get the world rid of Elysius's brother, the dark magician Rashlyn, King Cailech's barshi.

Meanwhile, Aremys the huge Grenadyne mercenary has been teleported by the Thicket to the Razors. At first made prisoner by the warrior Myrt and his men, his previous dealings with Celimus and his knowledge of the Morgravian sovereign later help him get into Cailech's good books and become his counsellor. He suggests the King of the Mountain Kingdom organize a peace parley with Celimus. Acting as go-between, Aremys gambles and offers to deliver Ylena as guarantee.

In Morgravia, as Celimus performs further random acts of cruelty, killing any who dares questions certain mysterious deaths but always managing to put the blame on alleged traitorous nobles, his Chancellor Jessom becomes less and less convinced about his King's course of actions. And as the wedding day draws nearer, Queen Valentyna of Briavel finds it increasingly difficult to resolve to marry this tyrant.

This volume is more focused on the Mountain Kingdom, and I really enjoyed discovering further facets of Myrt, Cailech, and also Aremys, as well as reading about Lothryn and Gueryn's ordeals at the hands of twisted Rashlyn. I was a little dubious at first about the whole magical aspect introduced in this volume with Fynch's inheritance, wondering where Fiona McIntosh was taking the plot, but in the end she managed to blend it in almost seamlessly and surprised me once again with the breath-taking twists and jaw-dropping turns that I have come to love and look forward to.

Loved how the story lines were pulled together -- great ending ... you will not be disappointed

It is a story with a new kind of twist that works great. It will keep you wondering what will happen next. Some say the writing was bad, or other mishaps, but the story was fun and it kept me reading.

someone gave me Mirren's Gift, the first book of the Quickening trilogy. I really didn't even want to read it, as i haven't touched fantasy since my twenties. so, I starte reading it, and got into it, and couldn't put the book down.
I have since completed the trilogy, and just finished Odalisque, the first book of the Percheron Saga trilogy, and this looks just as great as Quickening.
Once I really love to read an author, I buy every thing they write, and Fiona McIntosh is now on that list.

This was a very enjoyable series. The plot and characters were both excellent. She throws in twists that will keep you guessing too. I would suggest this for fans of Brooks, Martin, and Hobb.

Though he wishes he could go back to before when he was a general in the Morgravian army, Wyl Thirsk courageously continues to live with his "gift" of life granted to him by the now late Myrren the witch. Myrren's "gift" is a spell that propels his spirit to occupy the body of anyone who murders him.

Currently Wyl resides in the body of his sister Ylena while he continues his quest to kill King Celimus of Morgravia with a secondary objective to thwart the monarch's intention to marry Queen Valentyna of neighboring Briavel. Meanwhile Myrren's late father Elysius before turning to dust "assigned" young Fynch "mentored" by Knave the dog to annihilate the malevolent magician Rashlyn. These two quests will soon link up leaving a depressed Wyl and unconfident Fynch in mortal danger from two evil abominations, but failure leaves their countrymen at risk.

BRIDGE OF SOULS, the final bodysnatching tale in the Quickening trilogy (see MYRREN'S GIFT and BLOOD AND MEMORY) is a fabulous epic fantasy that grips fans of Fiona McIntosh from the moment the boy magician Fynch and Knave communicate. The story line never slows until the final confrontation between good and evil. Though it is better to have read the previous tales to understand how things progressed to the bridge of no return, epic fantasy readers will appreciate the action-packed climax as Wyl tries to save the people of his nation and those of the neighboring country as well as the woman he loves in a desperate final gamut.

Harriet Klausner

I'd eagerly awaited this final book in the "Quickening" trilogy; I was not disappointed. As my title suggests, I really enjoyed this book with one minor reservation...let me explain.

The pros:

The book is easy to read and intriguing from the opening chapter. It has, as with most great fantasy stories, a plot filled with love, betrayal, friendship, unexpected twists and turns and a liberal dose of magic. I found myself reading late into the night to satisfy my need to find out what happens next... just one more chapter!

The book has several different storylines, told alternately, that revolve around the main characters of the first two novels, that being Wyl, Valentyna, Fynch, Aremys, Cailech and of course the main villain of the tale, Celimus. The individual tales come together at the end to make for satisfactory conclusion.(To those of us who thought we'd figured out the ending for this trilogy at the end of book two... well think again.)

There is also good character development of the people in this book making them more real to the readers. Characters you love to love or love to hate as the circumstances dictate.

The cons: (small spoiler)

Despite my enthusiasm for this novel I have one complaint, and it has a tone of disappointment associated with it; that being the overuse of magical devices/occurrences to tie up some of the potential loose ends at the conclusion of the book. After an entire book of brilliant buildups involving untold hardships, cruelty and suffering, (and some good things as well) we have a fairy tale ending...an "everyone lives happily ever after" conclusion that just doesn't fit the mood or style of the rest of this magnificent tale.

All in all a great ending to this trilogy (even with the minor concern I mentioned in the above paragraph); a testament to Fiona McIntosh's developing skills as a writer in this genre. This to me, fits right up there with R.R. Martin's "Ice and Fire" series as well as Steven Erikson's "Malazan Book of the Fallen" novels. Well done!!! 4 1/2 stars.