19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful new beginning!, January 14, 2010
This review is from: A Tapestry of Spells (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 4) (Paperback)
First, since some confusion exists regarding the progression of the Nine Kingdom's books, here's a current list (as of Jan '11):
Two Prelude short stories, found in anthologies with other authors:
The Queen in Winter (When Symon, the first king of Neroche, woos and wins Iolaire)
To Weave a Web of Magic (The Tale of Two Swords where Mehar and Gilraehen fall in love)
Miach and Morgan's story is told in:
1-
Star of the Morning (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 1)
2-
The Mage's Daughter (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 2)
3-
Princess of the Sword (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 3)Ruith and Sarah's story (which OVERLAPS Miach and Morgan's story in the timeline) is told in:
4-
A Tapestry of Spells (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 4) (this book)
5-
Spellweaver (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 5)
6-
Gift of Magic, due to be published in January 2012
And she's said there are more Nine Kingdoms trilogies planned for successive Januaries.
Ruithneadh, or Ruith as he is called, is the youngest of Morgan's older brothers as well as the once-boyhood-friend of Miach. (Miach and Morgan being the heroes in the first trilogy.) In those books, Ruith was presumed dead, but there was no proof. A Tapestry of Spells is the first in a new trilogy telling his story.
After a prologue which describes the terrible events at the well, Ruith was so horrified by what his father did and so mistrustful of himself, his temper, and his own power that he buried all three near Diore, a village which "lay to the south in the county of Shettlestoune, which found itself comfortably to the south of anywhere else." And there they stayed buried...until the very pretty and fiery and mysterious Sarah comes along. To make things even more uncomfortable for him, the silvery ribbon of fate that accompanies her is colored with both the beautiful elvin colors and magic of his Fadairian heritage, but also the darkness embraced by his father, the infamous (and thankfully dead) Gair of Caingail.
Sarah has been carefully hiding both secrets and gold toward the day when she can escape Doire and make a life somewhere without thieves and thorns and everything else that Doire is filled with. She'd rather weave her patterns of beauty in the kingdom of Neroche, or possible Meith, and hopefully begin the trip there before her brother brings his evil magic home again. But Daniel arrives with more than she'd bargained for, forcing her to abandon her carefully laid plans and set out to stop him instead.
The result is a quest led by a woman who doesn't seem to have magic, though she does have the steadily-increasing ability to see magic that others have wrought...guarded by a mage hiding vast amounts of elvin power and his past behind a heavy cloak and every non-magical weapon available...and accompanied by the extremely odd assortment of companions they pick up along the way. Their aim at first is merely to stop Sarah's brother, but it isn't too long before we discover that Gair of Caingail's reach extends beyond the grave, and only Sarah's sight and Ruith's knowledge of his father are capable of stopping the evil that Gair's spells have planted.
Why do I love it? Well...though some might call it a bit slow in places, it is (as all of Lynn Kurland's books are) a beautiful unfolding of characters and relationships, as well as a careful weaving of a tale that must have all of its anchoring threads in place for the beauty and power of it to be shown. It's intriguing to discover that this story actually takes place WHILE Star of the Morning and The Mage's Daughter are happening.
A Tapestry of Spells is also nicely different from the first trilogy. Ruith is not just another Miach, Sosar, Turah, or whatever other mage or elvin prince you care to name. His fear of what he might do is very real, and his weaknesses and what holds him back are very justified. Not once did I feel that his character was contrived. Sarah is also quite different, possessing a gift that seems to be quite rare in the Nine Kingdoms...a gift that even mages with vast amounts of power do not have. Her past is still a mystery, and at this point in the story, we do not even know if she, herself, knows why she has the gift she does. She is fiery and independent without being irritatingly so, and she still has a soft heart.
The romance between Ruith and Sarah has only just begun in this story. They are falling for each other, but you will not find even so much as a kiss between these pages. You WILL, however, be swept into their hearts as those magical first moments of love keep weaving themselves into their quest.
I wish I could give the story 4 1/2 stars, but since that's not possible, I'm settling for 4. I don't want to give it a 5, because this trilogy does not compare to the first Nine Kingdoms trilogy. My only fault with this particular book is that it's a bit slow and repetitious in a few places. I think the story would have been stronger if extra words had been cut out, leaving the same plot told in a more concise way. The beginnings of romance, beautiful writing, and magic moments make up for that, though.
Finally, I'll warn that this book leaves off with a cliffhanger, just like
Star of the Morning (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 1) did. But like that one, this is the first in a trilogy (the next two are set to be released in January of '11 and '12). The story continues with Spellweaver and concludes with Gift of Magic.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Couple Thrown Together On a Quest to Save the Kingdom From Dark Magic, September 10, 2010
This review is from: A Tapestry of Spells (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 4) (Paperback)
Sarah lives in a nasty back-water of the Nine Kingdoms and has been secretly saving up enough money in order to get away. She hopes to make her living by her skill at weaving. But her nasty brother puts a crimp in her plans. He steals her money and worse, has been studying dark magic and declares that he is determined to destroy the Nine Kingdoms.
Sarah knows she needs to try and stop her brother, but she doesn't have magic powers that can defeat him, so she travels to find a mage who can help her. Reputedly there is a powerful mage who lives like a hermit in the deep woods nearby, so she heads there, even though she has nothing and confronting a mage is a dangerous proposition.
Ruith has been living, isolated, using the reputation of the mage that used to inhabit his tower as a means to keep everyone away. Long ago he buried his magic and is determined to never use it. When Sarah barges into his life, at first he sends her away... but then he realizes that her brother is a problem and Sarah won't stop until she can make sure he doesn't carry out his evil plans. Even as a magic-less man, Ruith decides he needs to help her.
This is the first part of a second trilogy set in the world of the Nine Kingdoms. I have enjoyed Kurland's historicals and the earlier fantasy romance trilogy, and I enjoyed this book as well. The relationship builds slowly, as this is only the beginning book (and it ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger, so don't read it until the next book is out if you dislike that kind of thing!). Both characters have secrets, some they know about and some they don't! But they are good people and heroic, and it is exciting to follow them on their adventure, battling with evil creatures and evil mages and seeing how they start to work together and build a relationship.
Some reviewers here have marked this tale down because the story is continued in the next books, which is too bad...
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book left me in shock....at 2am this morning!, March 24, 2010
This review is from: A Tapestry of Spells (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 4) (Paperback)
The most important thing to know about this book is that it is NOT the only book-I repeat, this is NOT the end! I just found out that it's the first book in a new trilogy. It ends in a major cliffhanger that may leave you with physical and emotional side effects; ie cold sweats, panic, fits of anger, waking up your spouse/signif. other/dog(s) and/or cat(s) to tell them "there is no way this is the end of the book!"!
Lynn Kurland is one of my favorite authors. However, I have not read the previous trilogy. I hate to admit that I didn't even know it existed. (You know how Life gets in the way and you unintentionally stop taking time for yourself-which, for me, means curling up with a good book!) The last three days I've gone to bed reading this book until 2am (THAT'S how I know I've picked a good book!) completely absorbed in the story. When I finished the book this morning I couldn't believe it. I'm used to reading the books where everyone lives happily ever after and all the problems are solved in just one book! I just assumed this one would be the same. I'll admit-I was angry! I suffered from all the side effects listed above!
So first thing this morning I went on amazon.com and was reassured that this is only the first book and the story will continue and it's not the end. Whew! I was hoping the next book was out so I could buy it immediately and find out what happens, but I have to wait till Jan 2011, then Jan 2012 for the final book. No such luck. Just another way of knowing I picked a good book, I guess! At least I still have the previous trilogy to catch up on while I wait!
Now that I'm relieved and on the other side of the "trauma" I went through early this morning, I will say that this was a beautifully written, totally absorbing book. I liked how one reviewer described Sarah-tough and determined, but not overly tough. You can see that she has a soft heart and is thoughtful and tender with Ruith-selflessly, but without him knowing what it costs her-yet at the same time she would not allow him or anyone else treat her without respect. Both of them have so much to discover about themselves that they've hidden for so long, "stuffed down inside, like a well, latched close, to be forgotten about". You can see that, without each other and what each of them bring to and out of each other, they would never be able to face their "demons". I cannot imagine two more books would cover everything! I cannot wait to find out how this ends-for real, this time!
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