Customer Reviews

Valley of the Soul

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advanced reader copy of the book a month before it was scheduled to come out. Let me start off by saying that I used to read a lot. All the time, everywhere, and very quickly. And usually fantasy. Key words here are "used to." I don't anymore. Whether it's that my patience for books has lost out to other interests, or that they just don't make 'em like they used to, I don't read that much anymore. Fantasy books sound good on the back cover, but ultimately bore me into giving up by page ten. In a world of disappointment, Valley of the Soul does not fit in. It, like the other books in the Dubric series, towers over the majority of fantasy books being produced right now. I read this 450 book in two sittings in two days, so glued to the story that I could hardly force myself to stop in order to eat or sleep. I read until my eyes were so blurry I had trouble making out the words, NEEDING to find out what would happen next.

While not as gruesome as the second book in the series, Threads of Malice (which I LOVED), it still had plenty of gruesome, creepy bits that made me shiver. The characters' stories were wonderful and in-depth (and you don't have to have read the other books to appreciate what was going on). The author doesn't pull any punches, whether it's with horrifying plot twists, or not being afraid to address the real issues bothering the characters. She delves right in--no beating around the bush or avoiding messy subjects.

Between each character's story and the mystery unfolding, the book has a lot of threads running through it, but none of them are ever left hanging, and each one grips you and doesn't let go. If you're looking for a good fantasy novel, or a good mystery, with elements of horror blended with engaging characters and a story that won't let you put it down until the end, READ THIS BOOK.

I have read a lot of fantasy so it gets a little old with the same old plot twists. TSJ is a wonderfully refreshing author although her work is quite dark. This latest book Valley of the Soul, is in my opinion the best of the three so far. It has just the right balance of darkness, evil villains, plot twists and it answers some questions that were raised in the first two books of the series and also raises new and more intriging questions at the same time.

I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys mystery, fantasy and intrigue.

Great work!

Dubric and his band of investigators are back in the third book of the series and it seems they have a full-fledged mage on the rampage. Now, for those who didn't read the previous books, mages are not gentle Gandalf-types around here. Think homicidal maniacs who torture for fun and combine psychopathic tendencies with extreme magical power. They sometimes ate small armies for breakfast, but they have mostly been wiped out decades ago. I can't think of a fantasy series that gives such a bleak, paranoid, and consistently negative assessment of all things magic. Maybe, but that doesn't mean they are similar, the Lovecraftian mythos.

Dubric, who is now in his 60's was once one of the best mage killers around. Lots of Valley's pages are devoted to building up the world of Faldorrah's background, what the mages were like during the wars and why Dubric hates them. I sense that the author wants to expand on it in future books. Good, because the series is much more innovative than most current fantasy.

Books 1 and 2 focused more on criminal investigations proper, with gruesome and gory details throughout. Thankfully, the bloodiness has been toned down, a bit. Gone too are the scenes from the killer's viewpoint, which didn't serve much purpose beyond being a gory tease. However, due to all the background info and character development, Valley sometimes strays too far from its murder mystery roots, which is why I give it 4 instead of 5 stars. Then again, the final battle with the mage is quite an impressive bit of action.

Like its predecessors, Valley provides opportunity for the savvy reader to figure who did it, IF they are smart enough. At the end, you can kick yourself for not getting it (I am 0 for 3 so far), but you can also see the logic and the hints that you should have picked up.

All in all, a good series for fans of murder mysteries and fantasy.

Murder comes once again to the attention of Dubric Bryerly, castellan of Faldorrah Castle. The decapitated bodies of livestock have been found in the downtrodden village of Quarry Run, followed by the decapitated bodies of human beings. Dubric and his team scour the countryside searching for clues, each one seeming to point at a more sinister menace behind the string of disappearance and death, Dubric's old bane, the poisonous taint of a dark mage.

From dark secrets locked behind the walls of a local sanatorium to sinister influences poisoning his home and new love, Dubric must put together each new puzzle piece and solve the mystery before a treacherous evil rises again.

In a way, I'm rather disappointed with this, the third book in the Dubric Bryerly series. I'm not disappointed with the writing, which is as taut and enthralling as ever, nor am I disappointed with the story, which was the richest and most complex of the three books. No, I'm disappointed by the fact that upon reaching the end of the book, there seems to be no more follow-up novels in sight. Which is quite frustrating as the end of the book did in no way end the stories of the characters involved. Quite the reverse. I am left hanging, eager to continue following the lives and adventures of these characters and saddened by the knowledge that, for the foreseeable future and to the best of my knowledge, I won't be allowed to do so.

Don't let that discourage you from reading this book, though. Though murder is once again the main feature, it somewhat downplayed, the novel instead focusing more on the relationships, personal and political, of the people driving the story. It felt as though the book was preparing itself as a springboard for a whole new arc of stories, by laying down more of the history of Faldorrah, the Mage Wars, and the political machinations which have brought Dubric into the position he currently holds. I've sent out a call to Tamara Siler Jones not to leave us readers hanging and she's listened. In fact, she has plenty more tales of Bryerly and company to tell, but if she doesn't get more support from the reading public, publishers won't know to publish her. You can do your part and support her by buying as many of Siler's books as you can; send publishers a message that she's a talent which needs to be supported and heard.

Dubric Byerly, Castellan of Faldorrah, has been called to Quarry Run with his assistants Lars and Dien. The constable has found dismembered sheep and dogs. Dubric is afraid that someone is working up to slaughtering people and it might be a mage. Dubric and his team are still recovering from hunting and killing a mage months earlier -- mentally and physically the scars of that case run deep -- and now they may have do it again.

Valley of the Soul is the third book of the Dubric Byerly series. One of the interesting things is how the characters have developed and grown based on the events in the past two books. The events of the last book, Threads of Malice have taken their toll. Dien and Sarea Saworth lost a daughter. Lars feels guilt for not saving their daughter and while he's courting Jesscea Saworth, he freezes up when close to her because of all the evil he's seen. Maeve and Dubric are starting their life as a couple but she isn't sure she wants to marry yet. And Otlee is dealing with the trauma of his torture and captivity. Time may heal all wounds but it also takes a lot of effort and maybe more time than they have.

Once you start reading there's no good place to stop, so my advice is to plan a marathon reading session. The pace quickens as more threads of seemingly unrelated stories are twined about and the characters stories dance in and around each other. We learn much more about the life of Oriana, Dubric's first wife, as Jesscea reads through her diaries which also fill us in on some of the events of the mage wars.

As you read you realize that several of the characters have information vital to others but they don't realize it and it's not that they won't share, it's more that they don't even know it's relevant. Then there's the information that is shared and ignored. Many authors use misdirection and misunderstandings to move the plot along, but that's not the case here. You never have the feeling that the author is directing from off-stage. The story opens and the characters act naturally as they are set up to live their lives, and you follow along sometimes seeing the pitfalls and sometimes not but knowing that anything can happen because sometimes there are no happy endings.

One caveat -- these stories are dark. The people and their stories are worth reading but be warned that this author doesn't pull her punches.

I discovered Tamara Siler Jones when I ran across "Ghosts in the Snow (Bantam Spectra Book)" a few years back. It was such a compelling book with wonderful characters - and I was hooked. I have subsequently purchased "Threads of Malice" and now "Valley of Souls."

The main character around whom this series revolves is Lord Dubric Byerly - the head of castle security for Lord Brushgar and also the man responsible for the welfare of the people in all of Faldorrah. Approximately 40 years prior to the first book in the series, he was forced to kill his own wife when she was badly burned in a fire but, because of her grasp of magic - would not die. Because of this, he was cursed by the Goddess Malanna to see the ghosts of all people in the realm who were murdered until their killers were brought to justice. Formerly a Knight in the Goddess' service, Dubric cursed Her name and turned his back on Her service. He is now responsible for several pages as well as his squire Dien. Lars and Otlee are the two pages who are the most closely involved in working with Dubric and Dien in solving crimes.

In Valley of the Soul, Dubric, Dien and Lars travel to nearby Quarry Run to investigate reports of missing and maimed sheep. Once there, what they discover leads Dubric to believe they are facing something much more sinister than just a few missing sheep - he believes they are facing a mage. As they continue to investigate in Quarry Run, Dubric's intended Maeve begins a slow spin into madness back at the castle, which no one is there to see. What is the cause of it? Is it the magical mirror that Dubric has used for years? Or is it something else altogether?

There are a lot of threads tied together to make this story, and many of those threads seem completely unrelated until they all come together at the end. It is a stunningly well-written piece and one I do not hesitate to recommend, along with her other works.

I have been thinking about the series, while I read this one, and since this one included excerpts from Dubric's wife's journals with dates on it, it started to gel in my mind. I think this is supposed to take place in our own world, sometime in the distant future after a terrible war has reduced the world back to medieval-type living conditions. Well, maybe, anyway :-)

There is only ONE thing that bothers me about these books, and that is right from the very first book, and continuing into this one, there are mention of things that make it seem we are being brought into the story somewhere in the middle - as if there should have been earlier books that we simply haven't read, so we're missing some of the plot-lines. It is disconcerting and when I was first reading "Ghosts in the Snow," I kept trying to find out if there were indeed earlier books - but no, that was the first book in the series. However, that is not enough to change my recommendation. They are all terrific books, multifaceted and they definitely will draw you in and not let you go until you are done reading them.

Lord Dubric Byerly is a war hero who killed seventeen mages while his men slew forty more. He lives in the Castle in Faldorrah with his small group of men acting like police authorities catching criminals but his main mission remains the same: to kill mages. When he is called to Quarry Run to investigate missing sheep, he finds many of the beasts dismembered with their heads decapitated and wearing a mage mark. He also knows a man was recently murdered as the victim's ghost demands justice from Dubric.

The evidence points to a blood mage, a unique creature who drinks the blood of its victims, which leads to the person in thrall to a new evil master. Dubric believes the mage is hiding in plain sight yet he fails to find him or her. When his cherished Maeve is possessed by the mage he seeks, Dubric realizes who the enemy is at quite a price; any direct move might cost his beloved her life and soul. He must find a way to cast themage out without harming his lover.

Tamara Siler Jones writes some of the better fantasy mysteries on the market today with her latest containing her trademark of plenty of action in a world filled with dark magic and its opposing force. The romantic subplot enhances the suspense as the hero struggles with how to save his beloved and destroy a deadly malevolent blood mage. Dubric's dilemma makes the tale as he is an honorable person who knows that mages must die for the better good of everyone, but to sacrifice the woman who means everything to him makes for a difficult situation. This compelling novel has cross genre appeal.

Harriet Klausner

There's three books in this series. A sci-fi/fantasy/horror who dunnit. The main character sees dead people until the crime is solved. The ghosts follow him until that point. The longer he takes to solve the crime, the more aware the ghost become. The books are all excellently written. Enjoy.