A Tapestry of Spells (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 4) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy A Tapestry of Spells (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 4)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on A Tapestry of Spells (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 4). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

A Tapestry of Spells (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 4) ReviewFirst, 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.
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), and I am confident that together, they'll be another story that we can't help but love.
Edited to add:
Spellweaver: A Novel of the Nine Kingdoms (Nine Kingdom Novels) is out, and my review is up!A Tapestry of Spells (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 4) Overview

Want to learn more information about A Tapestry of Spells (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 4)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now