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Julianne Lee

Author of Knight Tenebrae

13+ Works 774 Members 126 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Series

Works by Julianne Lee

Knight Tenebrae (2005) 110 copies
Her Mother's Daughter (2009) 99 copies
Son of the Sword (2001) 94 copies
Knight's Blood (2006) 77 copies
Sword of King James (2002) 72 copies
Outlaw Sword (2002) 62 copies
Knight's Lady (1975) 57 copies
Sword of the White Rose (2003) 56 copies
Interloper at Glencoe (2012) 32 copies
Kindred Spirits (2012) 27 copies
Battle Ready 2 copies

Associated Works

Turn the Other Chick (2004) — Contributor — 302 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Members

Discussions

(M87'12) Interloper at Glencoe, Julianne Lee in World Reading Circle (December 2012)
Kindred Spirits, Julianne Lee (M31'12) in World Reading Circle (June 2012)

Reviews

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Knight's Blood is the second book in a trilogy written by author Julianne Lee. I received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer's program. The book works fine as a stand alone novel, although be forewarned--it ends on a cliffhanger that will leave you most likely wanting to read the final book of the series.

Overall, I found the story to be well written and enteraining. There are shades of the Outlander series here, to be sure. The plot is a bit confusing, as it centers around time travel, so the narrative jumps back and forth from present day London to fourteenth century Scotland. A navy pilot who wooed and won his beautiful wife in the first book of the series, has found himself transported back from a series of adventures in 14th century Scotland (which included being knighted and getting married). When he and Lindsay, his squire aka wife, discovered she was pregnant, at his wife's urging they found help from one of the "wee folk", Nemed, to return to present day London for the birth of their child. Alex returned to his duties as a Navy Pilot. Before long he received word that his wife has given birth to a son. Alex takes a leave of absence from the military to visit his wife and child, but when he arrives in London he is shocked to find their apartment empty with signs of a hasty departure by Lindsay. In the apartment he sees a photo of his newborn son and is shocked to see he has pointed ears--a dead giveaway that the child is not entirely human. Alex immediately suspects Lindsay of having been unfaithful to him. He discovers from a neighbor that their son was kidnapped and Lindsay fled quickly in pursuit of the kidnappers. Fled back in time and to another land. Alex knew he had to do the same, and quickly.

Alex managed to travel back to the general area of his castle as a laird in Scotland and the general time of his lairdship, the 14th century, through the machinations of the "wee folk". However, he arrived naked and very, very ill. He managed to regain his health after a long recuperation during which a grown young man showed up. A young man unmistakably of his lineage who turns out to be his twenty-seven year old son, Trefor; who was not only kidnapped as an infant by the fae, but has now been back in time by a beautiful version of this species, Morag. Trefor is indeed of magical lineage himself, on his mother's side, it turns out. Trefor believes his parents are responsible for abandoning him as an infant and bears a marked hatred of his father, in particular. Alex accepts that he is his son, but feels only antipathy towards him. They begin a quest in search of Alex's wife, Trefor's mother together.

In the meantime, Lindsay has gone back to previous ways of passing as a man to join a militant group of raiders, plundering and wreaking havoc and death upon villages in the far northern reaches of England. A dashing masculine version of the fae named An Reubair is the leader of this group and he is determined to call Lindsay his own and have sons by her. Between trying to keep An Reubair at bay and dealing with the aftermath of a brutal rape (which along with the fatal aftermath is described in graphic detail), Lindsay has her work cut out for her in her quest to search for her lost infant son.

When the "family" finally meets up with one another, they return to the castle of his lairdship Alex MacNeil (who has now been proclaimed an Earl). All is not well, though and this is about as dysfunctional a family as you will find. Trefor is longing for his mother who rejects him outright and refuses even to talk to him. Alex sides with his wife to protect her. Between the two of them, they display an inexplicable cruelty to this albeit unpleasant young man, who is their son and who survived a childhood full of neglect, abuse and cruelty in foster homes. His hatred towards his father is festering and is bound to end up leading to no good. His parents are only fanning the flames. This relationship is the least enjoyable part of the book because such coldness displayed by parents is so unnatural and feels wrong. The other really maddening part of the book is Alex's power displays over his wife in 14th century Scotland, when both of them being from modern London, know that this behaviour is unacceptable.

The story ends on a cliffhanger that will probably leave you wanting to read the third and final book in the trilogy.
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shirfire218 | 24 other reviews | Mar 9, 2024 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Received as part of the March 2012 LibraryThing Early Reviewers to mark the publication of this book as an ebook.

Shelby moves into a new home brought with the money left her when her parents die. She instantly feels at home there but it's not long before she finds out that the house is haunted by a Civil War soldier. Her work as a book editor has given her a certain level of knowledge about the civil war but she still finds herself at a disadvantage when she gets transported back to the 1860s and into the life of the man who subsequently haunts her house.

Reasonable descriptions of what it meant to live during a civil war and when people often used slaves to do the hard work or had to do it themselves.

Couple of things that stuck me though: her use of modern slang which didnt get picked up on. The change in her sister in law after the death of Ger was a little too anachronistic (from wanting to escape to the bigger town to be a socialite to running a farm on her own and looking after the baby in the house).
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nordie | 18 other reviews | Oct 14, 2023 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Received as part of the October 2012 Librarything's Early Reviewer, from Book View Cafe.

From the publishers: Nick Moulin is a rational, thinking man, who one day acquires a fascinating old book that brings him a dream of a beautiful woman and an adventure of long ago.

This is similar (but not the same) to "Kindred Spirits" by the same author (modern character goes back in time) and "The Last Sunset" by Bob Atkinson, the latter being time travel back to the same area/period of time (redcoat massacres in the glens of Scotland). The main differences with this book is that the main characters get to go forward and backwards in time and (spoiler alert!) manage to change history.

The main thing that bugged me in the book: Nick was in a small apartment, having moved out of his parents' house (his mother was truly dreadful!) and seemed to be of limited income, living on junk food. However, when he went to go shopping with Beth, he managed to get her a whole new wardrobe (dress, tops, underwear, trousers, shoes) with no worries, as a savings account from his time at a dotcom had mysteriously appeared. Beth's discomfort in the new world was dealt with well, and stopped before becoming too tedious.

Not sure I was entirely convinced with Fionn and his take with Beth - he said he was in love with her but seemed to watch from afar and do a little meddling with the men in her life. There was nothing to convince me what he was going to do to make her his - there seemed no plan to kidnap her away to the faery land or otherwise make her his (or did I miss something?). He didnt seem wise or barmy enough for me.

Otherwise, I thought the story was good, interesting, and new-ish take on a fantasy staple.
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nordie | 25 other reviews | Oct 14, 2023 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Received from LibraryThing's March 2013 Early Reviewers.

Alex is interviewed by Lindsay, a female English journalist, after the discovery of a fighter jet too deep in the Scottish waters. When flying her home, both of them crash through a strange vortex, and find themselves in 14th Century Scotland during one of the most politically active times in the country's history. They need to tread carefully to survive, and consider getting home somehow.

Both seem to be particularly "lucky" - Lindsay somehow has enough knowledge of Old English to get them through the first few encounters, and Alex has enough fighting experience to make him useful. The book is focussed mainly on Alex, never showing us a view on Lindsay when it's not in relation to Alex, and we never get to see the situation from her standpoint. Alex seems to settle in well and fast, and doesnt seem to think about finding a way back to the 21st Century.....the "fairy folk" seem to be barely threatening and rarely make much of an appearance - the book seems focussed on the historical and fighting portion rather than the need to get back

There are at least 2 other books in this series, so I presume these are addressed in later books
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nordie | 26 other reviews | Oct 14, 2023 |

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Associated Authors

Geoff Taylor Cover artist
Judy York Cover artist
Dan Craig Cover artist
Tristan Elwell Cover artist

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