The Branches of Time

This book has been languishing in my TBR list for almost 3 years! There is one book that has been sitting there longer, so it should not feel too bad about the long wait.

Now, I would like to clarify that I read the English translation instead of the original version in Italian. Therefore, I cannot determine if the somewhat wooden sounding prose is a fault of the translation.

That said, the book had an interesting storyline that begins with a huge bang: a wedding in a remote northern island has been commenced between a man and his apparently arranged fiancée. Bashinoir is no fool. He knows his wife Lils has the hots for the guy and feels a mixture of hatred/resentment/triumph that Lils will no longer feel tempted to run away with him. show more Not that these marital issues will matter all that much. A strange magical spell appears from the sky and stone shards pellet the wedding reception, killing pretty much everyone in the village except for Lils, Bashinoir, and the mysterious female priestess Miril.

Meanwhile, in a mainland northern country named Isk, a second story develops. Their ruthless and very sexually addicted king Beanor is thrilled that the court wizard Aldin performed some kind of magical ritual that has apparently eliminated a magical barrier that kept their people trapped in their current lands for over 2000 years. He has it all figured out. Once the first ships filled with highly trained soldiers embark in southern lands for their first contact, he will conquer them, enslave people, and perhaps... wait, a new maid is now working in the palace and she has a curvylicious body with perfect buttocks... I think he wants to take her as his newest collection of royal wives, and he can't wait for the girl's father to be located to forcefully "greenlight" the happy betrothal. Maybe his plans to conquer foreign lands would go much faster if Aldrin could be found. Where could that loser be anyways? Oh well, Beanor will have to liberate former head wizard Obolil after locking and torturing him relentlessly for the past 20 years because Isk doesn't have any fully trained wizards.

The Branches of Time develops into three separate stories: the isolation of the sole 3 survivors of the island, scenes involving several characters in Isk, and a third somewhat oddball timeline where two child gods are creating a world in front of their very eyes with an uncertain purpose within the story.

I personally enjoyed all of the scenes involving the treachery of the mostly scheming and immoral array of characters in Isk, scratched my head during the brief god child chapters, and felt somewhat bored with the island chapters. Unfortunately, the island chapters encompass at least 60% of the book. And I found them to be SO DAMN SLOW! I liked the conflict from selfish Bashinoir when he discovers Lils doesn't want to continue being his wife (Friend zoned! Ouch!), and his slow descent into his self-destruction. The story revolving Lils and Miril is supposed to be some sort of steamy lesbian romance, but I found each and every one of their scenes to feel forceful and their acting wooden. I didn't care too much about either character and felt compelled to cheer for the Iskians just for the sake of making the story more interesting.

That aside, The Branches of Time felt a good heap of the time like the filler steamy scenes in Games of Thrones. Beanor was either banging a wife or stripping a woman naked right in front of his court to satiate his buttock fetish. While I didn't personally detest the erotica scenes, I think they were abused a bit too much. The reader only needed to get some glimpses of Beanor's awful personality and leave it there. Furthermore, the scene where his son Beanor Junior getting himself a blowjob by his maid seemed like a pointless filler that should have never been included into the actual book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes starred by the rightfully bitter wizard Obolil and still feel unsure why a wizard of his capabilities didn't simply use magic to escape the prison. Sure, he would have been eventually found and murdered because the country is in permanent magical lockdown, but an unexplained plot hole is still one nonetheless. I found the scheming scenes between Beanor's privileged wives to be entertaining. The book would have indeed been a whole lot better if there were more scenes focusing on the Iskians over the islanders.

The prose at times felt stilted, I do not know if this was due to the translation. I felt the world building was not enough. We don't understand why the islanders decided to inhabit a teeny tiny island and continue to enclose Isk after the events 2000 years ago. Beanor is a detestable scumbag of a king, but his father was apparently decent and hardworking. It is obvious not every citizen of Isk was malignant, so why is an ancient curse harming everyone after so long?

Sadly the book will not answer all of these questions. The ending should have been building, but it was left rushed and half way. Ills's betrayal could have been developing over a longer span of the book, whereas Miril's plan to make a sort of magical voyage and discover the truth behind some of the strange events on the island during the aftermath of the massacre could have been slowly building. Oh, and there is another error late in the book. Obolil gets angry at Illis and "grates his teeth". The issue is that his tormentors in prison yanked all of his teeth off. show less

This book has been languishing in my TBR list for almost 3 years! There is one book that has been sitting there longer, so it should not feel too bad about the long wait.

Now, I would like to clarify that I read the English translation instead of the original version in Italian. Therefore, I cannot determine if the somewhat wooden sounding prose is a fault of the translation.

That said, the book had an interesting storyline that begins with a huge bang: a wedding in a remote northern island has been commenced between a man and his apparently arranged fiancée. Bashinoir is no fool. He knows his wife Lils has the hots for the guy and feels a mixture of hatred/resentment/triumph that Lils will no longer feel tempted to run away with him. show more Not that these marital issues will matter all that much. A strange magical spell appears from the sky and stone shards pellet the wedding reception, killing pretty much everyone in the village except for Lils, Bashinoir, and the mysterious female priestess Miril.

Meanwhile, in a mainland northern country named Isk, a second story develops. Their ruthless and very sexually addicted king Beanor is thrilled that the court wizard Aldin performed some kind of magical ritual that has apparently eliminated a magical barrier that kept their people trapped in their current lands for over 2000 years. He has it all figured out. Once the first ships filled with highly trained soldiers embark in southern lands for their first contact, he will conquer them, enslave people, and perhaps... wait, a new maid is now working in the palace and she has a curvylicious body with perfect buttocks... I think he wants to take her as his newest collection of royal wives, and he can't wait for the girl's father to be located to forcefully "greenlight" the happy betrothal. Maybe his plans to conquer foreign lands would go much faster if Aldrin could be found. Where could that loser be anyways? Oh well, Beanor will have to liberate former head wizard Obolil after locking and torturing him relentlessly for the past 20 years because Isk doesn't have any fully trained wizards.

The Branches of Time develops into three separate stories: the isolation of the sole 3 survivors of the island, scenes involving several characters in Isk, and a third somewhat oddball timeline where two child gods are creating a world in front of their very eyes with an uncertain purpose within the story.

I personally enjoyed all of the scenes involving the treachery of the mostly scheming and immoral array of characters in Isk, scratched my head during the brief god child chapters, and felt somewhat bored with the island chapters. Unfortunately, the island chapters encompass at least 60% of the book. And I found them to be SO DAMN SLOW! I liked the conflict from selfish Bashinoir when he discovers Lils doesn't want to continue being his wife (Friend zoned! Ouch!), and his slow descent into his self-destruction. The story revolving Lils and Miril is supposed to be some sort of steamy lesbian romance, but I found each and every one of their scenes to feel forceful and their acting wooden. I didn't care too much about either character and felt compelled to cheer for the Iskians just for the sake of making the story more interesting.

That aside, The Branches of Time felt a good heap of the time like the filler steamy scenes in Games of Thrones. Beanor was either banging a wife or stripping a woman naked right in front of his court to satiate his buttock fetish. While I didn't personally detest the erotica scenes, I think they were abused a bit too much. The reader only needed to get some glimpses of Beanor's awful personality and leave it there. Furthermore, the scene where his son Beanor Junior getting himself a blowjob by his maid seemed like a pointless filler that should have never been included into the actual book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes starred by the rightfully bitter wizard Obolil and still feel unsure why a wizard of his capabilities didn't simply use magic to escape the prison. Sure, he would have been eventually found and murdered because the country is in permanent magical lockdown, but an unexplained plot hole is still one nonetheless. I found the scheming scenes between Beanor's privileged wives to be entertaining. The book would have indeed been a whole lot better if there were more scenes focusing on the Iskians over the islanders.

The prose at times felt stilted, I do not know if this was due to the translation. I felt the world building was not enough. We don't understand why the islanders decided to inhabit a teeny tiny island and continue to enclose Isk after the events 2000 years ago. Beanor is a detestable scumbag of a king, but his father was apparently decent and hardworking. It is obvious not every citizen of Isk was malignant, so why is an ancient curse harming everyone after so long?

Sadly the book will not answer all of these questions. The ending should have been building, but it was left rushed and half way. Ills's betrayal could have been developing over a longer span of the book, whereas Miril's plan to make a sort of magical voyage and discover the truth behind some of the strange events on the island during the aftermath of the massacre could have been slowly building. Oh, and there is another error late in the book. Obolil gets angry at Illis and "grates his teeth". The issue is that his tormentors in prison yanked all of his teeth off. show less

The first book in a series, Branches of Time is an apt name, which is explained toward the end. Here, we follow two separate storylines. One, the island and it's surviving inhabitants, trying to stay alive and protected. The other, the kingdom to the north, trying to find a way to breach the barriers keeping them separate from the rest of the world. There are wizards and priestesses, a King and his wives, betrayals and forbidden loves. There are a few scenes, interspersed, that depict a mysterious "other" couple, playing some kind of game... perhaps gods? This book ends on a major cliffhanger, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

A fast paced, magical and sexy read.

The quick pace and the short chapters made this book a very enjoyable and addictive read. It isn't bogged down with scientific theory which made it easier for me to get into it quickly.

I love time travel stories but this one was unique to me because it's set on the island of Turios, instead of Earth, where fantasy and magic blend into the fabric of the island. Only magic can protect the last three survivors but time is running out.

I loved how the story alternated from the island of Turios to the realm of Isk where the people are under the thumb of the crazy King Beanor who is obsessed with sex and war. He is both a frightening and compelling character and I found that I enjoyed his scenes a lot.
In show more Isk I got a better sense of where the characters were in time. Their world is reminiscent of medieval times. Beanor resembles a bored evil king in a medieval court where he throws enemies and anyone who fails him into the torture chamber and dungeon. The court is riddled with spies and plots to overthrow him.

I really enjoyed this book. It does end abruptly and with a cliffhanger but I look forward to reading book 2

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review show less

I have to say, Luca Rossi has done it again. The Branches of Time is a whirlwind, literally, of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. From the first bloody scene of what is supposed to be a beautiful wedding to the twists and turns that send you off a cliff at the end, this book is not for the faint of heart.
Beautiful yet gruesome imagery, heat, and flights of fancy, this book will be one you will never forget.

This is the second book that I read by Luca Rossi and I loved it just as much as I did Galactic Energies. The author is very talented and the story quite great. Luca is a master in providing twists and turns in his books that keep you glued to the pages.

This book starts at a wonderful wedding that was taking place on the island of Turios. Next thing you know a huge catastrophic and devastating disaster destroys the place and kills the people on the island but for a priestess Miril, Bashinoir and his wife Lil.

While you try to get over that incident, quickly you find out that every dead body on the ground starts to disappear and soon you are in another day and time. The twists and turns of the story the time travel and the complicated show more plot will take your breath away. There is a wonderful mixture of fantasy, sexual overtone, Sci-Fi, excitement, adventure and utter entertainment through out the pages. I liked the characters in the story and Luca made them likable by providing details about their existence.

I loved the book and I will recommend it to all my friends who love this type of material. It is really a great read. The plot is exciting, sexual, thrilling and kept me eager for more. Luca Rossi has done an amazing job once again and I can’t wait for his next book where the adventure moves to another wild level. show less

During a wedding, generally considered a blessed event, tragedy befalls the population of a pleasant little island. Everyone is killed except the bride, groom, and a priestess, who didn't attend the ceremony. As the survivors attempt to survive, another island's ruler wants complete cleansing of the first island. The ruler is a mad-man, oversexed, and ruthless. The story seems a bit dry at times, but overall, it is a great story.