A Tapestry of Spells

I agree with Arrr. I enjoyed The Mage's Daughter and Star of the Morning, but this was certainly not Kurland's best work. Her characters were wooden, her plot poorly constructed at best and her pacing less consistent than a bipolar chameleon. This book could have done with an edit or three before hitting the presses. A disappointing effort from an author who is capable of much, much more.

The first book in Lynn Kurland's second Nine Kingdoms trilogy is A Tapestry of Spells. In this book, we now get to see the quest of Morgan's (the heroine from the first trilogy) brother, Ruithneadh. Ruith has been hiding away on a secluded mountain since the tragedy that killed his family and separated him from his sister. Afraid that no one but himself made it out alive, Ruith is traumatized by the events he witnessed and is convinced that his father's evil lives on in himself. As such, he has vowed never to use his magic so that he will never be a threat.

All was going fine in Ruith's carefully constructed plan, until Sarah of Doire knocks on his door and begs for his help. Though he sends her away, she takes his confidence in the show more safety of the Nine Kingdoms, and a piece of his heart. Soon the two are off on a quest, determined to save the Nine Kingdoms from the very real threat of evil that begins to mix her brother's viscous ambitions with his father's evil power.

To me, it is the second trilogy that is the best of the two in the Nine Kingdoms series. I don't know if this is because the third book is not yet out, and the fact that I don't know the ending yet is keeping me guessing and engaged or if it is that I just plain like it better! :) I won't know for sure, I guess until the third one comes out and the two trilogies can be on equal footing. Until then, much as I love the story of Ruith's sister Morgan, it is this trilogy that really keeps me reading and rereading it, just for the pleasure of it. show less

Ruithneadh, or Ruith as he is known by, was ten years of age when his father deliberately opened a well of evil. The evil erupted and was thought to have slaughtered the entire family. Youngest son Ruith somehow survived and crawled to an abandoned cottage deep within the mountains where, determined to not follow in his father's footsteps, he buried every last bit of the magic he possessed deep within himself.

The brother of Sarah of Doìre, daughter of the village witchwoman, has embraced the dark arts and vowed to destroy the Nine Kingdoms. On a quest to stop him before it is too late, Sarah comes knocking on Ruith's door begging for help. The journey that follows uncovers her secret and causes Ruith to face up to his heritage as he show more tries to protect the woman he is becoming infatuated with. Aa entertaining fantasy romance, nicely told and part of a compelling series. show less

Ruith is the son of an evil mage and after witnessing the death of his family because of his father's arrogance, Ruith has vowed to never use magic again. He hides himself away in the mountains under the guise of an old mage. When Sarah's brother gets a hold of spells that could destroy the world, she seeks out Ruith in the hope that he will help stop her brother. Ruith initally refuses, but then he discovers that the spell Sarah's brother has gotten a hold of is one of his father's. Reluctantly he tries to help Sarah without using any of his magic, but Sarah's brother is just the beginning of a much larger problem.
This is the start of a companion trilogy to the other Nine Kingdom trilogy. The characters were engaging and the plot is show more little vague but has the potential to turn into a solid storyline as the larger bad guys appear. One scene refers to something that happened in the other trilogy with Morgan and we know a few things about what happened to his family that Ruith does not which helps link the series together. I am looking forward to the next book in the series already. show less

I was really enjoying this book. It moved along at a nice pace and it was great to get back into this world. But...I think they forgot the last chapter or something. It just kind of ended, not really on a cliffhanger but on some sort of precipice, like we were just about to find out some really interesting things but it was a sort of secret that the reader didn't need to know. Weird.

Absolutely hated where this book ended but did love everything else about it. Lynn Kurland never disappoints when in need of a book to utterly transport you. I'm looking forward to the next book.

fun fantasy romance, fluffy, somewhat repetitive, resembles earlier book Star of the Morning by Kurland