Smitten by Books

Gift of Magic
Author: Lynn Kurland
Publisher: Penguin Group / Berkley Trade
Pub. Date: January 3, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0425245200
Pages: 320
Digital Price: $9.99
Print Retail Price: $15.00
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Sarah of Doìre knows the pattern of spells is no accident. With each page, each powerful rune, she and Ruith are being led somewhere, to someone-but by whom, she cannot tell. Sarah’s gift of sight only allows her to see the spells themselves, not the person behind them.

A reluctant sorcerer still learning to trust his own magic, Ruithneadh of Ceangail knows he’s woefully unprepared for the adversaries they’ll face. But he and Sarah must collect and destroy his father Gair’s spells soon. Many mages seek their power, and in the wrong hands, Gair’s magic would plunge the Nine Kingdoms into an eternity of darkness.

But as they pursue the final spells-acquiring strange companions, welcome allies, and unexpected foes along the way-Sarah and Ruith realize that their true quest has only just begun. The real enemy is closer, darker, and more power hungry than they ever imagined; and until he is defeated, the fate of the Nine Kingdoms hangs in dire peril.

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REVIEW

Fantasy is delicious in this final novel of Kurland’s Spellweaver series.

Ruith and Sarah are on the last steps of their mission to gather the spells created by Ruith’s father. The course of their journey has been incredibly long, and this last leg has Ruith and Sarah wondering who is truly a foe or a friend. Of course spell weaving is a devious art, and secrets are about to be shed that will finally shine some light on this incredible tale.

Upfront and honest, this is my first Lynn Kurland novel. Coming in on the last leg is an absolute, horrible thing. The story is interesting, but I felt completely disconnected because I didn’t have the inner details from the other books. Kurland does a decent job of keeping readers informed about previous events that are important to the current plot points, and the characters are fully visualized. I was easily absorbed into the dialogue and personalities.

Unfortunately lengthy, hard to pronounce names and a large cast made it difficult for me to keep up at times. I continually had to reverse track and see if a character was mentioned in a previous chapter or was related to someone, etc. The book was challenge from that angle. Yet, the developed relationship between Ruith and Sarah is extremely enjoyable. Their romance is not a key part to the story, with more efforts focused on the plot to save the world from impending doom at the hands of a ruthless man.

Regretfully, I have to say that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I probably would have if I’d read the previous novels. It’s still a good story and has a satisfying conclusion. Kurland doesn’t leave anyone hanging and readers of the series can rest easy knowing that the author wraps up each character’s place. Overall, if you’re thinking of jumping into this book I recommend getting a hold of the previous ones.

Rating: 3 (Satisfactory)

Heat-Level: 1 (Inspy)

Reviewed by Landra