A Time of Omens (Deverry Cycle Westlands 2)
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Product Description
Product Description
Book six of the celebrated Deverry series, an epic fantasy rooted in Celtic mythology that intricately interweaves human and elven history over several hundred years.
About the Author
Katharine Kerr was born in Ohio and moved to San Francisco Bay Area in 1962, where she has lived ever since. She has read extensively in the fields of classical archeology, and medieval and dark ages history and literature, and these influences are clear in her work. Her epic Deverry series has won widespread praise and millions of fans around the world.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Katharine Kerr's 'A Time of Omens' is the second book in the Westlands cycle, her second set of books based in the land of Deverry.
It shows the typical interlacing of timelines that Kerr fans will recognise as one of her trademark characteristics, with the historical part following the story of Nevyn, Crown Prince Maryn and Princess Bellyra in the Deverrian Civil Wars, and the present following the elven enchantress Dallandra as she tries to unravel the Wyrd of the mysterious Evandar and his folk, not to mention Jill and Salanader's efforts to discover the key to the mystery of Rhodry's engraved rose ring.
Dallandra's fascination with the mysterious race of beings known to the elves as the Guardians begins in the first book of the cycle, 'A Time of Exile' where she leaves her human husband Aderyn to study and help them. When Jill, who also left her relationship with Rhodry for the dweomer (see Dragonspell), becomes caught up in her hunt for the significance of the rose ring given to Rhodry by Evandar, the two sorceresses find that they have goals in common.
The historical strand of the novel follows the fate of the silver daggers as they assist the dweomer to put its chosen candidate for the contested throne of Deverry in place. With A Time of Omens, Crown Prince Maryn leaves his own kingdom of Pyrdon and meets and marries Princess Bellyra, before beginning his great campaign to reunite the warring kingdoms of Deverry.
However, before they even ride out from Pyrdon, Nevyn unearths an eerie voodoo curse which may have begun working against Maryn even before they ride out. Can Nevyn overcome the evil and install Maryn as High King, and will Jill and Dallandra manage to find the significance of Rhodry's ring before the Otherlands take it from him?
A Time of Omens is one of my personal favourites in the series, a good book to read on its own and better with its accompanying books in the series. It begins many threads in the story of Nevyn, and begins to unravel others in the second part of the history of Rhodry while keeping up the detailed plausibility that marks all Kerr's books.
It shows the typical interlacing of timelines that Kerr fans will recognise as one of her trademark characteristics, with the historical part following the story of Nevyn, Crown Prince Maryn and Princess Bellyra in the Deverrian Civil Wars, and the present following the elven enchantress Dallandra as she tries to unravel the Wyrd of the mysterious Evandar and his folk, not to mention Jill and Salanader's efforts to discover the key to the mystery of Rhodry's engraved rose ring.
Dallandra's fascination with the mysterious race of beings known to the elves as the Guardians begins in the first book of the cycle, 'A Time of Exile' where she leaves her human husband Aderyn to study and help them. When Jill, who also left her relationship with Rhodry for the dweomer (see Dragonspell), becomes caught up in her hunt for the significance of the rose ring given to Rhodry by Evandar, the two sorceresses find that they have goals in common.
The historical strand of the novel follows the fate of the silver daggers as they assist the dweomer to put its chosen candidate for the contested throne of Deverry in place. With A Time of Omens, Crown Prince Maryn leaves his own kingdom of Pyrdon and meets and marries Princess Bellyra, before beginning his great campaign to reunite the warring kingdoms of Deverry.
However, before they even ride out from Pyrdon, Nevyn unearths an eerie voodoo curse which may have begun working against Maryn even before they ride out. Can Nevyn overcome the evil and install Maryn as High King, and will Jill and Dallandra manage to find the significance of Rhodry's ring before the Otherlands take it from him?
A Time of Omens is one of my personal favourites in the series, a good book to read on its own and better with its accompanying books in the series. It begins many threads in the story of Nevyn, and begins to unravel others in the second part of the history of Rhodry while keeping up the detailed plausibility that marks all Kerr's books.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am surprised there are no other reviews of this book, as it is part of one of the truly outstanding series in fantasy fiction, and certainly deserving of some of the attention currently being heaped upon the contemporaneous "World of Time" series by Jordan, or the recent "A Song of Ice and Fire" begun by Martin. While lacking in some of the richness of detail and characterization present in those works, nonetheless this series is deserving of serious attention by fans of the genre.
Set within a celtic realm, Kerr's tale actually follows the interwoven stories of several different characters spread across a time span of several hundred years in the history of the Westlands. Some readers used to the more conventional use of a linear plot may find this disconcerting, but Kerr has used it effectively and originally in evolving her story over the past six books. The realms of Westlands are varied and richly landscaped, and the mythology behind the world intriguing. The only flaw that prevented me from assigning 5 stars to this book was Kerr's sketchy handling of Jill's time spent in Anmurdio, a problem similar to those that plagued Kerr's first book, "Daggerspell." Nonetheless, a worthy successor to previous books in the series, and definately well worth the read.
One final note of complaint, directed at the publisher: It would be helpful, for those of us with a geographical bent, to provide maps of the Westlands with all of the books in the series. Since the second, book maps have been absent, except for a partial map available in "The Dragon Revenant." Even more irritating is the lack of provision in certain books of a full and complete character list covering at least the major characters in all six books. With all the shifts in plot line in time that take place, as well as the reappearance of certain characters in later books, it would be helpful to have this aid for one's memory.
Format:Paperback
The second book of the second Deverry quartet, and this is no more than a competent entry. For some reason, despite the easy reading, it took me days to get through and I really struggled at times to muster much interest in the doings of Rhodry.
In this book he spends a number of years wandering in the Westlands, integrating himself into the lives of the Elcyion Lacar. It is, for an ex-gwerbret and ex-silver dagger, an idyllic life, which is cut short by the doings of one Alshandra (one-time lover of Evandar who we met for the first time in A Time of Exile). Evandar himself advises Rhodry to seek protection in the land of Deverry and he takes to the long road once more.
At the same time Jill has gone seeking the remnant of the Elven race who fled south when the Hordes destroyed their homelands. She and Salamander spend some time in Bardek, where he meets and marries the reborn soul of his previous love. He also decides that the dweomer is no longer his path.
We get the obligatory visit to a past incarnation of Rhodry (this time a continuation of the timeline where Maryn is become High King of all Deverry), and the book finishes off with a quick canter to a few years down the line (approx 1100, when most of the 'present' storyline has been 1090's up til now). Rhodry is older, but still doesn't look it - he and Yraen rescue a young lass who turns out to be carrying a very important child...
So, all of this brief outline of the plot shows that we are essentially reading a number of different short stories in our path to understanding the overall tapestry. I love all the interwoven threads, but I have an ongoing complaint that this does affect the pacing of each novel. Just when you are enjoying the stories of one set of characters, you pick up with another set and have to learn affection for them. It helps that Kerr is dealing with reborn souls, so they are essentially the same character, but they have enough differing characteristics for them to jar slightly until you begin to pick up and follow their particular storyline.
I love the fact that Perryn is still hovering in the background and stepping into the story here and there. Kerr never forgets a character once they've proved useful and been introduced.
The ending is pretty abrupt, and, up to that point, not a great deal really happened! The title of the book is well-chosen - this book seems to be all about omens and bad tidings coming together. I'm sure they are a huge foretelling for the next couple of novels - we also have the issue of Rhodry's ring to deal with. But we did seem to tread water a little bit while Kerr put everything in place ready for us to move forward to the big reveal.
The other issue with the pacing came from more time being spent in Evandar's dreamlike world than in prior books. The Guardians really aren't my favourite characters at all, and they don't endear themselves to me any more here. Evandar is full of riddles, which is incredibly frustrating. Kerr does a good job in developing his character, being as he is supposed to be unable to feel compassion or understand human emotions. It doesn't help in making me want to read about his storyline.
So, a disappointing entry into the Deverry series, but a necessary one. Big warning here: new readers should not step into the Deverry series at this point! Go all the way back to Daggerspell!
In this book he spends a number of years wandering in the Westlands, integrating himself into the lives of the Elcyion Lacar. It is, for an ex-gwerbret and ex-silver dagger, an idyllic life, which is cut short by the doings of one Alshandra (one-time lover of Evandar who we met for the first time in A Time of Exile). Evandar himself advises Rhodry to seek protection in the land of Deverry and he takes to the long road once more.
At the same time Jill has gone seeking the remnant of the Elven race who fled south when the Hordes destroyed their homelands. She and Salamander spend some time in Bardek, where he meets and marries the reborn soul of his previous love. He also decides that the dweomer is no longer his path.
We get the obligatory visit to a past incarnation of Rhodry (this time a continuation of the timeline where Maryn is become High King of all Deverry), and the book finishes off with a quick canter to a few years down the line (approx 1100, when most of the 'present' storyline has been 1090's up til now). Rhodry is older, but still doesn't look it - he and Yraen rescue a young lass who turns out to be carrying a very important child...
So, all of this brief outline of the plot shows that we are essentially reading a number of different short stories in our path to understanding the overall tapestry. I love all the interwoven threads, but I have an ongoing complaint that this does affect the pacing of each novel. Just when you are enjoying the stories of one set of characters, you pick up with another set and have to learn affection for them. It helps that Kerr is dealing with reborn souls, so they are essentially the same character, but they have enough differing characteristics for them to jar slightly until you begin to pick up and follow their particular storyline.
I love the fact that Perryn is still hovering in the background and stepping into the story here and there. Kerr never forgets a character once they've proved useful and been introduced.
The ending is pretty abrupt, and, up to that point, not a great deal really happened! The title of the book is well-chosen - this book seems to be all about omens and bad tidings coming together. I'm sure they are a huge foretelling for the next couple of novels - we also have the issue of Rhodry's ring to deal with. But we did seem to tread water a little bit while Kerr put everything in place ready for us to move forward to the big reveal.
The other issue with the pacing came from more time being spent in Evandar's dreamlike world than in prior books. The Guardians really aren't my favourite characters at all, and they don't endear themselves to me any more here. Evandar is full of riddles, which is incredibly frustrating. Kerr does a good job in developing his character, being as he is supposed to be unable to feel compassion or understand human emotions. It doesn't help in making me want to read about his storyline.
So, a disappointing entry into the Deverry series, but a necessary one. Big warning here: new readers should not step into the Deverry series at this point! Go all the way back to Daggerspell!
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