Time's Convert: A Novel

Tbh, this was about 3.75 stars for me. 5 star writing, world building, etc, but 3 stars for lack of plot and one main character who failed to make me care about her.Overall, I came away feeling that this was a nice time, just hanging out with the Bishop-Clairmont crew and learning Marcus's history (and pushing myself through the chapters on Phoebe's rebirth).There wasn't much of a plot, and it was a slightly boring slog at times. My favorite parts were the journeys into Marcus's past. I never cared for or about Phoebe in the previous trilogy; their relationship always felt very rushed and contrived to me, and there wasn't much relationship-building in this book either, so I'm just kinda meh about the whole thing.My biggest complaint about the author in her first four books is that she has many major events taking place off-stage--we don't get to see these things happening, yet this is where the natural conflict arises, and when we would learn to give a damn (about Phoebe, for instance).Diana (plus Matthew and their kids) is still a main feature in this book, and her chapters are weirdly written in first person pov, while all the other chapters are written in third person limited perspective. Without doing any math, it felt like the book was roughly 1/3 about Marcus's history, 1/3 about the Bishop-Clairmont family, and 1/3 about Phoebe's transition and aftermath. I still don't particularly care about Phoebe, but oh well. LolBut, even with all this criticism, it was a comforting read. Utterly devoid of the magic, originality, and narrative tension of the All Souls trilogy, but still nice to hang out with "old friends" again. The author's web site says there will be more books forthcoming. I do hope they have more substance. =/

I've read the "All Souls Trilogy" and "Time's Convert" twice. I enjoy them so much I'll probably continue to read them over and over. The writing is vividly descriptive and imaginative. There is a lot of historic info in here, as well. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Harkness will continue the saga at some point. Thank you Deborah for a wonderful tale!

** spoiler alert ** This was a good read sequel to the All Souls trilogy.This story takes place the summer after the events of the All Souls trilogy. Phoebe Taylor has taken the step to becoming a vampire, she and Marcus decided to follow the traditional transformation procedure and so she has been isolated and kept from Marcus. As she is experiencing these changes, she continues to miss Marcus.Marcus is missing Phoebe in turn and wondering what her personal experience with the change is. Diana, the historian, tries to distract Marcus by asking questions about his past and his conversion to a vampire. So, they hear the story of his life from his teenage years, through the Revolutionary War, his conversion, his training to fit in, his personal revolution, through the events in New Orleans.All the while Matthew and Diana are dealing with their bright-born toddler children.I enjoyed this book, but I recommend that a reader should read the All Souls trilogy before reading this book, it will increase your enjoyment of this book.

I've read the entire series twice. I love the characters and how relatable and vulnerable they are. There are a couple of points I wish were cleared up, but here's hoping for another book to address them!

I love the extended family-the writer does an amazing job of making the reader feel invested and involved in the lives of all the characters in such a subtle way. Delightful, thrilling, suspenseful, sad and funny-it’s all there!9

I’ve read all of the books in the All Souls Trilogy. It’s a wonderful series, and before diving into this new book, I’m glad that I’d read them.In my opinion, Time’s Convert is not a standalone. It had been a while since I’d read the other enjoyable books in the series. During those journeys, I recall feeling almost overwhelmed with the details. . . sometimes in a good way, sometimes not. Entire paragraphs deserved their own place on the history shelves, the prose was wonderful, the characters well-drawn, the plots tight. Sometimes I felt the books extremely intellectual, but I had bravely plowed forward reading hoping that some of the knowledge might stick in my wee brain.My highly anticipated journey with Time’s Convert ended with mixed feelings. The good news first. This book earns five stars for its intense research. I’m positive Ms. Harkness did her homework and worked her ass off getting the details of the timing, settings, events, and real-life historical characters correct. I felt in safe hands and not misguided into a complete fantasy world. Vampire, witches, and daemons aside, of course. Characters like Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin, and Lafayette, for example, all have dialogue, but fictitious though that may be, I felt good that the author wasn’t leading me too far astray and plucking stuff out of the air solely for entertainment. (Unlike The Crown on Netflix which I really truly thought was not wholly fiction. Is it? Angry here and digressing).To the tougher part of my review, even though I’m American, the sections on the Revolutionary War did not interest me. During these scenes, primarily the middle section of the book, the plot felt tossed aside and the read lagged. There were so many characters, names, towns, homes, events dropped, I needed a chart. Some of those characters had their own arcs and I found I just did not care.It was during this middle section where I found myself wondering what the book was even about. Where was Ms. Harkness going? It felt like a bunch of separate stories that bumped into one another for no purpose. Eventually I realized that the book was about the tale of Phoebe and Marcus and their vampire becomings. Phoebe’s transition was in real time, and Marcus, because he is an old vampire, is told in flashback. Interspersed between Phoebe’s grand awakening and difficulties, and Marcus’s really long backstory (how many towns did we follow him through during this book? How many years? Too many to count), there were the De Clermonts – the main family of vampires as well as the main witch character – Diana. But those wonderful characters were way secondary. They had plots and problems too, but they were side stories and led nowhere. And the thing was, I love those characters. Every single time Ysabeau enters a room I get excited. Diana’s magic is beyond cool. Baldwin is way interesting. I want to sail with Gallowglass, or at least drink with him. Had I not read the other books, I would have been totally lost on who all these people were and their relevance. I imagine Ms. Harkness had to decide about whom to write for, and she chose.I have tremendous respect for this author and what she’s accomplished and will most likely read the next installment. Or anything else she writes, for that matter.

Just as described and for what I paid for it. I’m happy. I would buy from them again

Great ending for the series. Lots of closure for us readers. Keep wishing for one more ha ha ha ha

Is a must reading after the all souls trilogy!

Es entretenido, no tanto como la sombra de la noche, pero entretiene.

Gostei muito do livro. Eu já tinha lido os três livros anteriores e a autora é excelente

Redondea muy bien los tres libros anteriores. Ojalá haya más. Te introduce en el mundo de otros de los personajes, igualmente interesante.