There are times when you buy a book because it sounds pretty cool and you end up being blown away by how much you enjoy it. That was my experience with The Time Weaver.
“What makes you think I’m going to kill you?”
Seth Alkirk’s 30th birthday turns out to be quite the turning point in his life. First, he can now open a book that’s been locked since his father mysteriously left when he was a kid. Strange things start to happen too. While he’s out with some friends a glass falls…in slow motion. Then he gets attacked. By a freakin’ crazy beast that wants to take him to an evil wizard. Oh noez! Oh yes.
We’re calling it creature X.
This is where things really pick up. A beautiful and skilled warrior named Malia is sent to bring Seth to a kindly arch-magus named Merek. After saving him from a demon-like creature, called a Narshuk, Malia drags Seth (and us along with him) through a rift and into a unique world filled with monsters and magic.
Seth quickly learns that he is far more than a simple code monkey. He is a Time Weaver. This means Seth has control over the flow of time. He can also utilize other elements of nature which make for a powerful array of magical abilities.
Malia is one of my favorite characters. Not only does she just seem cool, she’s strong, beautiful and she’s a Swordmage. What guy wouldn’t like to meet a beautiful Swordmage? In addition to protecting Seth, Malia takes to her new role as teacher. Not surprisingly, Seth has a lot to catch up on regarding Findoor, Merek (the arch-magus), Gladius and others.
“…and with a shift of his hips, he obliged her.”
If your experience with magic is mainly from Harry Potter then you might want to brace yourself. The magic in Time Weaver is both fantastic and brutal. It will literally melt your face off. I love this because it reminds me of my DnD playing days and some of the wicked cool spells in there.
Another great character, and a friend of Seth, is Cedric the Bard. He’s a rougeish bard and I like his playful attitude. Not to mention, he introduces Seth to a dragon – Morganateltheranthumagus. I was really pumped when this happened. Dragons are my favorite fantasy creature. Like I said in my review on Amazon, serious magic + dragons = a happy Tim.
Although the story comes in during a huge battle between the Dark Lord Gladius and Krycin the Time Weaver, Thomas did a great job of grounding the main story in modern times and then pulling us into the fantasy world. Another thing I appreciated was that Thomas didn’t kill the pace of the story by spending excess time describing his world. He gave us enough to make it real and believable and then moved on.
Thomas also nailed a key aspect of the story – great villains. Dark Lord Gladius is a badass but you really hope he gets stomped by Seth. Grian is more of a snake who survives and gains power by deception and strategic opportunism. These guys are a wonderful counter to Seth, Malia, Cedric and Merek.
Another important point is that The Time Weaver is a book that can stand alone. This is critical for books in a series, they still need to be complete stories and not just setup for the next book. Thomas struck a good balance between a satisfying ending and enough left loose ends for the sequel(s).
I love fantasy books. So, for me, deciding to buy The Time Weaver was easy. But I had no idea I would like the story as much as I did. It was one of the first books I finished in 2012 – what a way to kick off the New Year! Thank you Thomas, for writing a great book! I also have to tip my hat to Twitter for connecting me with Thomas because I most likely wouldn’t have heard about the book otherwise.
If you have read The Time Weaver, be sure to leave a comment below and let me know what you think.
Thank you!
