Bitten by Books
Lynn Kurland’s newest arc in her Nine Kingdoms novel is incredibly fun. Dreamspinner introduces us to Aisling, a weaver from the isolated town of Bruadair, tasked with finding an assassin to overthrow the government. With only a book of Weger’s rules to guide her, she disguises herself as a boy and sets off for Wegner’s training fort at Gobhann hoping to find someone there suitable for her needs. However, she must find an assassin within a fortnight or a terrible curse kill her, and the same might happen if she touches a spinning wheel.
Aisling arrives at Gobhann at the same time as Runach of Caengail, Morgan’s brother who also survived their father’s vicious attack, albeit more scarred than his sister. Runach easily sees through her disguise and takes Aisling under his wing, agreeing to accompany her on her search. When she is still alive after a fortnight, Aisling begins to wonder about the curse, especially after she starts reading about mages and elves and other things she knows are not real. When she does touch a spinning wheel for the first time, her whole belief system is turned upside down, but luckily Runach is always nearby to guide and protect her.
Aisling’s beliefs are what make Dreamspinner so much fun. Kurland’s Nine Kingdoms world is so well-built that the magic seems natural. By introducing a character whose belief in the world is closer to ours, it just makes her seem so out of place that it highlights Kurland’s skill. Also, Aisling and Runach are a lot of fun, and like Kurland’s other couples, take their time falling for each other with plenty of natural and unnatural obstacles along the way.
I always love Lynn Kurland’s Nine Kingdoms novels, and Dreamspinner is definitely one of my favorites. I cannot wait to see what she has in store next for Aisling and Runach.
Book Stats:
- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Berkley; 1 edition (December 31, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0425262197
- ISBN-13: 978-0425262191
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Books in the Nine Kingdoms series in the order they should be read:
Star of the Morning
The Mage’s Daughter
Princess of the Sword
A Tapestry of Spells
Spellweaver
Gift of Magic
Dreamspinner
River of Dreams
Dreamer’s Daughter
Review Overview
Overall Rating
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Summary : Aisling’s beliefs are what make Dreamspinner so much fun. Kurland’s Nine Kingdoms world is so well-built that the magic seems natural. By introducing a character whose belief in the world is closer to ours, it just makes her seem so out of place that it highlights Kurland’s skill. Also, Aisling and Runach are a lot of fun, and like Kurland’s other couples, take their time falling for each other with plenty of natural and unnatural obstacles along the way.
