This review contains affiliate links, which earn me a small commission when you click and purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business and allowing me to continue providing you a reliable resource for clean book ratings.
Deborah Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy followed the stories of centuries-old vampire Matthew de Clermont/Clairmont and witch Diana Bishop. Matthew’s son Marcus played a small role in those books, and here in Time’s Convert, the spotlight turns to him. Marcus met Matthew on the battlefield during the American Revolutionary War, and there he became a vampire. This story also follows Marcus’ mate-to-be Phoebe Taylor, who at the beginning of the book is preparing to be turned into a vampire herself.
The story goes back and forth between the present and the past, intertwining Marcus’ early years as a human and as a vampire with the current-day story of Phoebe’s very early days as a vampire, trying to figure out her new body and physical needs as she waits to be reunited with Marcus after a short period of being carefully monitored for (everyone’s) safety.
Diana and Matthew also get to play roles in this book; they are raising toddlers with emerging powers that continue to be a source of surprise and consternation. Their story is far from over, as is quite evident here.
Marcus is still struggling emotionally with the sins of his past, and as he spends time with Diana and Matthew and others of the family while anxiously awaiting updates on Phoebe’s progress in her new vampire life, he is able to share what he experienced and work through it, essentially.
Compared with the All Souls books, this one doesn’t have the danger or complex plot or the edge-of-your-seat pace; it’s really a companion book that explores people. That’s not to say it’s not well-written or nicely paced; it’s just not as high-stakes and doesn’t answer crucial series-long questions. I enjoyed learning about Marcus and getting more on Diana and Matthew, but this book doesn’t hold any more clues about some of the information that Diana gained from the Ashmole 782 manuscript, which was a major sticking point for me at the end of the All Souls series. Someday, I guess, in future books, Harkness will reveal more. For now, this is a revisiting of the world but not continuing the story per se. Enjoyable but not so compelling.
Rated: High. There are 10 uses of strong language and about the same amount of milder and moderate language. Sexual content pops up throughout, with some instances of characters having sex but not really much detail, and then others where characters are thinking about it, referencing sensuality, self-pleasuring, etc. Violence is reasonably mild. Mostly, it is centered around injuries resulting from war.
Click here to purchase your copy of Time’s Convert on Amazon.
