Hello everyone!
Back with some of my favourite characters yet again, and I was reminded that I need to revisit the world of All Souls at some point in the near future.
Maybe when I stop chewing through our Slovene translation of The Lord of the Rings, which leaves much to be desired (I can now say this with some authority given that I'm a ceritified translator myself, and also because I know the original version almost by heart so if someone translates 'one Silmaril' into 'three Silmarils' I can call bull when I see it).
But I really need to also get my hands on the physical version of these books.
I currently only own the electronic ones, you see.
And it's such a shame because the one thing that e-readers don't really give you the chance for is to easily browse through books like you would when holding an acual one. BUT, that being said, I'm very pro-electronics seeing as it can be much easier to pack!
Enough of my babbling, however.
It's time to dive back in with the Bishop-De Clermonts with Time's Convert.
Since I've already read and reviewed the original All Souls trilogy for this blog, I'll be linking the appropriate pages down below so that anyone who wants to refresh their memory about just what happened to the characters can check it out.
I did the same. Guilty as charged.
But Time's Convert is Marcus' story, and I LOVED it.
Well, alright, I might not have loved every single aspect of it, but certainly I enjoyed it and laughed myself silly through much of the pages.
Now, because we're catching up with quite a few people and also learning some history lessons all over again, I'm going to divide this review into three parts, because essentially, the book is written out of three separate storylines weaving slowly into what I would call chaotic De Clermont family gatherings.
You gotta love them, though.
The first story is Phoebe Taylor's transformation into a vampire, something hinted at in the original trilogy but never fully explored until now; the second is the Bishop-De Clermont scion family at Les Revenants and the trials and tribulations of growing unidentified magical being toddlers and visiting uncles; and the third is the story of Marcus' past, which he tells to the residents at Les Revenants while waiting to be reunited with his mate.
I'll start with the past first, because it makes the most sense; Diana gently nudges Marcus to explain his life story so that he can come to terms with some of his memories and be at peace prior to reuniting with Phoebe, and it's a bit action-packed, a lot melancholy, and we get glimpses of some cameo appearances by seveal other De Clermonts.
Most notably Philippe and Gallowglass, but we'll get there.
First, we meet Marcus as a young boy at the family farm in Hadley, trying to appease an abusive, alcoholic father, right on the cusp of the American War of Independence; too young to enlist the first time according to his pops (and also because pops was a control freak), he kills dear old dad before hightailing it into the regiments and has his first taste of battle at Bunker Hill, where he also meets his first vampire, not that he knows it at the time.
On the run and with nowhere to go, despite Diana's ancestor Sarah Bishop telling him to go home, Marcus instead gets plucked by Dr. Otto to learn the tricks of the trade and help patients as they come into the tents from the fields. It's with the nickname Doc that he runs into the first vampire again, whom he thought dead (NOT), and then comes face-to-face with one Chevalier de Clermont.
Aka Matthew, in case you're wondering.
Healing Lafayette, Marcus spends a lot of time with Matthew during those days, and it's luckily for him because when he's dying in a field tent himself, Matthew hears someone whisper his name, and spots the young man on his cot. This is where he makes the fateful decision to turn Marcus into a vampire.
And then, after trekking with him and some Native Americans for a while, he deposits Marcus with Gallowglass, and goes his own way.
As you do.
Gallowglass does as he's told and takes Marcus to France where he is educated by Matthew's half-sister Freyja, introduced to Philippe and Ysabeau among others, and eventually learns the ins and outs of being a vampire. A revolutionary by heart, he tangles with Jean-Paul Marat and has to be extracted from rioting Paris, absconding to London for a time before returning, and getting the boot by Philippe for ... well, Philippe says it's for his own good. And Marcus does agree that not EVERY aristocrat needs to die. But he doesn't like being controlled, either, not that there's anything he can do about it.
He gets his education and eventually lands right back in Philadelphia (with none other than Gallowglass, again), leaving behind both the vampire he loved (Veronique) and the De Clermonts to try and save as many lives as he can, including making a vampire out of his old friend. Unfortunately, said old friend ends up with his throat cut in New York, and it isn't until New Orleans that Marcus makes any more children ... who start attracting too much notice, which is how Matthew and Juliette enter the scene, dispatched by Philippe to sort everything out (in case you missed the memo, most of the children die).
After this the story's pretty straightforward for Marcus, so let's move over to Les Revenants and its occupants, shall we?
Diana is apprehensive about using magic around the twins (Becca and Phillip), because she's afraid it'll set a precedent, but Matthew explains that even hiding who she is is a lesson for the children, one they don't want; so while mum's back to working magic, her erstwhile son mimics her and calls up his familiar, an griffin named Apollo.
Just in time for Baldwin to arrive, unannounced, because Diana really should answer her emails more (Gerbet and Domenico make guest appearances only to be told where to shove it and that Diana will deal with the Romanian vampire situation). There wouldn't be a problem if Becca didn't decide to bite Baldwin when he pisses her off, as she'd bitten Matthew at an earlier point in time, which is a BIG no for vampires, as they're liable to bite back.
Baldwin demands Diana spellbinds Jack (their adopted son with bloodrage) and Becca both, which, combined with Marcus' story and present day events, prompts Diana to relive some of her own childhood memories, not the best ones, either.
She explains to Matthew later that her parents spellbound her little by little as a child, because she was so powerful, and they make a joint decision not to do it to their own children, especially since Philippe also had the tendency to bind the De Clermonts with a thousand little rules and obligations, a practice they wish to demolish.
So when Baldwin comes to visit again, he ends up tangled in magic, overruled, and stays to watch a fireworks show for the Fourth of July Diana and Marcus cook up.
Last but not least, before we tie every storyline together, we move to my least favourite part of the book, Phoebe's transformation.
I've read reviews where people complain how little of the book is actually Marcus and Phoebe's story, but I, for one, am glad: Phoebe didn't sit well with me at all. This is interesting because she didn't bother me in the original trilogy, and struck me as another sensible female to be added to the predominantly male-oriented De Clermont clan, but in this book, she somehow turns into a whiny, annoying, self-righteous arrogant chit that deserves to be headsmacked a lot.
Having chosen to become a vampire, Phoebe is transformed by Miriam (an ancient vampire in her own right and De Clermont ally) and then goes through the trials and tribulations of vampiric adjustment (not that it helps her personality much). This IS fascinating in terms of how a vampire ages and what they can or can't do in the initial stages, but for me it was marred by Phoebe's attitude of 'I know what I want, I want it know, this is such a hassle, why am I putting up with this and thousand year old vampires have nothing on my own logic'.
I was thoroughly pleased when Miriam gave her a lesson in independence. I loved Miriam in the trilogy and love her even more now. Phoebe's personality, what's glimpsed even through others, like her sister, left me wanting.
But the three storylines converge abruptly when Phoebe's father suffers a heart attack, prompting the Bishop-De Clermonts to Paris and an earlier reunion between Marcus and Phoebe than planned, but thankfully her father survives (despite the shrilly other sister attitude that's on display, sadly; I can see where Phoebe might get it from).
At that point, Phoebe is moved to Sept-Tours where she waits out for the remaining ninety days (vampiric tradition) and then mates with Marcus before they, and Diana and Matthew with their family, return to America. Having learned that Matthew bought the family farm for Marcus (the one Marcus was from), Marcus and Phoebe decide to make it their home, at least to begin their journey together (and now that they can each share the other's blood from the heart vein, maybe Phoebe can chill a little).
And this is where we leave them, with mental images of Gallowglass using an oar to poke through a door before he follows, and a ghostly Philippe reciting Latin verses and looking proudly on his family (side note, he's apparently a mobile ghost, moving between residences).
He might have been a patriarch and semi-tyrant, but he confirmed something to readers in his own words - at the time of his life, he WAS the Congregation, not simply a member.
Honestly, I'd probably have been chafing under his rule as much as the rest of his family, but that wouldn't stop me from admiring the vampire. I'm still hoping for a Philippe/Ysabeau themed prequel, because that would be just awesome. There are rumours there might be a Gallowglass book in the making, which is EQUALLY amazing.
Basically, All Souls isn't quite done with us yet, I think. And I, for one, am grateful.
Next!
xx
*image not mine
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