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A review by topdragon
Forgotten Truth by Dawn Cook
3.0
The third book in the “Truth” series takes a surprising and welcome turn in plot and the entire series is much the better for it, although it’s still not enough to rescue this series from the also-rans. Our protagonist, Alissa, accidentally combines two unrelated sorts of magic and time travels back 400 years. This changes the style of the novel from the first two in the series quite a bit because now the setting is back when the hold and its city thrive with students of magic and their teachers.
Most of the plot takes place back in the past but poor Strell, (my favorite character in these books) is stuck in the present day and so, unfortunately, we don’t get much from his perspective. Instead we have Lodesh trying to win the affectations of Alissa and the result is a most unsatisfying and frustrating love triangle. To me this seemed extremely contrived and the ending felt unrealistic. That’s too bad because I very much enjoyed the further insights on life in the old times, the structure of magic and those who wield it. There is even a nice little primer on genetics (and genetic manipulation) and why some people are born as keepers, wardens, masters or just commoners.
I will still tackle the fourth and final book at some point fairly soon but I’m afraid this series won’t be listed on my favorite fantasy epics list.
Most of the plot takes place back in the past but poor Strell, (my favorite character in these books) is stuck in the present day and so, unfortunately, we don’t get much from his perspective. Instead we have Lodesh trying to win the affectations of Alissa and the result is a most unsatisfying and frustrating love triangle. To me this seemed extremely contrived and the ending felt unrealistic. That’s too bad because I very much enjoyed the further insights on life in the old times, the structure of magic and those who wield it. There is even a nice little primer on genetics (and genetic manipulation) and why some people are born as keepers, wardens, masters or just commoners.
I will still tackle the fourth and final book at some point fairly soon but I’m afraid this series won’t be listed on my favorite fantasy epics list.