Reviews of The Veil of Years
Booklist
The sequel to The Sacred Pool [BKL D 15 00] continues
Douglas' saga of a mythic Provence, focusing largely on the young sorceress
Pierrette. Learning that
the Eater of Gods is threatening to bring on the Dark Time, when in an
otherwise grim world all
work will be done by the captive souls of murdered children, Pierrette
must travel back in time and
also across time to a key turning point in history. She finds it in the
late second century B.C.E.,
during the initial Roman conquest of southern Gaul. There she has to defeat
a literally demonic
Gaulish king, Teutomalas, and his sorcerous ally, the mage Cunotar. Coincidentally,
she experiences
her own sexual awakening (without, however, losing her virginity, technically)
and encounters
several well-drawn characters, including the Roman general Calvinus and
the historian Polybius.
Douglas' use of historical and folkloric material, his expertise in Roman
warfare, and the deft
characterizations outweigh occasional lapses in narrative technique. For
the serious reader of
historical fantasy, highly recommended. Roland Green
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Library Journal
When the young mage Pierette notices that the events in her history books
are changing before her
eyes, she realizes that powerful magics have surfaced in her world. In
order to restore the truth, she
must travel in time to a period in which her native Provence lay in the
hands of the empire of Rome.
Douglas's sequel to The Sacred Pool continues the story of a resourceful
young woman whose
knowledge of history, magic, and the old religion provides the key to fighting
the emergence of the
Black Time. The author's meticulous historical research and his grasp of
the relationship between
early Christianity and ancient paganism should attract fans of historical
fantasy. A good choice for
most libraries.
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