I don't have a lot of patience for high fantasy, especially historically accurate medieval Welsh fantasy. Just not my cup of tea. ( )

Just as good as the first time. ( )

You ever read an older book, one that's been around for decades (30ish in this case) and say "If only I'd found you sooner".

DAGGERSPELL is that book for me. I vaguely remember always seeing these books on the shelves at the used book stores I frequented, but it never occurred to me to pick it up. Having read this first one I wonder at why that was. This is basically every single trope I thirsted for as a tween/teen desperately seeking fantasy.

Jill, a young girl who's destined for great things and caught between two futures.

Cullyn, a gruff merc who wants to deny the future as much as possible because the now is fine.

Rhodry, a nobleman who feels aimless but largely wants nothing more then to do the right thing.

Nevyn, wise weirdo who probably shouldn't keep all those secrets to himself because let's face it they do no one any good unsaid.

All stuck in a fate they all couldn't avoid if they tried.

This book, maybe because of when it was written (and revised) feels like my childhood reading Mercedes Lackey, Marjorie Kellogg, Tanya Huff, Janny Wurts and Elizabeth Scarborough. The paperback is old - yellowed, stained and with a very creased binding while retaining that old paperback smell of well worn paper and ink. The pages feel roughly textured and the speech is oddly formal even amongst the common folk and their rough slang.

I think nostalgia partially had me enjoying this since some of it bored me (I was more interested in Jill than any of her past lives) and I was somewhat nettled by how casually Cullyn's answer to getting Jill to listen was to slap her. 13 year old Alex wouldn't have even given it a second thought, 34 year Lexie is like WHY YOU TAKE THAT JILL.

I do have the next two books in the series so I'll be reading them. It's...a good length long so eventually I might get to them all. ( )

Heerlijke serie met fijne karakters. Interessante wereld met Gallische invloeden. De incarnaties maken het wat lastig soms om het verhaal te volgen, maar het maakt het ook weer meteen erg intrigerend. ( )

I can appreciate that this is carefully plotted, that the characters have struggles and growth, that it's not the formulaic fluff reinforcing some unsaid ideas about society and history that are really quite harmful, that it's a depiction not an endorsement. I still didn't enjoy it, though I did have that trainwreck-need to know what happened. It's not that I can't ever like this sort of high fantasy saga, but it's pretty rare, and whatever combination of elements that works for me (or worked when I was twelve) is missing now. Honestly I really can't get over the sibling thing. ( )