The Veil of Years

In the first volume of the Sorceress's Tale, _The Sacred Pool_, L. Warren Douglas gave us a fascinating look at a Dark Ages world where the nature of magic is shifting along with human philosophies, and where the young girl Pierrette must train in the magical arts in order to save the world from destroying itself. Her story continues in _The Veil of Years_, which is not the intellectual tour de force that _Pool_ was--since Douglas has already done most of the necessary world-building--but which is more action-laced than its predecessor.Pierrette has saved her sister from the demon that haunted Citharista, but her patron goddess Ma nags her to keep up her work--for the Black Time is still threatening, though she set it back for a brief while. Pierrette's spirit friends, Guihen and Yan Oors, need her help as well, for they are being reviled by villagers who blame them for the work of malicious ghosts. The ghosts, it turns out, are issuing from a change of history. Satan, Eater of Gods, has discovered a historical linchpin at which he can create the world to his own liking--the time of Provence's conquest by Rome. Already, history books are fading out at that point, for it is now uncertain how history will transpire. Pierrette journeys back in time and discovers that the ghosts are being created by Druid sorcerers in a last-ditch effort to drive away the Romans. But only Pierrette knows what the dire consequences of the magic will be--Gaul will be saved from Rome but will lose its soul. Disguised as a veleda, a prophetess, Pierrette must try to convince both the Romans and the Gauls to hear her warnings. Along the way, she also has to deal with her own sexual awakening, which threatens her powers of sorcery. The Sorceress's Tale gains a wider sweep with this book; I'm eager to see Pierrette's battle go worldwide in book three.

An enchanting novel to follow "The Sacred Pool." It was so captivating, I hated to put it down. I am anxiously awaiting the third in the series.