Time travel, when portrayed effectively, illustrates the drastic consequences of changing a time line or interfering with history. In Time’s Demon, the second installment of D.B Jackson’s Islevale Cycle, the consequence of Tobias Doljan’s jaunt through a dozen plus years have significantly transformed the world. History is not what it was, Tobias will never become the person he was supposed to become, and people have been erased and nations irrevocably changed.
Fifteen year-old Tobias Doljan Walked back in time to prevent a war, but instead found himself trapped in an adult body, his king murdered and with an infant princess, Sofya, to protect. Now he has been joined by fellow Walker and Spanner, Mara, and together they must find a way to undo the timeline which orphaned the princess and destroyed their future. Arrayed against them are assassins who share their time-traveling powers, but have dark ambitions of their own, and the Tirribin demon, Droë, whose desperate quest for human love and Tobias leads her into alliances which threaten all of Islevale.
Although this novel is a definite continuation of Time’s Children, Jackson focuses the story on different characters to begin the novel. Additionally, the story is told at a more measured (i.e. slower) pace, though Jackson’s great narrative voice is still present. We get to see some of the antagonists and what motivates them. I found this to be refreshing, but still familiar because Jackson has a really good grip on the line that balances character and story. One serves the other while neither character nor story overtake the other.
There’s one character Jackson features through much of the novel who comes across as a villain protagonist. He was relatively minor in the previous novel, but is much more developed here in the second novel. It isn’t immediately clear how much of the novel his story will comprise, but the gradual reveal of his importance was a welcome surprise. Jackson wonderfully builds empathy in the character, makes him almost likeable, and engenders a strong sense of investment into his story. I was reminded a bit of Kennit from Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders saga – a bastard of a character that is charming and likeable despite being a true scoundrel.
Jackson’s ability to juggle multiple characters and storylines continues to shine here in Time’s Demon. Tobias doesn’t come into the spotlight until a significant portion of the novel is reached. This is not a complaint because Jackson’s slow build with the plot and other characters make for a very enjoyable and immersive reading experience. However, when Tobias, and Sofya and Mara, come back fully into the story, it was a great reacquainting of the characters.
The mythology of the world continues to be revealed at the same measured pace, specifically the Tirribin, sprites or demons who feast on the years of people and who live in a very nonlinear timeline. These creatures are mischievous, though I wouldn’t peg them as evil. At least the Tirribin don’t seem evil at this point in the saga. There are more “demons” that haunt the timestream that are more savage and far less benevolent, Jackson calls these other demon “types” Belvora, Shonla, and Arrokad. This shows the depth of the world Jackson has built around these characters, and that depth carries on through the characters themselves.
Time’s Demon, for my reading time, is about as perfect a second book in a series as a reader could hope to have. Jackson strikes a great balance between introducing new characters while also giving ample time to the characters in which we as the reader have already invested our time and emotion. Along similar lines, Jackson continues to put his world-building skills on display very smartly. There was a rich foundation laid out in Time’s Children which allowed a little more focus to be on the characters and plot here in the second novel of the series. That isn’t to say more depth to the world, its history, and mythology weren’t revealed. Conversely, the world was enriched by what Jackson showed readers in Time’s Demon.
Two books into the series and The Islevale Cycle is growing into a remarkably entertaining series that manages to tread some new, thoughtful, and interesting ground. Sure time travel in fantasy isn’t the most common combination of genre toys so that in itself is somewhat unique. Fortunately, Jackson is able to give the story a great deal of originality, life, and energy to set this saga well above the uniqueness of that combination.
Highly recommended.
© 2019 Rob H. Bedford
Trade Paperback, 478 Pages
Published by Angry Robot Books, May 2019
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
Excerpt: https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/shop/year/2019/times-demon/#tab-excerpt_tab
http://www.dbjackson-author.com/the-islevale-cycle/times-demon/
