Published: Dec. 09, 2012
Words: 32,274 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781301625048

Short description

A troubled soul who walks the narrow path between healer and warrior, Timber MacDuff is doomed to a future he does not want to face. This novella, comprised of four closely-linked stories, follows Timber from the darkness of his youth to a present of bright possibility.

Extended description

He’s a man with a dark past and a possibly darker future, a troubled soul who walks the narrow path between healer and warrior. Since his first appearance in The Unquiet Grave, Timber MacDuff has fascinated readers of the Caitlin Ross series. The four stories in this volume finally give fans a peek into the mind and motives of this complex character with accounts of significant events in his life. “The Source of the Sword” tells how Timber left his youth behind and took up the practice of the broadsword. “Summoning Scáthach” relates his first encounter with the warrior goddess and the circumstances which led him to seek her out. “Battle Blessed” details how he tracked down and fought the Ring of Omicron, and “Without Holding Back” is the story of how he followed Caitlin Ross to Gordarosa and, eventually, married her.

Tags

healing, drug addiction, alternate worlds, novella, shamanism

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Reviews

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Review by: pippin didit on May 08, 2013 :
Not often do I come across a series of books that are as well written and compelling as this one is. If you love to love the characters in the books you read, then read this series!
Definitely a Five star series.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

Review by: Stef Maruch on April 08, 2013 :
Fifth in the Caitlin Ross/Timber MacDuff series. This book relies on knowing the stuff that happens in the third (A Maid in Bedlam) and fourth (The Parting Glass) books in the series. (So buy all of them!)

The series is in the small-town fantasy/paranormal romance genres, but with a difference, in that the POV characters are human witches and shamans, not vampires/werewolves/faeries.

The previous books in the series are from Caitlin's point of view but this one is a set of interrelated shorts from Timber's point of view. Interesting magical and shamanic (and quite violent) things happen. Katherine Lampe knows how to make magick vivid and real. But what I especially like about this novella is that the underlying thread is an exploration of love for the long term, the kind you need to start building after the pedestal you stuck under your loved one crumbles. A lot of urban-fantasy/paranormal-romance books look at this from the point of view of a female protagonist, and this is the first one I've read that looks at it from the point of view of a male protagonist.

Timber is a complex character. He's a broken guy who does a lot of bad things, but without being a rogue (so you like that he does bad things, because you secretly wish you could do them) or villain (so you enjoy hating him). You're just with him all the way hoping he is going to make it. He has a balance of positive and negative qualities such that he has to struggle hard to get where he needs to be.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Heather Sainsbury on Jan. 19, 2013 :
As mentioned in reviews of the previous Caitlin Ross series by Katherine Lampe, I definitely feel as though I've come to know both Caitlin and Timber like I know dear old friends of mine. However, the story of how Timber got to be Timber and how he and Caitlin crossed paths was definitely something I was excited and eager to learn. Much of this collection of short stories reminds me of mythology of a long forgotten age of story telling. It touches on the true humanity of the characters whilst injecting some fantastic magic with Timber's journey to Scathach's home on Skye. So many layers The Ring represent as well, and Timber's hard fought battle against their darkness was scary as well as riveting.

I hope that Ms Lampe continues to flesh out the characters in the series (particularly Caitlin) as I think it adds so much color to an already deeply hued story. We wait with baited breath, Katherine!!!
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Deborah Jacques on Jan. 12, 2013 :
It was wonderful coming to know Timber a bit better! Where he's come from and how he got to be truly Caitlin's husband and life partner, what motivates him and pushes him, why he puts up with Caitlin's idiosyncrasies, etc. I wasn't drawn into this story as I have been with the others, but that's to be expected with a series of short stories. Well done again, Katherine!
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

Review by: Michael Zimmerle on Dec. 15, 2012 :
If you have read any of the other Caitlin Ross books by Katherine Lampe, be you man or woman, you probably have not been able to resist falling, at least a little bit, in love with Caitlin's husband and magical partner, Timber McDuff. The stories contained in The Fits o' the Season will seal the deal.

These stories fill in some of the gaps of Timber's life before he met Caitlin and shed light on a man totally dedicated to his soul mate.

There is a gratifying horror and elation in experiencing a tortured hero master his inner demons. Lampe reveals Timber as honestly and effectively as any of her other characters; however, this collection is a shift from earlier works in that Lampe puts the reader directly inside Timber's head and heart. The action in each of these fantastic stories is more a method of revelation than the construction of plot. And make no mistake, the plots of each story are riveting!

There is self-destruction and redemption, failure and victory, but most of all, there is tenderness and love. Timber McDuff, through these stories moves from a "he-man," as Breda calls him, to a true hero. To say I was moved by these stories is a gross understatement. I found myself in tears by the end of this volume. It's that good!

Five Stars, a rating I give "Without Holding Back."
(review of free book)

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