As an avid fan of Deborah Harkness’s All Souls trilogy, I have had my eye on Time’s Convert for a while now. Once I finished The Book of Life, I put a request in for it through the library and happily added it to my Spooktober line-up. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew I wanted to return to the world of witches, vampires and daemons and to see the Bishop-Clairmont’s again. Moreover, I knew I wanted to read Time’s Convert once I found out it would feature Marcus’s upbringing and new life as a vampire.

Phoebe is about to be reborn as a vampire, a decision she has stood by against her father’s pleas. She loves Marcus dearly, she wants to be with him forever, and she is willing to give up a human life for that opportunity to be with her mate. But transitioning isn’t easy, nor is it guaranteed to work, and Phoebe will have to navigate the new world around her with the help Miriam and the de Clermont women. With three months of separation ahead and a whole new life to adjust to, Phoebe will have her work cut out for her.

Meanwhile, Marcus is battling with the shadow of his past, the pressure of being apart from his mate making him second-guess the traditional route they have taken. Marcus isn’t known for his favour of tradition, and the urge to rebel and do things his way is stirring up memories he thought he’d forgotten. Memories of the American Revolution he fought in as a young man before taking up a surgeon’s position on the front line. Memories of death, rebirth, opportunity and condemnation. Memories of Matthew, Philippe, his lost friends and the children he sired against his father and grandfather’s orders.

The first thing I want to note is, while the descriptions above are what the plot hinges on, we also have a third storyline or subplot. Diana’s perspective gives us a platform between the rest of the family and Marcus, while also showing the development of the twins and the changes happening in the Bishop-Clairmont household during this time. Diana is a probing force, keen to learn more about Marcus’s history and the times central to his human years. What this does is provide a character-driven plot where chosen action pushes Marcus into remembering, therefore giving us a first-hand retelling of that perspective in the following chapter. While this works to tease out detail, I feel it makes the overall story one of two things: messy or lacking in depth.

Option one – messy; while I love seeing the three perspectives weave around each other, the purpose of the book becomes a little murky. The more of Diana and the family we see, the less importance Phoebe’s transitioning carries. This isn’t an objective interpretation, so take this with a grain of salt, but I feel that Diana serves as an obtrusive tool for opening Marcus up (against Matthew’s recommendations, btw). The information about the twins and how the family is adjusting to their surprising developments is interesting, but it also feels like it could have been its own story. There seems to be one too many threads in this story, and the novel’s intentions are a little uncertain as a result.

Option two – lacking depth; I understand what Deborah Harkness is trying to do here, but the differences between Phoebe’s transitioning, Marcus’s unfolding past, and the Bishop-Clairmont family drama make it near impossible to get a deep sense of detail and meaning out of all the threads. Phoebe’s change is important, and we see that the first few days for her are heavily detailed, but there are moments later in the process that are rushed. Marcus’s history and years as a human are interesting, as are is early vampire years, but there also seems to be an inorganic push for answers which makes it feel less rewarding to find out. On the matter of the family happenings, I feel it comes across more as a slice of life montage in the witch-vampire household than a true show of character development for all involved.

I don’t want to hate on Time’s Convert because overall the book is fun, intriguing, and gives us another glimpse into this very rich and mesmerising story world. My critiques are small and they are only nitpicking the details that prevent this from getting a higher 4-star rating. I love the characters and the elements of storytelling used in this novel and I am excited to get my hands on The Black Bird Oracle in the coming weeks.