Review::The Tangled Path of Destiny by Shiva Winters

The Tangled Path of Destiny by Shiva Winters

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Tangled Path of Destiny by Shiva Winters

Wow! What more can I say except wow?

I have to admit that I might be the exception to the rule when it comes to this book. I did not expect or demand this much detail of what is going on with Monorth simply because I'd been enjoying the rest of the story. Also Book 5 will pretty much bring everyone up to date making this book extra bonus material. I would not go so far as to say that I didn't appreciate this book because it's an awesome addition.

Shiva describes this as dark and depressing and that is something I didn't so much notice, maybe a bad reflection on some of the things I've read recently. I would classify it as mostly gray and qualify that it seemed reasonable to assume that Monorth would venture into some gray areas in this story. This is a time travel story with the time traveler bent on letting the past take its course. Monorth is trapped in time but is certain it is not meant for him to change time. That doesn't mean that he wont try to hurry things along when they seem like they will drag out too long. That's how he gets into the gray area. I am not a real fan of bloody battle so this book was good in sparing me from too much of that.

One of the big bonuses in this book is the development of the Jynx character and that alone makes this one worth reading. But despite anything Shiva might say in her blurb at the end; this story is epic and packed with quite a bit of action. I'm not sure how anyone who has enjoyed the other books in this series could be dissatisfied with this book. Of course there are always a few out there that will have to be dealt with.

The actual building of the world through the war time in this story brings me close to a place where I might compare this with The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. Keep in mind I read that in late 60's early 70's timeline and never really felt the urge to grab it up and read it again so my memory of the whole thing might be a bit fuzzy. It is still sitting there in all three volumes from a 1965 and 1966 edition that each contain a foldout map in the back that are still there untouched and never looked at. The whole set is on my bookcase waiting for me to read it again.

While Jynx often reminds me of the AI characters that Heinlein created, Monorth reminds me of Heinlein's Lazarus Long in the later years. But Monorth is also an intriguing brooding character that also often reminds me of the Count of Monte Cristo of Alexandre Dumas. When Edmond Dante takes up the fictitious identity of the Count, bent on revenge and any cost and then must face the personal consequences as extracts his own form of justice. Only in this story Monorth is taking on the identity not so much to exact revenge as it is to become more closely tied to the events of consequence during the beginning of the war. It's interesting to watch his internal struggle with several issues and finally having to reach to the depths of his own darkness to help move things along in the direction he'd much prefer not to take things if it weren't for the fact that these things must take place to save the future.

Shiva really shines in this one and I think that it's because it was such a struggle as she posits in the back of both books 5 and 5.5. The idea of being under the gun to write the portions she was trying to suppress within her head seems to have enhanced her usual talents. ( I should probably call them unusual talents.)

Even though I was not one to demand this book I will have to emphatically state that if you read the series and you enjoy all the other books then you must read this one.

This is Shiva at her best in character development and this was actually something that Monorth needed to go through since way back when he lost his first bonded mate.


Great SFF for all fantasy fans and lovers of epic fiction.

Not so much again for those who are totally annoyed by random grammatical problems.

Well worth the trouble for any of those that are brave enough to try.


J.L. Dobias



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