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Last Days of Magic
Last Days of Magic | Mark Tompkins
Fantastic . . . an honest, beautifully detailed book and an entertaining read. DIANA GABALDON, "THE WASHINGTON POST" "A fantastical treat." "PEOPLE" Simultaneously sweeping and intricate . . . Tompkins s amazing debut novel conjures an epic battle for the soul of Ireland. Filled with papal machination and royal intrigue, magic and mayhem, faeries, Vikings, legates, kings and queens, angels and goddesses, this is one wild and breathless ride. KAREN JOY FOWLER Plundering the treasure chest of human myths, from mysterious biblical giants to ferocious Celtic faeries, Tompkins has created a fantasy adventure with the shifting perspectives of dreamscape. A novel rich and strange. GERALDINE BROOKS What became of magic in the world? Who needed to do away with it, and for what reasons? Drawing on myth, legend, fairy tales, and Biblical mysteries, "The Last Days of Magic" brilliantly imagines answers to these questions, sweeping us back to a world where humans and magical beings co-exist as they had for centuries. Aisling, a goddess in human form, was born to rule both domains and with her twin, Anya unite the Celts with the powerful faeries of the Middle Kingdom. But within medieval Ireland interests are divided, and far from its shores greater forces are mustering. Both England and Rome have a stake in driving magic from the Emerald Isle. Jordan, the Vatican commander tasked with vanquishing the remnants of otherworldly creatures from a disenchanted Europe, has built a career on such plots. But increasingly he finds himself torn between duty and his desire to understand the magic that has been forbidden. As kings prepare, exorcists gather, and divisions widen between the warring clans of Ireland, Aisling and Jordan must come to terms with powers given and withheld, while a world that can still foster magic hangs in the balance. Loyalties are tested, betrayals sown, and the coming war will have repercussions that ripple centuries later, in today s world and in particular for a young graduate student named Sara Hill. " The Last Days of Magic" introduces us to unforgettable characters who grapple with quests for power, human frailty, and the longing for knowledge that has been made taboo. Mark Tompkins has crafted a remarkable tale a feat of world-building that poses astonishing and resonant answers to epic questions."
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Tineke
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Pickpick

This was my #doublespin for last December. I liked the story. At the beginning there was a bit of an information overload here and there. It was a bit graphic in places. But all in all an interesting story. @TheAromaofBooks
TBR since September 2021; 382 pages.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!!!! 3y
Tineke @TheAromaofBooks oops I meant the #doublespin for January this year. Lucky you now have a google doc. 3y
TheAromaofBooks That Google form is making my BookSpin life magically low-stress! 😂 3y
18 likes3 comments
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GlitterGirl
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So excited to start on our last #readingwithfriends book for 2020! 🧝‍♀️🧙🏻‍♂️🧞‍♀️🧚‍♀️🧜‍♀️

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MoonWitch94
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It has been a minute, but #ThoughtfulThursday is BACK! ☘️I believe in Luck, absolutely. Some people are extraordinarily Lucky. But I also believe that you can make your own luck as well. ☘️Spring is starting where I live. The sun has returned & days grow longer. It definitely helps my spirits & personal motivation when the sun shines longer & the world reawakens. Winter months are hard for me.

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Catsandbooks
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Thank you so much Torie for the birthday gift! This book sounds awesome! Right up my alley! 😍 I'm hoping to get Valentine's cards out this weekend!
#LitsyLove

TorieStorieS Yay!!! So glad it arrived safely! I hope you enjoy!! 5y
MemoirsForMe Happy Birthday! 🎁🎂🎉🎈 5y
35 likes1 stack add4 comments
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TorieStorieS
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Panpan

Aw man- I wanted to love this one!!! So much so that I own two copies!!! The premise had me intrigued but I only felt relief to have to finish it! The book reads like an alternative history textbook and ultimately feels like a very long prologue to a sequel that doesn‘t seem to be forthcoming (not that I would read it!). At first I thought maybe writing in the book was slowing me down, but the author does nothing for character or plot development

TorieStorieS @babyruth2510 @CareBear @Owlizabeth What do you ladies think- I did write in this for you, but I can‘t in good conscience recommend this to anyone... should I pick a new book?? Send this one anyways along with a new book?? What do you think?? You are the only reason I didn‘t bail on it!! 5y
Cinfhen That‘s a shame 😞 5y
TorieStorieS @Cinfhen I know!!! I‘m so bummed!!! 5y
See All 10 Comments
Owlizabeth Oh goodness, I don‘t know! I‘d hate that you forced yourself to read it and mark it up for nothing. 5y
TorieStorieS @Owlizabeth I am definitely willing to include this and another book! 5y
AmyG I hate when an anticipated book disappoints me. 5y
babyruth2510 It‘s totally up to you. Sorry it was so disappointing. @TorieStorieS 5y
CareBear I leave it up to you too, whatever you feel best doing. I‘m comfortable with whatever lol 5y
TorieStorieS @AmyG I know!!! It‘s so disappointing!!! 5y
TorieStorieS @babyruth2510 @CareBear @Owlizabeth Hmmmm.... I will look at my shelves and think and let you know! 5y
56 likes10 comments
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SMayWrites
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So! Here it is! The pile of books I'm hoping to get through in September!
Have you read any of them?
#septemberreading #readingchallenge #tbr #september #idbettergetstarted #readingresolutions

Cailey_Mac I‘ve read The Both Die At the End; it was good! I read it in one day💁🏻‍♀️ 6y
SMayWrites @Cailey_Mac Wow! Okay! I hope I enjoy it that much 😊 6y
13 likes1 stack add2 comments
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booksandsympathy
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It was difficult to figure out which books to get with my Barnes and Noble gift card because there were so many I wanted. I chose these two in the end and I'm happy with my choice.

31 likes1 stack add
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The.Intentional.Reader
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Book Mail! In the middle of #readathon and get a nice little surprise in the mailbox. And just check out that amazing cover! Excitement abounds

19 likes2 stack adds
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Bria
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Mehso-so

Guys... I really wanted to like this book, I really did. It took me forever to get through and I'm sad to say that I even sped read through some of the passages. Some parts were worth the read, but the plot was just so choppy and and character development so... I don't know. I'm guessing the word is blunt...
All in all it left me bereft...

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rjsthumbelina
Bailedbailed

Read tne first 10%. The world-building was promising, but i didnt care about characters or how the plot was developing. Life is too short to keep trying.

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bookishunicorn
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Thanks to a few friends giving me gift cards over the holidays, my little afternoon shopping spree didn't cost me a thing 💖🎉📚 😍

ElishaLovesBooks Wow! Great #bookhaul !! 7y
bookishunicorn @ElishaLovesBooks I'm already dying to read them!! 7y
21 likes2 comments
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Bria
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Ok, I consider myself a smart person, but this exchange was lost on me.... I hate when scheming and plotting goes on in a book and I lose track of the plans. I know he wants to launder the money through Jewish bankers, but I got lost with the church giving the confiscated land back??

PirateJenny The church regularly confiscated land from the Jews in the Middle Ages 7y
PirateJenny Sorry, but send too early. This is a way for them to get some land back. The more monasteries the church can man in Ireland, the less strong magic will be. So getting the Jews to indirectly fund armies to Invade will help destroy magic, leaving it in the hands of the exorcists--somerhing else to be controlled by the church 7y
Bria @PirateJenny the confiscation part I get now lol. The whole business with trading loans is what gets me. So they plan on confiscating land from the Jews and then the British crown gives them the gold that ends up going back to the Catholic Church that the church gives back to the crown? It's the trail of money that I'm confused on.. 7y
PirateJenny @Bria The Crown can't be seen as doing it directly so it needs to be done through the Church. Medieval politics is very crazy. (I was a medieval studies minor ages ago when I was in college which possibly helped when I read this book.) 7y
3 likes4 comments
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Bria
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Right... Because in no way could anyone sack Rome on their own without demonic help... And all the knowledge the celts had that the Vatican did not MUST be given to them by demons & it must be wicked to have know lapse on how the world works 😒 can't stand the history of the Catholic Church. Smh

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Bria
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Books and truck stops with wide open scenery. Does anyone else have some odd reading aesthetic? 😎

PirateJenny I love this book so much. 7y
4 likes1 comment
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Bria
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"Running his hand over the rough wood he tried to comfort the dying base and roots. He could feel the presence of the tree's ghost, as an amputee feels a missing arm and the sudden, sharp sting of the ax it had suffered."
??

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Bria
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These are all from my last two trips to Barnes and Noble. I have whole shelves of TBR, but these are the most recent lol

PirateJenny Last Days is such a great book 7y
Bria @PirateJenny so far so good. I have a feeling that I was too naive in thinking there is a happy ending though lol 7y
4 likes2 comments
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Bria
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Gonna need an escape from reality since my fav person is leaving for work & don't know when I'll see him again 😢 bring on the fairies...

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thatbookishboy
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Mehso-so

As another review said quite appropriately. This book was a chore and a bore. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters except perhaps one that is possibly the first to die in the story. And even then I got over it fairly quickly. And there is very little magic. At all.

6 likes2 stack adds
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mostlycatsandcoffee
Last Days of Magic | Mark Tompkins
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Think I'm going to start this today before school resumes Monday.

11 likes1 stack add
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Alannah.head
Pickpick

This book was so well written. The legends so cleverly intertwined. Although it can be confusing at times this book is well laid out and the perfect pick for any lovers of Fae legends or even Game of Thrones.

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Liberty
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Stocked up on faerie books for the weekend. ⭐️📚❤

BethM Ooo that looks good! 8y
annkuch13 I remember really liking The Blue Girl when I read it! Charles deLint is just perfect with these types of books! 8y
Megpyre I loved Blue Girl, I'm working my way through Seven Black Diamonds now. 8y
See All 6 Comments
moranadatter The Blue Girl was great. 8y
Craftylikefox I am so excited for you to read Blue Girl!! I love Charles De Lint 😍 8y
Laalaleighh I literally could not make it even halfway through the last days of Magic and it had all the ingredients insgoukd love. Hope it's better for you! 8y
118 likes6 stack adds6 comments
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Whitneyrwaller
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Loving this so far and the cover is so pretty! ☘️💫🇮🇪🔮

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Maude
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Pickpick

I guess this is a book you love or hate. I saw so many bad reviews on it but couldn't resist the cover and blurb, so glad I didn't listen to the haters 😋Interesting fantasy/historical fiction mix, with celts, fairies, nephilim, witches.

13 likes1 stack add
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Bree.Hill
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"The book of Enoch was allegedly written by the great grandfather of Noah but the Vatican repudiated that notion. They ridiculed it as a fifteenth century forgery at best, or a second century satirical work of blasphemy at worst"

5 likes1 stack add
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Bree.Hill
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Picked this up yesterday and it sounds freaking amazing! I can't wait to get into it. May have to shuffle around other books on my tbr and read it sooner..

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Texasblues
Last Days of Magic | Mark Tompkins
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And here is my personal TBR shelf (one of them). I need to stop requesting books.

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NovelGirl82
The Last Days of Magic | Mark L. Tompkins
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Currently reading The Last Days of Magic. It's starting out well!!

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obeetaybee
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Starting this one today!

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KarenaFagan
The Last Days of Magic | Mark L. Tompkins
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Pickpick

I would love to see this story continue. I enjoyed it.

14 likes6 stack adds
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TeacupsandPapercuts
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Soon to be reviewed...;) can we talk about this cover though?!

EricaO That is STUNNING. 9y
Libshitz Gorgeous cover 9y
yativa Looking forward to your thoughts with this book. Have begun it but have yet to finish it. 9y
19 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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bookshopsc
Pickpick

Though a small island, world powers—real and mystical—have wanted to tame Ireland‘s wild people for time immemorial. Impeccably researched, this blend of history and magic made me long to visit Ireland‘s dew soaked greens. —Ivy

3 likes2 stack adds
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LiteraryLona
Bailedbailed

I wanted to LOVE this book. Instead, I sat it down to start another. :(

OffTheBeatenShelf.com That sucks! I was thinking about reading it... can you share a little more about what you didn't like? (Marking it as a spoiler if necessary, of course!) 9y
LiteraryLona I'm going to do my best to finish it! There's still hope that it could come together at the end, but, it switches back and forth through different time periods and the historical descriptions are almost like a textbook. The author did awesome research for the book, but I need more of a story. 9y
kdwinchester Oh, this was such a rough story. I hate-read it all the way. 9y
3 comments
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KarenaFagan
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Just picked this up yesterday. I heard awesome things which convinced me since I'm trying not to read a whole lot of cis straight white dudes.

4 likes1 stack add
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BethFishReads
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Pickpick

The battle between the Vatican & the Fae in the 1300s. Norse myth, Welsh faeries, French witches & more. Lots to think about in terms of the Catholic Church & the truth behind the legends of the Sidhe. Read this in print; audio doesn't add anything

tpixie Thx for audio warning ⚠️ 8y
BethFishReads @tpixie my pleasure 8y
19 likes6 stack adds2 comments
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skrishna
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Pickpick

Excellent and creative historical fantasy. There's a lot to unpack, so I can tell it'll be on my mind for awhile, but it was easy to read in one sitting and kept me hooked.

KarenaFagan Oh I've been seeing this one around, but was waiting for someone I trust in books to give it the proverbial thumbs up. 9y
22 likes18 stack adds1 comment
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BeckyLeJ
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My weekend reading. Cracked open LAST DAYS first thing this morning!

2 likes2 stack adds
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Xoxokellynina
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Pickpick

Magic+Historical fiction+Ireland setting. It premises with the idea that while this story is steeped in fantasy & magic at one time it would all be taken as fact. I find that so ethereally beautiful that I was definitely a believer in Tompkins' tale.

2 likes2 stack adds
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BethFishReads
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Just starting this tonight: myth, legend, and reimagining the world. Where did the magic go?

3 likes4 stack adds