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Night's Edge #4
A Shift of Time
The 4th book in the Aurora Award–winning Night's Edge series returns readers to a rich and atmospheric fantasy world
Perfect for readers of Charles de Lint, Naomi Novik, and Katherine Arden, A Shift of Time is a charming, heartwarming, hopeful fable
Summer has arrived in Marrowdell, but its wild magic is out of sorts. Bannan, returning from his sister’s home in Vorkoun, steps through Jenn’s special crossing to find the village has disappeared. Something is deeply wrong within the edge—and with the Verge. Soon the youngling dragon Imp returns from that magical realm with a dire turn-born are missing.
Deep in the mines of Ansnor, turn-born are being trapped and killed. The rest are in hiding, as each crossing destabilizes the Verge, releasing chaos even the sei cannot control. Time is shifting. Bannan, caught between realms, must accept the help of an ancient power, feared by dragons and greater than sei, but at what cost?
Jenn, meanwhile, rushes to Ansnor to find Bannan and fix what’s breaking in the Verge, but she’s in danger, too. For in the edge, those who hunt magic and those with gifts grow bold, and as the only turn-born filled with pearl and the magic of the sei, Jenn Nalynn is the greatest prize of all.
Perfect for readers of Charles de Lint, Naomi Novik, and Katherine Arden, A Shift of Time is a charming, heartwarming, hopeful fable
Summer has arrived in Marrowdell, but its wild magic is out of sorts. Bannan, returning from his sister’s home in Vorkoun, steps through Jenn’s special crossing to find the village has disappeared. Something is deeply wrong within the edge—and with the Verge. Soon the youngling dragon Imp returns from that magical realm with a dire turn-born are missing.
Deep in the mines of Ansnor, turn-born are being trapped and killed. The rest are in hiding, as each crossing destabilizes the Verge, releasing chaos even the sei cannot control. Time is shifting. Bannan, caught between realms, must accept the help of an ancient power, feared by dragons and greater than sei, but at what cost?
Jenn, meanwhile, rushes to Ansnor to find Bannan and fix what’s breaking in the Verge, but she’s in danger, too. For in the edge, those who hunt magic and those with gifts grow bold, and as the only turn-born filled with pearl and the magic of the sei, Jenn Nalynn is the greatest prize of all.
541 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 22, 2025
12 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Julie E. Czerneda
103 books754 followersHaving written 25 novels (and counting) published by DAW Books, as well as numerous short stories, and editing several anthologies, in 2022, Julie E. Czerneda was inducted in the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Her science fiction and fantasy combines her training and love of biology with a boundless curiosity and optimism, winning multiple awards. Julie's recent releases include the standalone novel To Each This World, her first collection Imaginings, and A Shift of Time, part of her Night's Edge fantasy series. For more visit czerneda.com Julie is represented by Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency LLC.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 27, 2025
2.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
Something has gone wrong with the Verge and specifically Jenn's special crossings into and through it. And the inscrutable sei has commanded her to fix what she broke - if only she knew what that was!
Review
I had a hard time getting through this, to be honest. It often felt like something of a slog, not helped by very long chapters with constant shifts of perspective. More to the point, the sappiness and verbal tics got to me.
I loved the first Marrowdell book, A Turn of Light , including the fact that it was upbeat, positive, and optimistic. Unfortunately, I don’t think Czerenda is pulling it off in the long run. That first book was followed by a strong sequel, A Play of Shadow , but by third books, the fill-in novella A Dragon for William and the true third book, A Change of Place , the bloom was beginning to fade. The light, happy tone had begun to turn cloying and tiring to wade through. This fourth book (I feel like I read the fill-in novella A Pearl from the Dark, but don’t seem to have it now) has, to my mind, gone over the edge, to the point that I became reluctant to pick it up. I read it at the same time as Dickens’ Dombey and Son , and that book, which also features cloyingly sweet protagonists, was, for all its length, faster moving and easier to take.
I’ve complained before about some of the characters, and that continues here. Love-interest Bannan’s sister, for example, generally acts like a sociopath, yet everyone forgives and loves her despite it, because … I never found a reason, frankly. She’s intelligent, but that’s about it. There’s a lot of ‘love conquers all’ about in general.
Czerneda introduces some key new worldbuilding elements very late in the game. And on occasion, it feels like she gets more caught up with the video-gamey visuals than with clear plot mechanics. Aspects are so vague and briefly treated that I honestly wasn’t sure what was happening or even where the characters were. The ending is on the flat and easy side. And the aforementioned verbal tics? They were wearing. (Such as posing rhetorical questions and immediately answering them.) It’s frustrating from such a capable author.
In fact, I’m coming to feel that, for all I admire Ms. Czerneda, her more romantic writing isn’t to my taste. I felt the over-the-top sappiness was the major weakness in her otherwise excellent Trade Pact series. I had so much difficulty with this book that I’m seriously considering just not reading the next and final book in the series. I’m certainly not currently tempted to seek out A Pearl from the Dark if in fact I haven’t read it. Maybe a substantial delay will make me more hungry to continue, if for no more than the sense of completion. But at present, I have to hope Czerneda’s next major book will be something more hard nosed and science fictional.
Summary
Something has gone wrong with the Verge and specifically Jenn's special crossings into and through it. And the inscrutable sei has commanded her to fix what she broke - if only she knew what that was!
Review
I had a hard time getting through this, to be honest. It often felt like something of a slog, not helped by very long chapters with constant shifts of perspective. More to the point, the sappiness and verbal tics got to me.
I loved the first Marrowdell book, A Turn of Light , including the fact that it was upbeat, positive, and optimistic. Unfortunately, I don’t think Czerenda is pulling it off in the long run. That first book was followed by a strong sequel, A Play of Shadow , but by third books, the fill-in novella A Dragon for William and the true third book, A Change of Place , the bloom was beginning to fade. The light, happy tone had begun to turn cloying and tiring to wade through. This fourth book (I feel like I read the fill-in novella A Pearl from the Dark, but don’t seem to have it now) has, to my mind, gone over the edge, to the point that I became reluctant to pick it up. I read it at the same time as Dickens’ Dombey and Son , and that book, which also features cloyingly sweet protagonists, was, for all its length, faster moving and easier to take.
I’ve complained before about some of the characters, and that continues here. Love-interest Bannan’s sister, for example, generally acts like a sociopath, yet everyone forgives and loves her despite it, because … I never found a reason, frankly. She’s intelligent, but that’s about it. There’s a lot of ‘love conquers all’ about in general.
Czerneda introduces some key new worldbuilding elements very late in the game. And on occasion, it feels like she gets more caught up with the video-gamey visuals than with clear plot mechanics. Aspects are so vague and briefly treated that I honestly wasn’t sure what was happening or even where the characters were. The ending is on the flat and easy side. And the aforementioned verbal tics? They were wearing. (Such as posing rhetorical questions and immediately answering them.) It’s frustrating from such a capable author.
In fact, I’m coming to feel that, for all I admire Ms. Czerneda, her more romantic writing isn’t to my taste. I felt the over-the-top sappiness was the major weakness in her otherwise excellent Trade Pact series. I had so much difficulty with this book that I’m seriously considering just not reading the next and final book in the series. I’m certainly not currently tempted to seek out A Pearl from the Dark if in fact I haven’t read it. Maybe a substantial delay will make me more hungry to continue, if for no more than the sense of completion. But at present, I have to hope Czerneda’s next major book will be something more hard nosed and science fictional.
August 17, 2025
I have liked the characters and their world. this continues that.
However, the story is becoming enamored with itself. It is cute to be cute. It slows down doing this. It is repetitive.
The characters run off from the others and keep getting into trouble, instead of waiting to find everyone. The world will wait for you while everyone safely assembles before rescues take place.
one more volume in this series. Ive read about 15 of the authors books, I can read one more. After that, i will think about it.
However, the story is becoming enamored with itself. It is cute to be cute. It slows down doing this. It is repetitive.
The characters run off from the others and keep getting into trouble, instead of waiting to find everyone. The world will wait for you while everyone safely assembles before rescues take place.
one more volume in this series. Ive read about 15 of the authors books, I can read one more. After that, i will think about it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews