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The Truthsayer's Apprentice
In the first volume of The Loregiver series, Dalin, the young apprentice to a renowned seer, embarks on a perilous quest to recover his master's stolen cloak, a symbol of the Truthsayer's office, from the brutal trespassers who stole it. Original. 25,000 first printing.
396 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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71 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Teramis Christian
15 books35 followersTeramis (accent on first syllable) goes by her middle name. She formerly published as Deborah Christian, but has used all three of her names as byline since 2001.
Teramis is a US Army veteran, a former career systems consulting geek, and a sociologist, among many other things. In the last few years she has rearranged her life to make writing her full-time endeavor. For more biographical info, see author's website info.
Teramis is a US Army veteran, a former career systems consulting geek, and a sociologist, among many other things. In the last few years she has rearranged her life to make writing her full-time endeavor. For more biographical info, see author's website info.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 29, 2025
"The Truthsayer's Apprentice" feels like a hastily transcribed D&D campaign. Fun to engage with but it does not (always) hold up under close (literary) scrutiny.
First and foremost, if you enjoy classic fantasy and want something easy to get into, this is the novel for you. Like a typical D&D - campaign, there are a lot of familiar elements from other, better known stories. However, this familiarity also helps to make the book and the world it presents all the more immersive. I felt as if Deborah Christian had truly built a unique world with deep lore and history based on Scandinavian/Gaelic folklore.
The problems however arise when you realise that what might work in D&D does not necessarily work in literature. "The Truthsayer's Apprentice" is filled with moments that feel as if someone rolled a dice and then had to improvise a character's reaction based on the number of the dice instead of what is actually going on in the story. For example, the main character often trusts the people that saved him near the start of the story. However, in the middle of the book he suddenly starts to doubt them because they were unwilling to tell them why they were doing what they were doing. At the end of the book however, it turns out that they were doing it for quite noble reasons. In other words, someone rolled a nat 1 on their charisma check when trying to persuade the main character. Because of this they started to stutter and doubt themselves.
With that said, it was clear that Deborah Christian had a lot of fun writing this book. It is a shame that she never wrote a sequel but this book is nonetheless worth your time. Especially if you are a fan of John Gwynne's "Bloodsworn" trilogy.
First and foremost, if you enjoy classic fantasy and want something easy to get into, this is the novel for you. Like a typical D&D - campaign, there are a lot of familiar elements from other, better known stories. However, this familiarity also helps to make the book and the world it presents all the more immersive. I felt as if Deborah Christian had truly built a unique world with deep lore and history based on Scandinavian/Gaelic folklore.
The problems however arise when you realise that what might work in D&D does not necessarily work in literature. "The Truthsayer's Apprentice" is filled with moments that feel as if someone rolled a dice and then had to improvise a character's reaction based on the number of the dice instead of what is actually going on in the story. For example, the main character often trusts the people that saved him near the start of the story. However, in the middle of the book he suddenly starts to doubt them because they were unwilling to tell them why they were doing what they were doing. At the end of the book however, it turns out that they were doing it for quite noble reasons. In other words, someone rolled a nat 1 on their charisma check when trying to persuade the main character. Because of this they started to stutter and doubt themselves.
With that said, it was clear that Deborah Christian had a lot of fun writing this book. It is a shame that she never wrote a sequel but this book is nonetheless worth your time. Especially if you are a fan of John Gwynne's "Bloodsworn" trilogy.
February 23, 2015
I tried to apply the don't-quit-before-page-100 rule, and almost made it ... Just couldn't. If for no other reasons than the constant and aggravating head-hopping (again, so that's why it's frowned on!) and the outright thefts from Tolkien (characters named Berin and Dalin (close, but not quite stolen) and Mithlond and Thengel are both infuriating and distracting), I need to move on.
July 4, 2017
The vast majority of this book reads like a transcript to a Dungeons & Dragons game. The ending was so rushed it actually shocked me. Everything wrapped up in about five pages.
June 13, 2008
This is a bona-fide nerdy fantasy book, and I unashamedly profess that it was just what I needed. I read this while Lindsay was sick, and I was sick, so it was a nice distraction. It was also pretty good.
March 20, 2011
Finally managed to get this book read. I started it in January, then put it down about half-way through. It was an okay read, seemed overly long and drawn out. Definitely picked up at the end.
May 24, 2012
Boring plot, boring characters. If I'm 100 pages into it and I still don't care about them, it's time to quit.
July 18, 2013
This was a pretty good fantasy story. I enjoyed it, but now it will have to find a new home. =)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews