Forbidden

Island of Time #2

by Davis Bunn

In this sequel to Island of Time, a young renegade wizard flees the corrupt power structure controlling global magic, only to become embroiled in a conflict pitting supernatural forces against the federal government.

All wizard Chad Hagan wants is a quiet life.

A loner, a runaway, and a failed apprentice Talent, Chad was kicked out of one Institute of Magic for fighting, then fled another when the head wizard's vice caused the death of his closest friend. He may want a quiet life but when he meets Kara Sedgewick, he realizes that is not an option.

Kara has spent twenty years living a lie. Her mother was a gifted healer with powerful magical abilities, but not her. Or so the Institutes were led to believe... As Chad and Kara get close, they discover that their magical gifts, if combined, are dangerously powerful. And if they decide to forge this forbidden alliance, they could topple a system that has become rife with vicious infighting and sleaze.

But this seems like a dangerous, if not impossible task. Can they face the Institutes and their global network of magical force and triumph?

Genres: Fantasy

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 3, 2023

About the author

Davis Bunn is an internationally-acclaimed author who has sold more than eight million books in twenty languages.

Honored with four Christy Awards for excellence in historical and suspense fiction, Davis was inducted into the Christy Hall of Fame in 2014.

His bestsellers include The Great Divide, Winner Take All, The Meeting Place, The Book of Hours, and The Quilt. A sought-after lecturer in the art of writing, Bunn was serves as Writer in Residence at Regent's Park College, Oxford University.

Davis Bunn also writes under the names Thomas Locke (for his epic fantasy and techno-thriller novels) and T. Davis Bunn (for books published prior to 2002).

Reviews

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, crap, this is a sequel? Should have paid attention to that. Frankly, it didn’t really matter. The book read fine as a standalone, I just didn’t like it all that much.
I’ve read Davis Bunn once before. The book was nothing special and revisiting the author confirms it: meh all around. But at the same time, a competently done meh.
Which is to say Bunn is of the league of writers that tap into popular fiction demands and go for quantity over quality, ending up with a number of serials and low end but perfectly readable pablum.
This is very much the case here: what do people like? Wizards? Ok, let’s give them wizards. A renegade mage with a wounded heart and a bleeding conscience. The sort that would do all sorts of forbidden things. Get it? Get it?
Ok, well, fine. And so this tale of international suspense and intrigue goes. Again, because Bunn pops books out like a baker does buns, the thing is perfectly readable, short words, short chapters, quick pace, etc. An undemanding audience with penchant for mages might be really into it. This reader wasn’t - didn’t care about it at all, didn’t interest me, wasn’t a rewarding way to pass the time. User milage may vary. Thanks Netgalley.

[Henry Lazarus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chad Hagan lives in a world, much like our own, where magic is tightly controlled by magical institutes While an apprentice, Chad learned he could pick up spells easily and pretends average magical ability while he volunteers to clean the master’s rooms, stealing access to their books. Then he runs away and survives several attempts on his life. The US government gets interested in an independent, and Forbidden (hard from Severn House) wizard that the institutes will stop at nothing to destroy. Davis Bunn tells a fun tale of love and magic

[Diana]

well i have no words. I was not aware that this was the second book in a series (but it makes sense cause i was thinking it would be a better book if there was more history to the story, uh apparently there was..oh i dont know perhaps in BOOK ONE!)

So i wont be rating this book. For me coming in at the second book, i wasn't drawn to read the book (like omg i must finish this book), it was more like (what the hell is going on, i want to see where this is going to go because i am so confused)

i think i ruined this author for myself.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've heard good things about this author's earlier fiction and really wanted to like this book because the concept was interesting. The problem for me was the execution. This book was written in that style that doesn't let the reader know what the main character is thinking, seeing, or planning until after the fact. There's no sense of tension at key points in the story because there's no clear sense of what's going on. Too much is kept from the reader, which keeps us too disconnected from the protagonist.

[Janet Sketchley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast-paced and complex, and I was glad to recognize a character from book 1 (Island of Time). The action flowed like a movie but I had a hard time holding the details in my imagination. Still, it was very satisfying watching Chad learn to take down his enemies and to trust the friends he made along the way. I hope there'll be a book 3 in this series. A clean action read set in our world but with magic.

[Cynde · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this as much as the first in the series. The main character was not very likeable. I prefer Mr. Bunn's Christian fiction.

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good and Fun read - read in a day, just a book I could not put down. I liked the main character and enjoyed the interaction between all…

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn't know that this was book two when I picked it up. Glad I still read it. Great story. Short and quick read. Will read book one as well.👍👍

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Typically Severn House books are not and their pagination is odd but this was decent

[Jo-jean Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creative and entertaining! I loved the descriptions of the spells.

[Sharan Seetharam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, unputdownable:)

[Angela De Groot]

DNF

[Tom Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast-paced, electric in places.