Son of the Shadows
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4.4 • 5 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
A powerful and entracing romance, set in the Celtic twilight of 10th century Ireland: a new MISTS OF AVALON for readers of historical fantasy.
The forests of Sevenwaters have cast their spell over Sorcha's daughter Liadan, who, like her mother, has inherited the talent to heal and to see into the spirit world. The forest spirits warn Liadan that she must remain for ever at Sevenwaters if the sacred isles are to be won back from the Britons who took them by force. For the Lord and Lady of the forest spirits have seen in Liadan's future a doomed romance, death; a child; and a terrible choice to be made.
Liadan is taken captive by the Painted Man, who is revealed to be a man quite unlike his legend. Liadan is drawn to him, despite the ancient prophesy of doom, but can she reclaim her life and defy the spirits, or will a curse fall upon Sevenwaters because of her forbidden love? Will the fight for the sacred isles end in tragedy? History and fantasy, myth and magic, legend and love come together in this magical story.
Reviews
‘I enjoyed it enormously. It is a fantasy, full of the magic of the Celtic night, but it has that wonderful all-important feel of reality… a wonderful, riveting story’ Barbara Erskine
‘This hugely enjoyable, romantic Celtic fantasy is a terrific book, well written and unputdownable’ Bookwatch
‘Filled with the powers of earth and sky, lake and forest… sweet and strong as the note of a harp, and painful as a sword thrust deep… a strong sense of realism… a nicely wrought and well-detailed historical fantasy’ Locus
About the author
Juliet Marillier was born in New Zealand and brought up in Dunedin, the ‘Edinburgh of the South’. She has a passionate interest in Celtic music and Irish folklore. A mother of two daughters and two sons, she lives in a rural area outside Perth in Western Australia.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Druidic Erin (Ireland) is a place teeming with fairies and earth magic. But this compelling story is not a tale of the fey it is a tale of one who lives in the world of humans and yet has contact with the otherworld. Liadan of Sevenwaters is the child of Iubdan and Sorcha (whose story was told in Daughter of the Forest) and she is granted the power to hear and see what others cannot. She is a healer of mind, body and spirit. It is Liadan's gift of healing that brings about a meeting with a mercenary considered to be the enemy of her family. Liadan names this man without a name or history "Bran" and soon realizes that the information she has been told about him (and the world in general) is not what it appears to be. In too short a time, Liadan comes to love Bran with a fierceness that she never imagined possible, and yet their love cannot be fulfilled. Bran's life is not her life, nor is her life his. They must travel down different paths (at least for a while), knowing in their hearts that the bond between them is stronger than the things that pull them apart. This is the story of a powerful love, which might change the course of history for Liadan's people and the island of Erin. Beautifully written, the second in the Sevenwaters trilogy continues a sparkling saga of a family whose destiny is to help free Erin from British tyranny. The story, though a bit light on the magic and heavy on the romantic, is reminiscent of Jennifer Roberson's Chesuli series. Fantasy addicts should love it.
