A Dance with Fate
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4.7 • 26 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A young woman who is both a bard--and a warrior--seeks to repay her debts and settle scores in this thrilling historical fantasy series.
The young warrior and bard Liobhan has lost her brother to the Otherworld. Even more determined to gain a place as an elite fighter, she returns to Swan Island to continue her training. But Liobhan is devastated when her comrade Dau is injured and loses his sight in their final display bout. Blamed by Dau's family for the accident, she agrees to go to Dau's home as a bond servant for the span of one year.
There, she soon learns that Oakhill is a place of dark secrets. The vicious Crow Folk still threaten both worlds. And Dau, battling the demon of despair, is not an easy man to help.
When Liobhan and Dau start to expose the rot at the center of Oakhill, they place themselves in deadly danger. For their enemy wields great power and will stop at nothing to get his way. It will take all the skills of a Swan Island warrior and a touch of the uncanny to give them a hope of survival. . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The lovely second mythic fantasy in Marillier's Irish folklore inspired Warrior Bards series (after The Harp of Kings) chronicles the youthful romance of Swan Island warriors Liobhan, a talented singer, and Dau, the embittered son of a chieftain. Evenly matched in combat skills, Liobhan and Dau celebrate the completion of their strenuous training as spies with a three-round display bout that goes horribly wrong when Dau slips and is blinded. Under interclan law, the injured Dau must return to his father's home, Oakhill, where his older brothers once cruelly tormented him. The only comfort keeping Dau from a fatal depression is Liobhan, who volunteers to spend a year at Oakhill to care for him. Despite expectations set by the first book in the series, very little music or warrior training leavens their unhappy lives at Oakhill, until fate intervenes in the person of Liobhan's bardic brother Brocc, who returns from the Otherworld to save them from their misery. Marillier's strength lies in her ability to convincingly convey the genuine trust and compassion between her characters as they come of age in a magical land. Series readers will eagerly await more.
Customer Reviews
Mesmerizing Tale
A wondrous tale, A Dance with Fate, pulled at my heart-strings while sending me on a journey that I never wanted to end.
What I Love
I love the characters. They are intricately layered and divinely developed. Though the only one who shows any significant growth in this story is Dau, the other two main characters Liobhan and Brocc, have a great deal of potential and are endearing in their own right. Liobhan, unusually tall and strong for a woman, is the perfect blend of fierceness and femininity. I love a strong woman protagonist, and she is that and so much more. Brocc, Liobhan's brother, is half-Fay and half-human. He was raised in the human world, now has a life and a wife in the fay world, but struggles with giving up one for the other. His growth, which will hopefully come in the future, will be to find a way to make his two worlds come together, as he finds acceptance for the two aspects of his being.
I love the world-building, which quickly envelopes you like a thick forest of trees. This world is familiar with touches of fantastic elements that keep me mesmerized, and I want more of its beauty and challenges. I love a fantasy world that can make you feel like you know the setting, as well as you, understand your back yard. It takes an exceptional level of skill, and I am in awe.
The story, mostly told by the three main protagonists in alternating chapters – each in the first person – is strongly character-driven and took me on an emotional roller coaster ride that I won't soon forget - just like the first book in the series, The Harp of Kings. Though I wasn't moved to tears with A Dance with Fate like I was with The Harp of Kings, the story is emotionally impactful in its unique way.
I found it very interesting that we get two chapters in Eirne's point of view. It took me by surprise and added insight into her character that gave the story even more depth. I can't say that I like Eirne any more so because of it, but it made it much easier for me to understand my reaction to the Queen of the Fay and her choices.
To Read or Not to Read
I highly recommend this mesmerizing tale of the warrior bards to all high fantasy lovers and anyone who wants to get lost in a world full of magic and music.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.