Heir to Sevenwaters - Juliet Marillier

Here are the links to my previous posts about the Sevenwaters series - Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows/Child of the Prophecy.

I was very pleased to realise, when I returned the last two books of the series, that I was able to borrow this one! The joy about reading books from the library is that it's totally guilt free as the extra reads don't join the toppling TBR pile. Actually, now I think about it, not totally guilt free as by reading books from the library, I'm not exactly making inroads into the pile. Hrmmm. More ethical thinking required!

Anyway.

Heir to Sevenwaters focuses on Clodagh, daughter to Lady Aisling and Lord Sean who is the twin brother of Liadan, heroine of Son of the Shadows. Keeping up? Good...

It's now three years after the events of Child of the Prophey, and at the start of the book, having given birth to six daughters, Aisling is pregnant however this is cause for concern rather than celebration as she is well past the safe age for childbearing. During her difficult pregnancy, management of the large household falls to the very ordinary and practical Clodagh as her father is distracted by concern for his wife as well as tension between rival neighbouring clans. A heightened sense of responsibility for others means that after her baby brother is born, Clodagh adds looking after him to her list of tasks until one night he is stolen and a changeling that only she can see is left in his place...

This book is more fairytale-ish than the others as Clodagh enters the Otherworld in search of her brother and to confront the powerful fairy Lord Mac Dara who lives there. Reluctantly helping her in her quest is Cathal, who is a fearsome warriors trained by her cousin, who has a very prickly nature and a lack of self-belief. Unlike previous Sevenwater heroines, Clodagh doesn't have any special abilities that help her fulfil her task so it's only her courage, quick thinking, ability to make friends and determination that can help her to succeed.

This book has more emphasis on romance than the darker Child of the Prophecy did - which was a definite plus for me. The developing trust and affection between Clodagh and Cathal is quite sweet if slightly lacking in emotional intensity. Like the other books in this series, the importance of duty and family is a central theme but there's plenty of adventure and magic too. One thing I would comment on is that it felt a bit less mature than the other books in the trilogy - which is not necessarily a bad thing - but the tone of the book struck me as more like that of her delightful young adult book Wildwood Dancing so perhaps writing for a younger audience has influenced Marillier's style in the years between writing those books and this one. I enjoyed the latest installment in the Sevenwaters saga all the same and want more!

Son of the Shadows & Child of the Prophecy - Juliet Marillier

I read, and really enjoyed, Daughter of the Forest back in January as part of the Sc-Fi experience reading challenge and when I saw that the library had the last two books in the series, just sitting there on the shelf, I could not resist them! All three of these books work as stand alone reads but I think, to get full enjoyment, they would be better if read in order.

Son of the Shadows takes up the story of the children of Sorcha, who in the last book had to try to save her brothers after a sorceress had turned them into swans, and Hugh, the Briton she married. Her daughter Liadan is a gifted seer and healer who thinks, in spite of her visions, that she knows what the future has in store for her - caring for her dying mother and then an alliance marriage to a strategically important near neighbour, Eamonn. A chance meeting on the road carries her off to care for a dying man - one of the mercenaries of the sinister Painted Man, Eamonn's arch-enemy and a killer for hire. Liadan discovers that she cannot choose where she loves and that she and the Painted Man are as bound up in destiny as her mother and father were before her.

The developing romance between Liadan and the Painted Man is a delight and I really enjoyed seeing their relationship grow. This book felt like more of a traditional historical romance with talk of strategic marriages, chieftain alliances and well trained warriors. There is still plenty of magic and the family's heritage is a central theme as the ramifications of the ancient prophecy continue to be felt by them all. Having said that, I really liked this book - Liadan and the Painted Man made a great couple (him = strong silent type so Peta = happy) and the story was exciting throughout.

In Child of the Prophecy we follow the next generation of the family and this is the story of Fainne, the daughter of Liadan's sister, Niamh. Fianne has been raised in isolation and trained in magic by her loving but remote druid-father, Ciaran, and her ruthless sorceress-grandmother, the Lady Oonagh. Who was the evil sorceress from the Daughter of the Shadows. They send Fianne to Sevenwaters to live among relatives, who had no knowledge of her existence, to carry out her grandmother's long-planned vengeance on the clan - and on the Old Ones, who are the source of Ireland's mystic power. Fianne is reluctant to harm her new-found family but if she lets them live, the Lady Oonagh will kill both her father and Darragh, the handsome young horse tamer who is the only friend she has ever known.

In this final volume several of the threads from the first two books are pulled together and the true meaning of the prophecy is finally resolved. Whilst, of course, there is a touch of romance, this book is much more about struggling with torn loyalty and the pain of making difficult decisions that impact several of the characters we've already met in the previous books.

I thought that with the ending of Child of the Prophecy I'd now finished this series but I see that There Is Another... It's currently on loan at the library so fingers crossed that the nice person who has it returns it soon!

Here's a link to Juliet Marillier's website which includes and some photos that she took that were the inspiration of the Sevenwaters area. I was really sorry to read on a recent update that she has embarked upon a lengthy course of chemotherapy/radiology and my thoughts go out to her.

Wildwood Dancing - Juliet Marillier

After reading, and enjoying, Daughter of the Forest so much I could not resist picking up another of Juliet Marillier's books when I "chanced" upon it in the library last week. Whilst accidentally-on-purpose seeing if they had any of her other books for me to borrow as I really, really, really can not justify any more book purchases right now given the state of my TBR shelves...

From the blurb: "The Wildwood holds many mysteries. Jena and her sisters share the biggest of all, a fantastic secret that enables them to escape the confines of their everyday life in rural Transylvania. When their father falls ill and must leave their forest home over the winter, Jena and her older sister Tati are left in charge.

All goes well until a tragic accident allows their overbearing cousin Cezar to take control. The appearance of a mysterious young man in a black coat divides sister from sister, and suddenly Jena finds herself fighting to save all she holds dear. With her constant companion, Gogu, by her side, she must venture to realms dark and perilous in her quest to preserve, not just those she loves, but her own independence as well."

Wildwood Dancing is a really delightful fairytale and I enjoyed reading it immensely. It's not that long so I sadly I finished it in a day but I did have fun doing so. I loved the imaginative depiction of the fairy side of the Wildwood and the stark contrast of the increasingly difficult everyday lives of the sisters worked very effectively.

Although it has a large cast of characters, each one feels quite unique and gets enough book-time to establish a clear personality which was something I also noticed whilst reading Daughter of the Forest. It was only after finishing the book that I realised that this book was written specifically for a Young Adult audience which could explain why characters were generally painted in fairly black and white terms - my only gripe with the book. Should I confess that I had no idea I was reading, and enjoying, yet another book designed for the YA market? Nah...

Doh. I've just noticed that rather like Daughter of the Forest this is also the first of a planned trilogy but I was quite happy reading it as a stand alone book.

Honourable review mention should also go to Kinuko Y. Craft who created the artwork for this book. It's a fabulous piece of work that really comes to life as you read through the book. With her commission pieces starting at $50,000 I suspect that the book cover is the only piece of her work I will be acquainted with!