Son of the Shadows (The Sevenwaters Trilogy, Book 2)

by JulietMarillier (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2001

  $9.49

  A magnificent saga set in the Celtic twilight of 10th century Ireland brilliantly brought to life, when myth was law and magic was a power of nature. Son of the Shadows is a haunting and powerful story of passion and destruction vividly told.

  Sorcha's daughter Liadan has become, like her mother, a herbalist, healer and storyteller. She is a quiet, background figure at Sevenwaters, leaving centre stage to her twin Sean, the heir to Sevenwaters, and her older sister Niamh, the golden-haired beauty, in appearance so much a Briton, like their father, Hugh of Harrowfield.

  Sorcha's six brothers have had no children; some are dead in the fight to regain from the invading Britons the islands sacred to the druids. Finbar is thought dead; left for ever part swan by the curse of Oonagh the witch, his fate in the wild is unknown. Conor is now the chief of the druids, seen at Sevenwaters only at festivals.

  When Conor brings with him a young druid, Cieran, to celebrate Beltane, the fate of beautiful Niamh is sealed: she and Cieran fall in love, and are discovered. Niamh is forced to marry a political ally of Sevenwaters and depart forever - Cieran has accepted banishment, and broken Niamh's heart.

  Returning from journeying with the newly weds to Niamh's new home, the Painted Man enters Liadan's life: she is kidnapped by his mercenary warriors and taken to heal one of their number who lies dying in the woods. Famed and feared throughout the region, the Painted Man is her doom, as Cieran was her sister's.

  But the Painted Man may be the only man who can recover the sacred islands. Without them there is no hope of freedom for the people of Sevenwaters and their beliefs. The mystery surrounding Cieran is deeper still. There is a prophecy concerning the child that will be born to Liadan, and then the secrets will be told, to those who survive in this war-torn and dangerous land.

  Like Marion Zimmer Bradley's MISTS OF AVALON this is a story with inbuilt magic. Vivid images of our Celtic past weave a tale of great mystery and romance.

• New

  Paperback
  2002

  $15.53

  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.