By Kate Forsyth
Read: Early 2000s?, June 2009
Rating: Love
I owe one of my good friends a debt of thanks for turning me onto these. At the time it was just the first two on the shelf and we all thought it would be a trilogy. Imagine our delight when it turned into SIX books!
Eileannan is a land populated by Celtic traditions and fairie-beasties. It is said that hundreds of years before, the Coven of Witches folded the fabric of the universe to carry the Coven from the old world (ie, Earth) to Eileannan. This Coven must have come from Scotland/Ireland/etc because everyone now speaks with a thick brogue.
The Witches have been powerful forces in the realm, helping the Righ to rule, and keeping balance between the forces of our lives. They’re good witches, in tune with nature. Until the Righ took a new wife who convinced him to throw out the Witches. Their Towers were burned and magic outlawed across the land. Now they live in secrecy, and fear.
But Eileannan was not an empty land when the first settlers arrived. The faerie folk were there. And not all are kind. The Fairgean still hunger for human blood. And they are preparing their last great attempt at overthrowing the human interlopers, for good.
The first book introduces us to our primary cast. Meghan is an old witch who discovered a babygirl not long after the Day O’ Betrayal. She has raised this child in a secret valley, and taught her some of the witches’ ways. But Isabeau is a flighty child, and hasn’t always paid attention to her lessons. Their lives are peaceful until Isabeau’s sixteenth birthday, the day young witches are tested for entry into the Coven. The gathering of witches for this event, and their expenditures of power, draw the Righ’s army to them and they are forced to flee. Meghan gives Isabeau a mission, to take a special object into the palace itself where the old cook, Latifa, will hide them both. They have to hope that Beau has learned enough to survive the journey.
Meghan takes another path, asking the great Dragons if they will ally with the Coven. Here she meets a girl who looks exactly like Isabeau–a twin, Iseult. But the two could not be more different. Iseult has been raised by a fierce race of mountain warriors, and she does not understand the ways of Meghan or the Coven. Yet her destiny insists she accompany her.
And then there is the ‘Cripple’, a man who has the wings and feet of a bird, and a searing hatred for the Banrigh.
It’s been a long time since I read these books. The first thing I realized is that I don’t like Isabeau as much as I thought I did. At the beginning of this book she’s 15 and more than a little subordinate. She’s had a rather easy life, and though she wants very much to be taught real magic, she’s never caught on to Meghan’s lessons about the importance of listening or understanding. She’s a bit annoying. Funnily enough, the friend who recommended the books hates the OTHER twin, Iseult. I have to say that right now, I prefer her. She’s honest about her faults. Isabeau does start making progress toward adulthood by the end of the book, but it comes at a very, very high price. The kind of price that will turn your stomach. The Righ’s Anti-Witch League is not opposed to using torture.
I also discovered, on this reread, that I didn’t miss anything the first time… the romance element really is mild. I wouldn’t call it subtle, but it certainly doesn’t draw one in at this point. Which may be for the best, since these lovers-to-be are hardly the most touchy-feely people.
So, we’ll chalk some of this up to First Novel Flaws. And now I’m going to go read #2.
Tags: Kate Forsyth
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