An excellent start to another series by Marillier. Intriguing characters, set in fascinating worlds which are brought to life by Marillier's skills as an author. I read her Sevenwaters trilogy and it's remained one of my favorite fantasy reads through the years. This one promises to be right up there with Sevenwaters. Druids, Good Folk, kings and queens, court intrigue, political betrayals, battles fought over the right to beliefs long held sacred. What's not to like? ( )

I ended up really liking this book, however it did take me awhile to get into the plot and characters. I am glad I stuck with it, but it is not the best of Marillier's work. I am not sure I will continue with the series. Many of her other books are outstanding but this is not one of them. ( )

This new universe of Marillier's is a little harder to get into than those of Sevenwaters and the Children of the Light Isles, but in the end, she delivers what her fans want. I am most annoyed by the apparent cancelation of the trade paperback edition of the second book in the series, which was supposed to be released in May shortly after the hardback edition of the third. Less than four weeks before its scheduled release, it vanished from the cataloges of B&N and Amazon, and the brick-and-morter bookstores I asked said that they saw the release date, but no way to order it. Now there is a wait until October for the mass market release. ( )

A druid's foster son, Bridei, finds a fay infant, Tuala, on his doorstep and becomes dedicated to looking after her. However, the druid has other plans for Bridei and tries to separate them. Bridei is sent to court to be groomed for a role as king but cannot forget his Tuala. Well, you can guess how this plays out, no surprises in this book!

I read the Sevenwaters Trilogy by the author and liked it more. For me, this book had an interesting theme, but the text itself was lacking - no spark at all. I found myself trying to read as fast as I can just so I could get to the end of the book so I could see what happens.

It wasn't all bad though. As mentioned, the theme - Picts, druids, forest, etc. is good and at times I cared about the characters. It's just that the plot was very predictable - two children, growing up, fighting the "impossible" obstacles on their way to love, which is pretty much just a rehash of the stereotypical romance story and definetely not what I expected. At moments I was also very bored with the "moral lessons" the characters were getting from pretty much everything they did. Besides, the characters felt very unreal - they were pretty much modern people planted in a brutal era.

So, if you haven't read Marillier, don't start with this one - try Daughter of the Forest. If you liked the Sevenwaters Trilogy, maybe you'll like this too - for me it wasn't as good as her earlier work. ( )

This was a really fun read and an excellent escape. I love the setting and the period. I really enjoyed this imagining of Bridei's childhood and growth, as well as all the lore she worked in. ( )