Dreamer's Pool

by Juliet Marillier

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Blackthorn & Grim (1)

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After escaping her wrongful imprisonment, magical healer Blackthorn, living on the fringe of a mysterious forest with a former prison mate named Grim, is duty bound to assist anyone who asks for her help. "In exchange for help escaping her long and wrongful imprisonment, embittered magical healer Blackthorn has vowed to set aside her bid for vengeance against the man who destroyed all that she once held dear. Followed by a former prison mate, a silent hulk of a man named Grim, she travels north to Dalriada. There she'll live on the fringe of a mysterious forest, duty bound for seven years to assist anyone who asks for her help. Oran, crown prince of Dalriada, has waited anxiously for the arrival of his future bride, Lady Flidais. He knows her only from a portrait and sweetly poetic correspondence that have convinced him Flidais is his destined true love. But Oran discovers letters can lie. For although his intended exactly resembles her portrait, her brutality upon arrival proves she is nothing like the sensitive woman of the letters. With the strategic marriage imminent, Oran sees no way out of his dilemma. Word has spread that Blackthorn possesses a remarkable gift for solving knotty problems, so the prince asks her for help. To save Oran from his treacherous nuptials, Blackthorn and Grim will need all their resources: courage, ingenuity, leaps of deduction, and more than a little magic" --… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 38 (next | show all)

This novel is the first of a series centered around a wise woman subject to geas/geis, not at all a favorite fantasy trope of mine and less frequently seen since the mid-20th century. Still since the plot of this story is less about the mc and more about the prince's bride it does not do great violence to the book as a whole.
Violence, especially against women, and deceit are predominate elements in the tale. (

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quondame | Jan 22, 2024 |

Lovely book! I liked the characters, who were not whiny and did not put themselves in victim roles, even though they had good reason to. Both Blackthorn and Grim like to avoid company, and Blackthorn is rather prickly, but that didn't make them less likeable. The prince (forgot his name) I found to be rather bland, even though looking at it objectively, I should like the guy. He's a reader, likes nature, is quiet but not afraid to speak up, and he takes care of his people. Despite of that, I found him to be boring. I think the air of naivete didn't help.

I was sorry to see that the person who ends up with the worse deal in the story was such a disgusting person (I am not talking about her lying about her identity or about her trying to seduce the prince even though he doesn't wat this. But her saying that the victim of abuse may have been at fault was unpalatable, and her accusation of rape as well. That made it easier to accept how the 'good guys' treated this person, and I am still thinking about whether their behaviour was in any way acceptable. I'm sure no-one would think so if the victim had been nice...

Overall, this was a very good read, even if it was not quite as immersive as Marillier's other work. Despite the ugliness going on, this felt more light-hearted. I had a few small problems with the pacing, particularly right before the mysteries get solved. The reader can already see where it is going, and it takes a short while before the characters find out. But that would usually only take a chapter or so, so it wasn't very disturbing. (

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zjakkelien | Jan 2, 2024 |

First, I'll say I enjoyed that this story's two main characters were flawed, not beautiful in the physical sense, and had failures stemming from their dark pasts. I don't think there is enough of this and at my age, it's good to read characters that have baggage as any normal person does.

The only drawback was I figured out the "big mystery" immediately and had to watch the other characters bumble around figuring it out for the rest of the 350 some odd pages. However, I did enjoy getting to know Blackthorn and Grim and even Prince Oran, even though his chapters were a struggle.

If it's important to know, the chapters alternate between the three characters mentioned above. The author did a fabulous job capturing each character's voice. I knew it was a Grim chapter by how short his sentences were and how simply he approached most situations (and it says at the beginning of each chapter whose POV it is but still...).

Overall, I enjoyed the story even if I wished for more magic and more about the wise woman craft that Blackthorn performs. I was happy there was no romantic connection for Blackthorn and Grim but a definite friendship that formed in a very dark place and has carried on. (

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Chanicole | Jul 6, 2023 |

I love Juliet Marillier's writing, so perhaps that's why I feel so uncertain about this book. It was a decent enough read, but it felt so lackluster in comparison to most of her other books. It's hard to get through a book when you already know how it's going to turn out, especially when the characters seem totally blind to it. (You all believe in the fey, but none of you are going to pay attention to the dog or the umpteen other clues? Come on now.) I could go on, but I dislike feeling this way when I had so anticipated this book. It had/has potential though, so I will still read the next book in the series when it comes out and hope for better results there. (

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bookwyrmqueen | Oct 25, 2021 |

When a fae breaks her out of prison, bitter Blackthorn must delay revenge on the man who imprisoned her & use her healing skills to anyone who asks for help. Along with Grim, her former prison mate & protector, they must aid Prince Oren in this fantasy/mystery.

mcmlsbookbutler | Oct 15, 2021 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Juliet Marillier	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Aiello, Scott	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Gold, Natalie	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Sestayo, Arantza	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Sullivan, Nick	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

Blackthorn & Grim (1)

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Aurealis Award (Winner – Fantasy Novel – 2014)

Sir Julius Vogel Awards (Nominee – Novel – 2015)

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Dreamer's Pool

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▾Book descriptions

After escaping her wrongful imprisonment, magical healer Blackthorn, living on the fringe of a mysterious forest with a former prison mate named Grim, is duty bound to assist anyone who asks for her help. "In exchange for help escaping her long and wrongful imprisonment, embittered magical healer Blackthorn has vowed to set aside her bid for vengeance against the man who destroyed all that she once held dear. Followed by a former prison mate, a silent hulk of a man named Grim, she travels north to Dalriada. There she'll live on the fringe of a mysterious forest, duty bound for seven years to assist anyone who asks for her help. Oran, crown prince of Dalriada, has waited anxiously for the arrival of his future bride, Lady Flidais. He knows her only from a portrait and sweetly poetic correspondence that have convinced him Flidais is his destined true love. But Oran discovers letters can lie. For although his intended exactly resembles her portrait, her brutality upon arrival proves she is nothing like the sensitive woman of the letters. With the strategic marriage imminent, Oran sees no way out of his dilemma. Word has spread that Blackthorn possesses a remarkable gift for solving knotty problems, so the prince asks her for help. To save Oran from his treacherous nuptials, Blackthorn and Grim will need all their resources: courage, ingenuity, leaps of deduction, and more than a little magic" --

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First in a series about a magical healer's adventures in a world based on medieval Ireland.

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