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The classic fantasy duology, combining The Dreamstone and The Tree of Swords and Jewels in an omnibus for the first time It was that transitional time of the world, when man first brought the clang of iron and the reek of smoke to the lands which before had echoed only with fairy voices. In that dawn of man and death of magic there yet remained one last untouched place--the small forest of Ealdwood--which kept the magic intact, and protected the old ways. And there was one who dwelt there, show more Arafel the Sidhe, who had more pride and love of the world as it used to be than any of her kind. But fear of the world of Faery ran deep in the hearts of men, and when Ciaran Cuilean, Lord of Caer Wiell, a man with Elvish blood in his veins, found himself the object of increasing distrust and suspicion from his men, his king, and even his own family, he knew he must once again put his humanity aside and return to Ealdwood. For shadows of a newly awakened evil swarmed across both lands, and unless Ciaran reclaimed his haunted weapons from the Tree of Swords and joined Arafel, he would see this evil overtake not only the warm hearthstones of the mortal keeps, but the silvery heart of Ealdwood itself.... show lessTags
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Two novels of the fey, in a land where humans increase and the old ways fade. Intrude upon what's left at your peril, though a bargain made is never broken. Not CJCs finest work, but very good nevertheless.
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CJC manage to capture the slow and dreamy world of faerie and Sidhe remarkably well. It does make for a slow moving book at times, but it's remarkably engaging for all that. The Shidhe are fading with the intrusion of Man. But they aren't yet all gone. Several generations of human's pique the fancy of the defender of the last truly wild wood. Slow and dreamy as the best faerie ought to be, with gripping characters. Arafel is the last of the Sidhe and show more she take's what could almost be mistaken for pity, or at least curiosity on a Man who's been skulking about the edges of her Wood for five years. He's been quiet and respectful of the trees unlike many of the other bandits who haven't fared so well. However now he's been forced to camp overnight, and this she won't tolerate. Bemused he's given directions 'across the hills' to a idyllic farmyard that exists in the shadows of the Sidhe realm, both in but mostly not the mortal world. show less
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CJC manage to capture the slow and dreamy world of faerie and Sidhe remarkably well. It does make for a slow moving book at times, but it's remarkably engaging for all that. The Shidhe are fading with the intrusion of Man. But they aren't yet all gone. Several generations of human's pique the fancy of the defender of the last truly wild wood. Slow and dreamy as the best faerie ought to be, with gripping characters. Arafel is the last of the Sidhe and show more she take's what could almost be mistaken for pity, or at least curiosity on a Man who's been skulking about the edges of her Wood for five years. He's been quiet and respectful of the trees unlike many of the other bandits who haven't fared so well. However now he's been forced to camp overnight, and this she won't tolerate. Bemused he's given directions 'across the hills' to a idyllic farmyard that exists in the shadows of the Sidhe realm, both in but mostly not the mortal world. show less
Slow and a bit unfocused writing makes for a dreamy story.
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Faerie Mythology
87 works; 13 members
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Author Information
256+ Works 74,843 Members
A multiple award-winning author of more than thirty novels, C. J. Cherryh received her B.A. in Latin from the University of Oklahoma, and then went on to earn a M.A. in Classics from Johns Hopkins University. Cherryh's novels, including Tripoint, Cyteen, and The Pride of Chanur, are famous for their knife-edge suspense and complex, realistic show more characters. Cherryh won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1977. She was also awarded the Hugo Award for her short story Cassandra in 1979, and the novels Downbelow Station in 1982 and Cyteen in 1989. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Original publication date
- 1979; 1983 (The dreamstone) (The dreamstone); 1983 (The tree of swords and jewels) (The tree of swords and jewels); 1997-12 (omnibus) (omnibus)
- People/Characters
- Aelfraeda; Arafel (Feochadan, Thistle); Beorc; Niall Cearbhallain (Dubhlachan); Evald of Caer Wiell; Gruagach (show all 10); Meara of Dun na h-Eoin; Scaga; Ciaran Cuilean; Liosliath
- Important places
- Beorc's Steading; Ealdwood; Caer Wiell
- First words
- Things there are in the world which have never loved Men, which have been in the world far longer than humankind, so that once when Men were newer on the earth and the woods were greater, there had been places a Man might wal... (show all)k where he might feel the age of the world on his shoulders.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)If one thing was certain, thought Arafel on this morning of the world, it was that change might happen; and the Daoine Sidhe rode through the land in hope of things unfound.
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