History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

The Harp of Kings (Warrior Bards #1) Author: Juliet Marillier Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Ace Release Date: 2019 Pages: 463 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review Synopsis: A young woman is both a bard--and a warrior--in this thrilling historical fantasy from the author of the Sevenwaters novels. Eighteen-year-old Liobhan is a powerful singer and an expert whistle player. Her brother has a voice to melt the hardest heart, and a rare talent on the harp. But Liobhan's burning ambition is to join the elite warrior band on Swan Island. She and her brother train there to compete for places, and find themselves joining a mission while still candidates. Their unusual blend of skills makes them ideal for this particular job, which requires going undercover as traveling minstrels. For Swan Island trains both warriors and spies. Their mission: to find and retrieve a precious harp, an ancient symbol of kingship, which has gone mysteriously mi...

Raven Flight (Book #2 of Shadowfell Trilogy) Author: Juliet Marillier Genre:YA, Fantasy Publisher: Knopf Release Date: 2013 Pages: 418 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: Neryn has finally found the rebel group at Shadowfell, and now her task is to seek out the elusive Guardians, vital to her training as a Caller. These four powerful beings have been increasingly at odds with human kind, and Neryn must prove her worth to them. She desperately needs their help to use her gift without compromising herself or the cause of overthrowing the evil King Keldec.      Neryn must journey with the tough and steadfast Tali, who looks on Neryn's love for the double agent Flint as a needless vulnerability. And perhaps it is. What Flint learns from the king will change the battlefield entirely—but in whose favor, no one knows.       My Review: Neryn is now the secret weapon for the rebel army against King Keldec. The army plans to strike a surprise attack again...

Tower of Thorns (Book #2 of The Blackthorn and Grim Series) Author: Juliet Marillier Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Roc Release Date: November 3, 2015 Pages: 439 Source: Publisher/Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Award-winning author Juliet Marillier’s “lavishly detailed” Blackthorn & Grim series continues as a mysterious creature holds an enchanted and imperiled ancient Ireland in thrall.      Disillusioned healer Blackthorn and her companion, Grim, have settled in Dalriada to wait out the seven years of Blackthorn’s bond to her fey mentor, hoping to avoid any dire challenges. But trouble has a way of seeking out Blackthorn and Grim.      Lady Geiléis, a noblewoman from the northern border, has asked for the prince of Dalriada’s help in expelling a howling creature from an old tower on her land—one surrounded by an impenetrable hedge of thorns. Casting a blight over the entire district, and impossible to d...

Dreamer’s Pool (Book #1 of The Blackthorn and Grim Series) Author:  Juliet Marillier Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Roc Release Date: 2014 Pages: 464 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: Award-winning author Juliet Marillier “weaves magic, mythology, and folklore into every sentence on the page” (The Book Smugglers). Now she begins an all-new and enchanting series that will transport readers to a magical vision of ancient Ireland....      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 ...

Flame of Sevenwaters (Book #6 of the Sevenwaters Series) Author: Juliet Marillier Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Roc Release Date: 2012 Pages: 448 Source: My State Public Library Synopsis: Bestselling author Juliet Marillier’s Sevenwaters series has been praised as a “magnificent saga” (Alernative Worlds) that is a “gripping tale of enduring love” (Publishers Weekly). Now, Marillier returns to Sevenwaters with the story of a young woman destined to unlock the secrets of the Otherworld…       Maeve, daughter of Lord Sean of Sevenwaters, was badly burned as a child and carries the legacy of that fire in her crippled hands. After ten years, she’s returning home, having grown into a courageous, forthright woman with a special gift for gentling difficult animals. But while her body’s scars have healed, her spirit remains fragile, fearing the shadows of her past.      Sevenwaters is in turmoil. The fey prince Mac Dara has become des...

Seer of Sevenwaters (Book #5 of the Sevenwaters Series) Author: Juliet Marillier Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Roc Release Date: 2011 Pages: 448 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: Get swept away in the romantic fantasy of this national bestselling author's world of Sevenwaters.      The young seer Sibeal is visiting an island of elite warriors, prior to making her final pledge as a druid. It's there she finds Felix, a survivor of a Viking shipwreck, who's lost his memory. The scholarly Felix and Sibeal form a natural bond. He could even be her soul mate, but Sibeal's vocation is her true calling, and her heart must answer.       As Felix fully regains his memory, Sibeal has a runic divination showing her that Felix must go on a perilous mission-and that she will join him. The rough waters and the sea creatures they will face are no match for Sibeal's own inner turmoil. She must choose between the two things that tug at her...

Heir to Sevenwaters (Book #4  of the Sevenwaters Series) Author: Juliet Marillier Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Tor Books Release Date: 2008 Pages: 416 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: " A   brand new novel in the beloved world of Sevenwaters—a fantasy series that “should appeal to Lord of the Rings fans” (VOYA)."      The chieftains of Sevenwaters have long been custodians of a vast and mysterious forest. Human and Otherworld dwellers have existed there side by side, sharing a wary trust. Until the spring when Lady Aisling of Sevenwaters finds herself expecting another child—a new heir to Sevenwaters.      Then the family’s joy turns to despair when the baby is taken from his room and something...unnatural is left in his place. To reclaim her newborn brother, Clodagh must enter the shadowy Otherworld and confront the powerful prince who rules there.      My Review: This story takes place 4 years a...

Child of the Prophecy (Book #3 of the Sevenwaters Series) Author: Juliet Marillier Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Tor Books Release Date: 2003 Pages: 528 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: Magic is fading... and the ways of Man are driving the Old Ones to the West, beyond the ken of humankind. The ancient groves are being destroyed, and if nothing is done, Ireland will lose its essential mystic core.       The prophecies of long ago have foretold a way to prevent this horror, and it is the Sevenwaters clan that the spirits of Eire look to for salvation. They are a family bound into the lifeblood of the land, and their promise to preserve the magic has been the cause of great joy to them... as well as great sorrow.      It is up to Fainne, daughter of Niamh, the lost sister of Sevenwaters, to solve the riddles of power. A shy child of a reclusive sorcerer, she finds that her way is hard: She is the granddaughter of the wicke...

Son of Shadows (Book #2 of the Sevenwaters Series) Author: Juliet Marillier Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Tor Books Release Date: 2002 Pages: 608 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: Beautiful Sorcha is the courageous young woman who risked all to save her family from a wicked curse and whose love shattered generations of hate and bridged two cultures.       It is from her sacrifice that Sorcha's brothers were brought home to their ancestral fortress Sevenwaters, and her life has known much joy.       But not all the brothers were able to fully escape the spell that transformed them into swans, and it is left to Sorcha's daughter Liadan to help fulfill the destiny of the Sevenwaters clan. Beloved child and dutiful daughter, Liadan embarks on a journey that shows her just how hard-won was the peace that she has known all her life.      Liadan will need all of her courage to help save her family, for ther...

Daughter of Forest (Book #1 of the Sevenwaters Series) Author: Juliet Mariller Genre: Historical fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Tor Books Release Date: 2002 Pages: 560 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment.      But Sorcha's joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift-by staying silent. If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever.       When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothe...

Shadowfell (Book 1 of the Shadowfell Series) Author: Juliet Marillier Genre: YA, Fantasy Publisher: Alfred K. Knopf Release Date: 2012 Pages: 416 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis:  It's name is spoken only in whispers, if the people of Alban dare to speak it at all: Shadowfell. The training ground for Rebels seeking to free their land from the grip of the tyrannical king is so shrouded in mystery that most people it to be a myth.      But for Neryn, Shadowfell's existence is her only hope. She is penniless, orphaned, and utterly alone--and concealing a treacherous magical power that will warrant her immediate enslavement should it be revealed. She finds hope of allies in the Good Folk, fey beings whom she must pretend she cannot see and who taunt her with chatter of prophecies and tests, and in  a striking, mysterious stranger, who saves her from certain death but whose motives remain unclear. She knows she should not trust anyone wi...