Son of the Shadows (The Sevenwaters Trilogy, Book 2) 
asked by drvale on October 30, 2006 9:54 PM
Second of the Sevenwaters trilogy of novels about the last days of heroic Ireland, Son of the Shadows takes up the story of the children of Sorcha, who saved her enchanted brothers, and Hugh, the Briton she married. Sorcha's daughter Liadan is a gifted seer and healer who thinks, in spite of her visions, that she knows what the future has in store for her--caring for her dying mother and then an alliance marriage to Eamonn. A chance meeting on the road carries her off to care for a dying man--one of the mercenaries of the sinister Painted Man, Eamonn's archenemy and a killer for hire. Liadan discovers that she cannot choose whom she loves and that she and the Painted Man are as bound up in destiny as her mother and father were before her.
This is an intelligent historical romance in which the supernatural is a part of the character's everyday lives to an extent that makes it hard to think of the book as specifically a fantasy--these are people to whom the beings of forest speak on a regular basis and to whom sorcery is real. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk
Reviews
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I read this book in four days and found it to be WAYY to predictable as the first one. Girl meets man. Gets pregnant. Has to save man from certain doom. Finds out she loves man. Has baby. Man finds out baby is his. Finds out girl is heir to throne. And so on. So many people told me the sevenwaters Trilogy was an excellent read. Well it wasn't due to one factor and it's called Creativeness. I recommend something else for entertainment.
reviewed by shagdag on November 22, 2006 2:03 PM
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This book started out a little more quickly than Daughter of the Forest (Book 1), but wound itself up in too many subplots of bad people doing progressively badder things, and good people turning out to be bad, and lots of unexplained cruelty. There is some sort of resolution, but the character development of one the main characters (Bran, by his alias) is rather shallow.
Still, I had to finish it to try to see what in the world prompted some things and how it would all turn out. Mildly satisfying. As with the first book in the trilogy - good for passing the time when flying or waiting in a terminal.
Still, I had to finish it to try to see what in the world prompted some things and how it would all turn out. Mildly satisfying. As with the first book in the trilogy - good for passing the time when flying or waiting in a terminal.
reviewed by corral on November 29, 2006 11:25 AM
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With this being the second novel in the Sevenwaters Trilogy, it takes you into the next generation of the family who's linked destiny is to save the magic of the forest. Sorcha's youngest daughter, Liadan takes center stage in this well rounded story, bringing back to life the family and the previous beloved characters of Daughter of the Forest.
Liadan takes on her own voice as she details the trials of her own life, bringing readers into the bittersweet death of her mother Sorcha, the loss of her sister Niambh when she's turned out of the house, and the discovery of her heart's soulmate in Bran, the young chief of a band of outlaws. Readers who adored the first book of the trilogy will find this addition apt and satisfying.
Though Sorcha's tale is far more moving and more poignant, this one still had me crying a bit. I was moved by the sadness of Sorcha's passing, having truly enjoyed her story better. Some other reviewers stated that they felt there was a lacking of magic in this book, and I'd have to agree. It certainly didn't detract from a great story, but I think this second novel could have been more moving if it had been as magically beautiful as its predecessor. One downfall to this book was that I felt that the ending was not as complete as the first was. This one seemed like it wanted to rush for the ending and I didn't get the closure of how Liadan and Bran settle with the final choice of where they'd live. in fact, I'm hoping they marry because that never even seemed to important for the two to talk about. And since the 3rd book picks up with Niambh's daughter, I highly doubt my curiosities will be answered in the final installment. I guess I have to read it and see...
Anyway, the return of Sorcha and Red were a welcome treat along with a set of new characters and their own plot mechanations. I highly recommend this book, especially if you bothered to read the Daughter of the Forest.
My recommendations: Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, Archangel by Sharon Shinn, The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll.
Liadan takes on her own voice as she details the trials of her own life, bringing readers into the bittersweet death of her mother Sorcha, the loss of her sister Niambh when she's turned out of the house, and the discovery of her heart's soulmate in Bran, the young chief of a band of outlaws. Readers who adored the first book of the trilogy will find this addition apt and satisfying.
Though Sorcha's tale is far more moving and more poignant, this one still had me crying a bit. I was moved by the sadness of Sorcha's passing, having truly enjoyed her story better. Some other reviewers stated that they felt there was a lacking of magic in this book, and I'd have to agree. It certainly didn't detract from a great story, but I think this second novel could have been more moving if it had been as magically beautiful as its predecessor. One downfall to this book was that I felt that the ending was not as complete as the first was. This one seemed like it wanted to rush for the ending and I didn't get the closure of how Liadan and Bran settle with the final choice of where they'd live. in fact, I'm hoping they marry because that never even seemed to important for the two to talk about. And since the 3rd book picks up with Niambh's daughter, I highly doubt my curiosities will be answered in the final installment. I guess I have to read it and see...
Anyway, the return of Sorcha and Red were a welcome treat along with a set of new characters and their own plot mechanations. I highly recommend this book, especially if you bothered to read the Daughter of the Forest.
My recommendations: Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier, Archangel by Sharon Shinn, The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll.
reviewed by csean85 on November 29, 2006 1:28 PM
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When I sit down to read a sequel, I usually find myself preparing to enjoy it, but rarely expect it to measure up to its original. You may think me pessimistic, but in my experience, this has most likely been the case. So, you can imagine my surprise when I read Son of the Shadows, and found myself just as, if not more, drawn in to Juliet Marillier's skilfull use of words and riveting plotlines as when I read her first outstanding novel, Daughter of the Forest.
Told through the eyes of Sorcha's daughter Liadan, this novel will demand your attention from the first page to the last, and bring you the undeniable satisfaction of a book well read that only the most skillfull writers can accomplish.
Liadan of Sevenwaters shares many of her mother Sorcha's admirable qualities, such as strength, bravery, loyalty, and skill with herbs and healing. Yet Liadan is her own person, and has many of her own qualities as well, such as a very strong will and the ability to be forceful and near bossy at times, a girl used to getting her way. But when she is forcefully kidnapped from all that she knows and loves, Liadan must show marked bravery and determination to survive. She will laugh, cry, fight, and fall into the kind of love that goes beyond love, an unbreachable bond, the kind of love that only visits us once in a lifetime. She will risk everything on that love as she endures pain and loss.
As this story unfolds, you will find yourself spellbound by its beautiful flow of words and mesmric plotline, or at least, I certainly did.
Told through the eyes of Sorcha's daughter Liadan, this novel will demand your attention from the first page to the last, and bring you the undeniable satisfaction of a book well read that only the most skillfull writers can accomplish.
Liadan of Sevenwaters shares many of her mother Sorcha's admirable qualities, such as strength, bravery, loyalty, and skill with herbs and healing. Yet Liadan is her own person, and has many of her own qualities as well, such as a very strong will and the ability to be forceful and near bossy at times, a girl used to getting her way. But when she is forcefully kidnapped from all that she knows and loves, Liadan must show marked bravery and determination to survive. She will laugh, cry, fight, and fall into the kind of love that goes beyond love, an unbreachable bond, the kind of love that only visits us once in a lifetime. She will risk everything on that love as she endures pain and loss.
As this story unfolds, you will find yourself spellbound by its beautiful flow of words and mesmric plotline, or at least, I certainly did.
reviewed by bigben on November 29, 2006 1:59 PM