Heir to Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier (Sevenwaters Series #4)

5  Stars

I love the Sevenwaters series! I absolutely loved Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows did not disappoint. I didn’t love Child of the Prophecy as much as the first two so I was hoping that Heir to Sevenwaters would be able to capture these great feelings again for me.

This story takes place just four years after Child of the Prophecy. It is obvious that the reader knows the story of Child of the Prophecy but that the main character (who would have been just a child during that story) does not know those circumstances. This story is about Clodagh who we first met as a twelve year old in Child of the Prophecy. She has a twin, Dierdre and they can communicate with their minds. Dierdre is getting married and Johnny has come to Sevenwaters with his Inis Eala warriors for a time. One of those warriors has caught Clodagh’s eye, and one of them is driving her nuts! There are a lot of strange goings on which culminates with Clodagh’s newborn baby brother being taken from the nursery when she was watching him. In his place is a changeling of sticks. Clodagh must travel to the Otherworld with this changeling in order to bargain for her baby brother’s return. She doesn’t know the way in, she doesn’t know how to find Mac Dara (the man responsible) and she doesn’t know all the rules. Along for the ride is the very warrior who was driving her nuts, but she can’t be picky now as she needs all the help she can get. She soon realizes that Cathal (the warrior) is hiding things and is more than he seems, but it isn’t until it is too late that she puts all the pieces together.

I loved, loved, loved this installment! The romance was perfecto! Clodagh was strong, smart and brave. I loved the little changeling, Becan. I cried when it was time for Clodagh to give him up.

Reading order of the Sevenwaters series:

• Daughter of the Forest
• Son of the Shadows
• Child of the Prophecy
• Heir to Sevenwaters
• Seer of Sevenwaters
• Flame of Sevenwaters

Favorite quote:

“You’re a rare creature, Clodagh,” he said. “You’re brimful of hope and compassion and love. I didn’t see all that when I first met you. But I did feel a spark. I felt an affinity. And I felt desire. It trembled through me at every toss of that fiery mane. It kept me sleepless by night and restless by day. With every kind word and with every sharp one you drew me in further.”


There is this amazing piece of art work based on this book.  I put it on my desktop while I was reading this book and I can't even tell you how long I stared at it.  The artist did such a great job of visualing Clodagh, Cathal and Becan.  The artist's name is Jon Sullivan.  Here is a link to his website: Jon Sullivan: Heir to Sevenwaters

Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier (Sevenwaters #3)

 

4 stars

This is the third book in this series.  Often you will hear people speak of these first three books as a trilogy, but you may be confused as there are indeed six books in the series.  I think the series was intended to end with this book, but the author found her characters still had more to say.  This is not a series that you can start in the middle of.  There is probably enough information that you could figure it out, but these first three books span three generations.  Each book is a story in itself and yet they build upon each other so that you must start at the beginning. 

This book was not my favorite in the series.  I absolutely loved the first book, Daughter of the Forest.  It was amazing and the first book I had read of Juliet Marillier.  This book was needed to close this chapter in the story of the prophecy and Sevenwaters.  However, the main character, Fainne, is not easy to like.  The summary is thus:  Fainne is the only daughter of Ciaran (and Niamh) and raised to be a sorcerer.  She lives far away from any other family and is very shy.  She has a deformed foot that she is very self conscious about and hides from the few people who are about.  She does have one friend growing up, Darragh.   The story starts when Fainne is a small girl and we read brief passages that help to define her until she is fourteen.  The story then takes place over the next two years.  Fainne’s grandmother is the evil Lady Oonagh.  Grandmother has come at last to train Fainne is the last things she will know before travelling to Sevenwaters.  Grandmother also manipulates and punishes Fainne into agreeing to do her bidding which is essentially to bring down the house of Sevenwaters.  The story then follows Fainne through this time as she struggles with wanting to do good but feeling like she has evil in her blood and thus has no choice.  It is indeed an epic tale that spans a long time with many perils. 

It is an odd feeling to not like the main character much, and yet really enjoy the story.  Darragh plays a role throughout the entire story and Fainne tries to push him away countless times.  Sometimes it was for his own good and sometimes it just felt cruel.  But we did see Fainne grow.  She had to make hard choices and while she didn’t always make the right choice, it wasn’t entirely her choice to make as she is controlled for much of the story.  I didn’t like her family not understanding that while she made some bad choices that she wasn’t able to thwart those decisions at the time.  They doubted her (with good reason), but as the reader, one feels those emotions projected back on themselves. 

I plan to begin reading right away the next book in the series.  Here is the reading order:

• Daughter of the Forest
• Son of the Shadows
• Child of the Prophecy
• Heir to Sevenwaters
• Seer to Sevenwaters
• Flame to Sevenwaters 

Favorite Quote: (this is Fainne speaking about Darragh to her cousin Johnny):

“And he’s not my young man.”

“No?” queried Johnny.  “Well, one thing’s certain.  It’s not the prospect of lessons in swordsmanship that drives him thus.”

Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier (The Sevenwaters Trilogy #2)

5 Stars (again)

This is the second book in the Sevenwaters Trilogy. It made me very anxious, but I guess that is good because it made me want to read past my bed time in order to find out what happens next. It's not that it is packed with action and lots of adventures, but there is a lot of subterfuge going on. The way the book is written is to dispense with the valuable information a little at a time, which also keeps you on your toes. There was a lot of grief in this book as well (I can't say what happens as that would contain spoilers). I did note that sorrow was a theme in the first book as well. Not completely a HEA but enough of one that I felt satisfied (I am a HEA junkie).

This book follows Sorcha's daughter, Liadan (Sorcha is the main character from the first book). You don't need to have read the first book to understand this book, but it certainly would help in understanding the brief references to Lady Oonagh, Finbar's swan arm and the Fair Folk (see you already want to read the first one now). Liadan has to make a lot of tough decisions in this book, but she is so mature. One of my pet peeves is when the main character does or says stupid things throughout the book that make you groan. Liadan does not put you through that.

I love all the characters in this book. Many of the same characters from the first book are still there for us (Sorcha, Lubdan, Liam, Finbar, Conor). Bran is the unwilling and unlikely hero in this book. And there are many villains and half villains that pop up throughout the story. Bran's group of alpha misfits are endearing and loveable.

The overall story line of the trilogy is to regain the lost islands from the Britons. The theme for this particular book was trust. Liadan must learn who she can trust and who she can't. She guards her secrets close as she learns that those she can't always trust those that she should be able to trust. The story line is too intricate to give a synopsis here.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (The Sevenwaters Trilogy #1)

5 stars

I sucked this book down so fast I am almost bereft at its finish. This is one of those books with a story line, characters and scenes that re-play in your head well after you have finished.

The Summary:
There is a strong Irish family defending their lands from their enemy, the British. The family consists of a strong remote father and six sons and the youngest is a daughter. Each of the sons are unique in some way so that their personalities and strengths/weaknesses are evident. And they love their sister dearly. One day the father brings home an evil step-mother and eventually she passes a curse upon the children. The six brothers are turned into swans except for 2 evenings a year. To break the curse, Sorcha must first not speak a word and second weave six shirts for her brothers from the starwort plant (basically this plant has barbs and is painful with just a small touch and she must harvest, make thread and weave 6 shirts). The rest is the Sorcha's story of trying to accomplish this monumentally painful task in the face of seemingly insurmountable opposition.

I can't wait to read the next book. The book is long, but it takes you through such an epic journey of body and spirit that it doesn't seem over long. I loved Sorcha. Often times the heroine will make stupid mistakes that make you mad, but I never felt that way with Sorcha. She went through terrible things on her journey and still persevered.