Keelin lives on the island Eire which has seen peace for five years--the implication of an inevitable reemergence of war is obvious. The threat is the Romanach Empire, and Eire must come together as a nation to fight them off. Enter a whole swath of characters, including Keelin's father, the chieftain, Nuala, Keelin's priestess mentor, and Brian, a promising warrior who Keelin has a teasing love-hate relationship with. They're clearly set up for a romance, and while they have some good moments near the start,
"It is not a choice but a destiny."
"There is always a choice, Keelin."
they got to be a bit unbearable. There's an early scene where Keelin and her dog are attacked by a boar, the dog fatally so; Brian wants to end his suffering but Keelin says he can be healed. The scene devolves into Keelin holding Brian back while crying and Brian relenting immediately with the line, "Don't cry, my fierce lass."
Just awful. Most of the other characters have awkward dialogue like this too. I had higher hopes based on the first chapter, but the writing is rather poor and unconvincing.
As for the plot...
[spoilers]
For some reason it takes Keelin 10 chapters to realize she has prophetic dreams, which was irritating because it was obvious to me immediately after the prologue. Equally as predictable, Brian and Keelin get together and their dialogue gets no more appealing. Worst of all, and also something I saw coming, the anticipated battle between Eire and the Romanach Empire happens pretty much right at the end of the book.
"It is not a choice but a destiny."
"There is always a choice, Keelin."
they got to be a bit unbearable. There's an early scene where Keelin and her dog are attacked by a boar, the dog fatally so; Brian wants to end his suffering but Keelin says he can be healed. The scene devolves into Keelin holding Brian back while crying and Brian relenting immediately with the line, "Don't cry, my fierce lass."
Just awful. Most of the other characters have awkward dialogue like this too. I had higher hopes based on the first chapter, but the writing is rather poor and unconvincing.
As for the plot...
[spoilers]
For some reason it takes Keelin 10 chapters to realize she has prophetic dreams, which was irritating because it was obvious to me immediately after the prologue. Equally as predictable, Brian and Keelin get together and their dialogue gets no more appealing. Worst of all, and also something I saw coming, the anticipated battle between Eire and the Romanach Empire happens pretty much right at the end of the book.