Child of the Prophecy
Historical Fantasy
By Juliet Marillier
Reviewed by Hailey Pytel
5 out of 5 stars
“The sacred islands that were taken by the Britain’s, the prophecy states that a child that is neither Britain nor of Erin but at the same time both, who is marked by the raven to take the islands back.”
Fainne, a child who is the daughter of Nimnh and Ciaran, two forbidden lovers, has grown up in Kerry her whole life. During her childhood Fainne is taught sorcery and becomes friends with a traveling tinker’s son, Darragh. When it is time to learn her family heritage Fainne is taught to manipulate people from her grandmother, an evil sorceress, who wants to destroy the family of Sevenwaters. Fainne is sent to Sevenwaters, her mother’s old home, to thwart the long scheme of the Tuatha De Danann, the fearie folk that reside in Sevenwaters, to recover the islands that her cousin, Johnny, leads. During the trip to Sevenwaters, Fainne and Darragh’s easy friendship is broken. Fainne becomes accepted at her new home and is invited to her Uncle Emonn’s home at Glencarnagh, where Emonn takes much interest in Fainne. With the battle to come Fainne helps spy and transforms into a dove to help in battle. In the mean time Darragh has forced himself into Johnny’s band of soldiers to help with a secret mission. Coached by the Old One’s, or beings who lived in Ireland before humans, Fainne assists the men in battle. But will the islands be retuned to the land of Erin and who is the child of the prophecy?
This novel takes place in Erin, or Ireland, in medieval times and is the third in the Sevenwaters Trilogy, preceded by Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows. The book is exciting, active, magical, romantic, detailed, easy to get in to, and gives you a background of Irish fairytales and mythology. Marillier’s writing immediately grabs the reader’s attention while blending old legends with original storytelling.
