Son of the Shadows is the second in the Sevenwaters trilogy, a series set in Ireland seeped in Celtic myth and religion. (Read my review of the first book here.)
Marillier took up the threads of her previous Sevenwaters story by giving the reader a new perspective: Sorcha’s youngest daughter, Liadan. A healer like her mother, she has also inherited the magical gifts of her uncles, like Finbar’s Sight and the ability to mind-speak. Unlike her sister and twin brother, the fair folk did not foresee Liadan’s birth, leading Sorcha to believe that her daughter was born outside the pattern, and may have the ability to change destinies. But Liadan desires to lead a simple life, using her healer’s gift and intending to stay at Sevenwaters rather than marry.
But an uncomplicated life is rarely the stuff of novels, and Son of the Shadows is no exception. While visiting her sister, Liadan is kidnapped by a band of mercenaries who have recently a band of one of Sevenwaters’ allies, Eamonn. The mercenaries lead her back to their camp, where one of their fellows has been severely injured, and Liadan agrees to do the best she can for the sake of the dying man. Although she is forced to amputate his arm, she impresses the mercenaries with her determination and compassion. Their leader, however, is not so impressed. He has no name but “Chief” among his men, so Liadan names him Bran after one of the heroes in the stories she’s been telling to the mercenaries. Liadan is with the mercenaries for several weeks, and she falls in love with Bran. The fair folk tell Liadan that her relationship with Bran can never be, and that it is her duty to remain at Sevenwaters so that the pattern will be carried out. Not one to accept that separation and sadness must be the way of her life, Liadan sets out to change things as only one outside the pattern can.
Son of the Shadows was a wonderful sequel. Although it didn’t have the fairy-tale quality of Daughter of the Forest, it was still compelling and rich in detail and mythology. In the beginning, I worried that Liadan wouldn’t be an interesting heroine, but after the kidnapping, her determination and stubbornness made her a dynamic and unpredictable character. Bran wasn’t your typical hero: for one, he’s an assassin and for another, he’s got some serious emotional scarring. Liadan tells him that she has to go home because her mother is dying, and he gets upset because she’s “abandoning” him. (At points in the story, this was too exaggerated, and I wished that he would just get over it, but overall, I still liked the character.) The writing was great and Marillier moved the plot along very nicely. She brought in Sorcha’s brothers, even Finbar, who had withdrawn from the world entirely, and I really enjoyed Liadan and Finbar’s conversations about the Sight. While there were some love scenes between Liadan and Bran, they weren’t too detailed and didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of the book.
Three stars, for a well-written sequel. I intend to buy the third installment, Child of the Prophecy, in a few months after I’ve waded through the growing To Be Read piles. (Yes, piles plural.)
