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A review by nclcaitlin
The Land of the Living and the Dead by Shauna Lawless
3.5
Satisfying book, but also unsatisfyingly ambiguous finale.
Eleven years later, and still the game of Kings is in motion in Ireland. A war on two fronts.
Gormflaith, Máelmórda, and Sitric plan to wrest the High King title from King Brian. They plan to earn his trust, win his wars, and then turn on him when the time is right.
Gormflaith can now command the witch gift she stole and knows the location of the Descendants fortress. While the battle for Ireland causes chaos amongst the mortals, the Fomorians plan to kill the Descendants.
Fódla, Broccan, and Colmon decide to rejoin the world after Broccan is sufficiently trained and they each must decide where the future leads them. Back to the fortress to warn against Tomas’s lies and deception? Back to the mortals where they made their lives?
Lawless delivers Irish history, battle scenes, and intimate character moments with such finesse that it blends genres and makes her saga extremely impactful.
”Love isn't dependent on it being returned."
The stakes are a lot higher in this book, and my distaste for certain characters boiled and raged. Whilst I had previously admired Gormflaith, even whilst I condoned her actions, this book made me hate her with a passion that rivals my disgust with Tomas.
Lawless brings in issues of gender, slavery, marriage, and motherhood and what that means. Seeing what these relationships mean, who can claim them, how this changes dynamics is fascinating in a land where family hostages, marriage alliances, and fostering is common.
Why couldn't men give their word and keep it, without needing flesh in their beds to hold them true?
The adventure isn’t over yet! The first era of history is covered; but the fight between the Fomorians and Descendants is far from over!
For this reason, I was surprised thinking this was the final instalment and did feel cheated by a rushed and sudden ending which seemed to cheat us of the slow building crescendo throughout the books so far.
However, history isn’t stagnant, and of course this isn’t the end of Irish history.
Thank you to Head of Zeus for providing me an arc in exchange for a review!
Eleven years later, and still the game of Kings is in motion in Ireland. A war on two fronts.
Gormflaith, Máelmórda, and Sitric plan to wrest the High King title from King Brian. They plan to earn his trust, win his wars, and then turn on him when the time is right.
Gormflaith can now command the witch gift she stole and knows the location of the Descendants fortress. While the battle for Ireland causes chaos amongst the mortals, the Fomorians plan to kill the Descendants.
Fódla, Broccan, and Colmon decide to rejoin the world after Broccan is sufficiently trained and they each must decide where the future leads them. Back to the fortress to warn against Tomas’s lies and deception? Back to the mortals where they made their lives?
Lawless delivers Irish history, battle scenes, and intimate character moments with such finesse that it blends genres and makes her saga extremely impactful.
”Love isn't dependent on it being returned."
The stakes are a lot higher in this book, and my distaste for certain characters boiled and raged. Whilst I had previously admired Gormflaith, even whilst I condoned her actions, this book made me hate her with a passion that rivals my disgust with Tomas.
Lawless brings in issues of gender, slavery, marriage, and motherhood and what that means. Seeing what these relationships mean, who can claim them, how this changes dynamics is fascinating in a land where family hostages, marriage alliances, and fostering is common.
Why couldn't men give their word and keep it, without needing flesh in their beds to hold them true?
The adventure isn’t over yet! The first era of history is covered; but the fight between the Fomorians and Descendants is far from over!
For this reason, I was surprised thinking this was the final instalment and did feel cheated by a rushed and sudden ending which seemed to cheat us of the slow building crescendo throughout the books so far.
However, history isn’t stagnant, and of course this isn’t the end of Irish history.
Thank you to Head of Zeus for providing me an arc in exchange for a review!