This book....Oh my goodness....This book. I was so reluctant to start it...I'm soooooooooo glad I did. I had been interested in Celtic Mythology for quite some time, but my knowledge of it is pretty non-existent. So my friend Sheri, who lives in Scotland, suggested I try out Morgan Llywelyn. I found it for 1 cent on Amazon.com and it's been sitting on my shelf for....a year or so? I regret it sitting there for so long! >___<
Synopsis: (this is from the back of the book) In ancient Erin, the line between the perceived world and the Otherworld sometimes faded away, and then people said gods walked the earth. One such, it was rumored, had fathered the silver-eyed boy Setanta (Shay-tahn-tah)-and when Setanta became a man and the battle rage seized him, he was indeed like a god, a terrible god of destruction. They called him Cuchulain (Koo-hul-in), the dreaded Hound of Ulster.
This is actually quite a complex story. Not only do we follow the story of Setanta, we also learn the story of Deirdre, the most beautiful woman in Ulster, who is prophesied to bring ruin to Ulster. Also we learn of the curses brought upon Emain Macha, (Ev-in Mah-ha) the main city in this story, and how the goddess Macha cursed the city to suffer birthing pangs every time they enter into an epic battle (which is hilarious). Also in this story, we see the duality between the Cuchulain "beast" and the sweet, fun loving Setanta. I have to say....Setanta/Cuchulain is a-freakin'-dorable. He's so playful and fun loving and he's terrified of women! There is a scene where he's just comes back from an epic battle where he uses the Rage and the king is worried that he will still be in beast mode. So he sets up a line of naked women at the gates so that when Setanta sees them he totally loses his battle rage and goes into full blown shy/blushy/look away mode. It was so cute! He is such a great character and Morgan Llywelyn just makes it so easy to love him.
I absolutely love Morgan Llywelyn's writing style. She writes so colorfully, I felt like I was in ancient Erin. Her characters are so loveable and well written and the humor she uses is fantastic. I tagged so many places in this book with post-its just because she made me hard core laugh out loud. She also got me so attached to all of the characters, that when something happened to them (be it a struggle or a death), you totally felt for them. I cried a few times...Shamelessly. Also I loved that she tried to keep as close to the original mythology as possible. She did so much research and that makes me love the story more (for some reason). There is even a bibliography in the back.
All in all, I loved this book and this author. I really loved the writing style and the new knowledge I gained about Celtic Myths. I have another book on my shelf, Druids, by her, and I am very excited to read that book as well. I would suggest this book to anyone who is interested in adult fantasy or Celtic mythology. I really hope you guys pick this book up!~
5/5 stars on Goodreads
My Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-moriah
This book on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Red-Branch-Morgan-Llywelyn/dp/080410591X/ref=tmm_mmp_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1389647297
I should be finishing up Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas either today or tomorrow, so you can expect to see my thoughts on that soon!~ Until next time my dears!~ XXX
Momesy~
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