From Publishers Weekly
Australian author Watson deftly blends fact and fancy, action and romance in her splendid historical fantasy debut, set in first-century A.D. Alba (aka Scotland). On the death of Brude, king of the Epidii tribe (aka the People of the Horse), the duty falls on Brude's priestess sister, Rhiann, as the Mother of the Land, to continue the royal line. The sudden arrival during the king's funeral of Eremon, an exiled Irish prince of Dalriada who yearns to reclaim his throne, is taken as a good omen, and the Epidii offer Rhiann as a bride in exchange for help in defeating the encroaching Romans. Eremon quickly accepts, but their emotionally complicated "marriage" creates problems that are just as discouraging as the conflicts among Alba's warring tribes and with Agricola, governor of the Roman province of Britannia. In addition to an appealing love story, well-researched settings and an interesting take on goddess worship rooted in Neolithic times, Watson provides some mystical moments that confirm that "[h]istory can turn on many things. On a word. On a sword blade. On a girl, running up a mountain path, amber hair flying in the wind."

Loved it!

Mailed to juliako.

This has arrived safely - looks excellent - thanks! The label goes so well with it as well - do you design your own?

juliako passed this on to me to read first and now it will be passed back to her.

The ancient setting in the book was well envisioned making the action and emotional parts of the story seem grounded in a time and place that was easy to reconstruct in my mind.
The spiritual and elements of fantasy were not that prevalent, particularly in the earlier two thirds. The subtle nature of it made the book a bit of a crossover in terms of genre. Not quite fantasy, not quite historical. As I have read quite a few fantasy novels it was a bit disconcerting as a reader at times it seemed like a fantasy novel but without the fantasy and left a slightly unsatisfying feel to it. It made me think about 'magic' 'spirit' and drug induced illusion though, and how difficult it is to define and separate these in the story.

Passed back to juliako
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