Review: Juliet Marillier – Son of the Shadows

Son of the Shadows
Juliet Marillier
‘Son of the Shadows’ by Juliet Marillier is a gripping sequel to ‘Daughter of the Forest’. The plot is fast paced, the story completely enthralling and Liadan is a strong heroine. I cannot give higher praise to this author – I can’t wait to get onto the last book of the trilogy.

13927Liadan is the daughter of the beautiful Sorsha who saved her six brothers through her own strength. Liadan is a twin, and born outside of the pattern of Sevenwaters. Thus she has the capacity to choose her own path – and it is the rockiest path she could have chosen! Abducted early in the novel, she battles her own demons and those of others.

This is the first adult fantasy novel that has gripped me in quite a while. I’m very glad to have picked up this author on a whim. There are enough twists and turns in the plot that I think I will definitely reread this series later.
As said before, Liadan is a satisfyingly strong female protagonist. I was again utterly able to step into her shoes, but also had insights into the other characters. Marillier is able to make a good case using a first person narrator, and I feel like any other narration would have interferred with the tale telling.
The narrative is speckled with Irish myths and folk law similarly to the first novel in the series. Marillier has done her research well – it ties in with my independent reading of Irish literature. The inclusion of this makes the narrative richer, and is probably part of the reason I got so involved in this novel.
I’d recommend this book for adults, although older teens may also enjoy it. It is possible to read this novel without having read ‘Daughter of the Forest’, as the main points of that are subtly recapped in ‘Son of the Shadows’.

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