The Winter Isles
Antonia Senior
Somerled is a young boy when his family first travels to the unforgiving slopes of Scotland. His future doesn’t seem bright, his father loves but doesn’t trust him. His beloved mother keeps standing tall by his side at all points. When he grows to be a warrior, he is able to achieve unbelievable feats in battle.
Honestly, this book almost bored me stupid. Somerled gets into bigger and bigger battles, produces more and more children. The battles are like road humps, they just keep happening. I didn’t finish reading it, and don’t even feel that sorry about it. I have better things to read. If you’re looking for a innovative warrior story, I’d go for Eirelan.
The only light point of this novel was getting the perspectives from the women. It was refreshing to have something other than Somerled’s endless questioning and optimism. The mental voices were crisp and distinct, I could easily tell them apart, and that’s something that is rarely done well.
My history is rusty, even though I generally have some idea of what is going on in the Celtic and Gaelic areas. This novel didn’t fill in any gaps, and I didn’t feel like I got anything out of it. Boring. 2 stars only for its excellent perspective work.
