Chronicles of Fairie: The Light-Bearer's Daughter

Chronicles of Fairie: The Light-Bearer’s Daughter
Author: O.R. Melling
Publisher: Amulet Books
ISBN-10: 081090781X
ISBN-13: 978-0810907812

Earlier this month, I reviewed and highly recommended the second book in The Chronicles of Fairie: The Summer King and I couldn’t say enough good things about it. I hesitated a bit reading The Light-Bearer’s Daughter because I was afraid it wouldn’t be as good. Typically, sequels tend to disappoint me and I wanted so much for this one to be good that I dreaded picking it up.

I finally picked it up on a Sunday morning when I had errands to run, laundry to do and a closet to clean. I figured I’d read the first page and get on with my chores and go about my day as planned. From the first sentence, I was swept away and couldn’t put the darned book down. I literally gobbled the first two chapters, looked at the pile of laundry and the list of errands and begrudgingly put the book down only to grab it and run out the door with it in my bag. As soon as I got home, I picked up the book and didn’t put it down till I finished. Needless to say, I was doing laundry at midnight.

The Light-Bearer’s Daughter is the story of Dana, a pre-teen girl living with her single Dad in Ireland. Gabe her father is a poor musician and has decided to move back to Canada and take a teaching job there. Dana is angry and heartbroken. You see, her mother disappeared when Dana was just a baby and she fears that her mother will never find her if they move.

Once again the present day world and the world of fairie collide. A demon has entered the world and is seeking to destroy everything. The Fairie need help.

One day as Dana wanders about a section of the forest that is being threatened with development, she comes across a beautiful tree house where she finds a fairy queen who gives her a task to complete. If she can get a message to King Lugh by a certain day, he will grant her a wish on Lughnasadh, his special day.

What follows is an amazing and magical adventure. The writing is lyrical and exciting. I got so caught up in the beautiful language of the book. The imagery is so vivid, so gorgeous. The descriptions of nature, of leaves, of the smells and sights of the forest really leap off the page. The author’s love of her homeland shines through. It’s an amazing story and also makes a strong case against development and destruction of nature. I loved it.

Book Description from the publisher
The third book in this critically acclaimed trilogy, which Booklist described as “shimmering with magic, myth, and romance”

Dana has few memories of her mother, who disappeared when she was small. But she has always dreamed, despite her father’s discouragement, that her mother would come back one day. When her dad decides to leave Ireland and take a job across the ocean in Canada, Dana is heartbroken. How can she leave her home and the only chance of seeing her mother again? She runs away, high into the fairy mountains of Ireland. Following ancient paths, with a mysterious wolf companion at her side, Dana encounters a world of tragic enchantment and fairy romance, and discovers a great secret about herself.

With lush descriptions and rich Celtic lore, plus cameo appearances by characters from the previous books, this latest chronicle will satisfy fans of the series and entice new readers.

About the Author
O.R. Melling was born in Ireland and grew up in Canada with her seven sisters and two brothers. She is the author of many beloved fantasy novels, which have been translated into numerous languages. She lives in her hometown of Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, with her teenage daughter, Findabhair. Visit her Web site at www.ormelling.com.

The Summer King

The Summer King
Author: O.R. Melling
Publisher: Amulet Books
ISBN-10: 0810959690
ISBN-13: 978-0810959699

The Summer King is a haunting, absorbing and lavishly told tale set both in present day Ireland and the world of Fairy.

Laurel, an 18 year old girl who is grieving the death of her twin sister Honor, returns to Ireland and the scene of her twin’s death to try and find out who killed her sister. While the devastated family thinks it was an accident, Laurel, armed with her sister’s puzzling journals believes her sister was led into something unsavory. She finds odd references of little people, in particular one little man and other more disturbing entries. She’s also starting to be plagued with dreams.

Upon arrival in Ireland, Laurel finds her old boyfriend Ian Grey with whom she was with the day her sister died still nursing hurt that she had left him, blamed him for her not being there to save her sister. These young people have lots of angst and passion to work out and that alone could fill a book.

But wait. There’s the small matter of a cluricaun, something like a leprechaun but a little darker. This little guy reminds me of a small Bacchus, always toting around his poteen and pissing drunk when he’s not lying through his teeth. There are ravens that turn to warriors, scary sea fairies called the boctogai, a wild Irish pirate named Grace O’Malley, eagles that talk and worlds within worlds.

There is also the possibility that Laurel’s sister isn’t dead but sleeping somewhere in Fairy and if Laurel can complete the quest of freeing the Summer King, then her sister will be freed. The quest isn’t all that it seems though and neither is Ireland, the Summer King himself, Laurel’s grandparents or Ian who may just have the darkest secret of all.

I loved The Summer King and was completely swept away by it. I discovered that it is the sequel to Hunter’s Moon which I haven’t read (now I will). It stands as a single novel though. You really don’t need to read Hunter’s Moon although you, like me after reading this, will most probably want to read it and everything else Melling writes. The Summer King is romance, magic, mystery, betrayal, legend, lore, history and simply marvelous, engaging storytelling. It’s wonderful.