Oh, what a tangled web we weave…when first we practice to deceive.
Walter Scott
The ending for England comes down to the beginning – faith – it will ever be the Daughters’ guide.
For all those who enjoy getting their hearts ripped to shreds, à la Crosby, please, join the Daughters of Avalon fan club. Member perks include a complimentary box of tissue (please save the majority of your Kleenex for Fire Song), a grimoire styled journal, 1 tourniquet, a two-year subscription to One Champion Coming Right Up dating website, and finally, one week of online counseling sessions available with each Avalon purchase. Okay, I confess, there is no club for the inevitable emotional fallout (yet).
Let me lob a few truth bombs your way instead. Crosby has created a historical pocket in medieval history where magik curls and flows through nature and those blessed with its knowledge practice its directives. The King’s Favorite, The Holly & the Ivy, and A Winter’s Rose all have their peaks and valleys, greed, power plays, Monarchial mischief, the cold, despairing rot of dark magic and the loving embrace of dewine magik, Champions and Sisterhood – Fire Song has this as well, but the heart-rending and soul searching in Fire Song reaches new depths. Crosby has a knack for human nature and doesn’t mind asking her readers to traverse the occasional bramble-filled, stony path.
I equate Daughters of Avalon to a game of chess. Dark Queen Morwen and her sadistic minions on one side with the sisters and their champions on the other. I never doubted the combined might of the Daughters, but Fire Song has proven Morwen has untouched depths of cruelty not yet exposed. I’m beginning to fear the girls haven’t realized just how deadly their next moves need to be. For now, Morwen has successfully been maneuvering the board in her favor – this game just got very, very intense!
*Note – I am desperately trying NOT to write about certain devastating events in Fire Song that begin within the first few pages! I did speak to the author about dialing back the emotional tanking but she only rolled her eyes and told me I don’t get the why of it but I would eventually. Harsh! Okay, that didn’t happen, but when it played out in my mind… so believable!
Long and Short: Crosby makes Historicals sparkle.
*Note – I usually do not like cover models – I’m making an exception and an apology to any prior disparaging comments – Daughters of Avalon covers – Beyond Reproach.
Like so many of Crosby’s series, Daughters of Avalon is one you will enjoy reading more than once. It’s impossible to absorb all the hidden gems and secret messages hidden throughout the pages with the first go-around! On the off chance you haven’t picked up this masterpiece of Historical Fantasy, all of the Amazon links for the series are below including the preorder link for Rhiannon! If you would like to receive an email when I post new reviews, Subscribe Now! A special thank you to Tanya Anne Crosby and her team for sending me a prerelease copy of Fire Song!
