Juilene Osborne-McKnight

This is a decently good book set during the reign of Cormac Mac Art, the Irish King credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. It is told from the point of view of an orphaned young woman raised in the Druid tradition and her role during these transitional years.

She rescues a young girl who was taken as "booty" during a cattle raid out of her abusive situation, and while she battles the girl's captor she meets another traveller who is the ollamh, the master poet of the King. He also happens to be someone from her past and a trained Fenian warrior.

Aislinn brings the girl to safety with the help of this Fenian and poet, Eoghan, who for mysterious reasons does not take his father's name as his surname. And when she is safely with the Deisi tribe, they will not tell her the truth of her own parentage. These mysteries grow and cause problems between Aislinn and her beloved, which are all brought to light in the court of Cormac Mac Art at the height of the Court of Tara.

There were some elements of this book I did not like: Aislinn alternates between wishy-washy and a ferocious Irish woman in a way that seems more necessary to move the plot forward than one that serves good characterization. In addition, the triumph of one religion over another within a few years is always problematic, and I definitely did not like the portrayal of the Druids once Cormac mac Art took up the mantle of Christianity.

Still, it presents the introduction of writing into Ireland and other historical turning points in its history to the general public, as well as the way of life of the peoples of Ireland in this time.… (meer)