The young king of Portugal's gyrfalcons have been killed, and chief suspect if the falconer. He is held captive, and his daughter, Isabela is charged with getting two more from Iceland, or her father dies.

She sets off on a voyage to get them, little knowing that other passengers on the boat are set on her not achieving her goal. She is almost left behind when the ship has to shelter in a storm, and uncovering an object, before resuming her journey. On reaching Iceland she is informed that she has two week as a visitor, as they are not permitted in winter. And so begins her adventure.

With her companions she sets off to the mountains, as she thinks that this will be the best place to locate them. They are challenged and threatened along the way, as well as becoming involved with a lady who is chained in a cave and whose destiny could affect the local village.

Even though it was a fairly substantial book, 550 or so pages, it didn't take too long to read. I felt that the plot wasn't that strong, a girl on a mission with companions who wish to see her fail, who manage to dither about stopping her quest. I thought the characters were a little two dimensional, with little complexity to them. So in essence, generally ok, but I am not sure I will read the remainder. ( )

This one might have to move up in my queue! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxEwZa3Vs5o

Despite its intriguing title, this is probably my least favourite of the four part-historical, part horror fantasy novels by this author. It is set later than the other three, in the 16th century, partly in Portugal, where the Inquisition is rooting out, torturing and executing all "heretics", and partly in bleak and inhospitable Iceland. The link between these seemingly unrelated countries is the falcons of the title, a Royal status symbol in Portugal that a young Portuguese girl Isabela must seek in Iceland to save the life of her father languishing in the Inquisition's dungeons (they are former Jews who have converted to Catholicism but are still being persecuted as "heretics"). As in the author's Company of Liars, Isabela and the other members of her expedition to Iceland are all pretending to be someone they're not; Isabela is pretending to be going there to join her (non-existent) husband, while one of the other members, the other main character Ricardo, is a con merchant, masquerading as a doctor, who has been sent to Iceland by the Jesuits to kill Isabela and thus thwart her mission. While there are some very descriptive passages of Icelandic scenery and some dramatic and horrific passages, I found large parts of this quite dull, especially the interludes told by the Icelandic oracle and shaman Eydis. I was rather glad when I got to the end of this novel. I found the historical note at the end about Icelandic mythology and history was rather more interesting on the whole. ( )

Even though I quite liked it, I didn't find it as good as her other books, and I got annoyed at the mistakes in portuguese... ( )

Takes place in the year 1564 in Portugal,which is in the midst of the Inquisition. The daughter of the King's Falconer is forced to attend the burning of a number of so-called Heretics. Shortly after this her father is arrested and placed in a deep and dank prison cell from where he will be taken to be burned. The reason for this is that he is blamed for the death of the Royal Falcons. The only way to avoid his fate is for his daughter to set out on a long and dangerous quest to bring back a pair of these rare birds within the year. Officials of the Inquisition send out an assassin to stop and kill her before she can achieve her aim.
This is a thought-provoking book which I could not easily put down. I didn't like the ending over much though as it left too many strands unanswered and seemed somewhat rushed. ( )