The first 10 pages or so felt like coming home to me. I have a severe sleeping disorder for years now and one thing that helps me to fall asleep is imagining myself lying in a safe, often magical, place that keeps out all kinds of evil lurking around outside of it. I've fallen asleep in Tom Bombadil's cabin, Badger's house in a tree in the Wild Wood, Hermione's magical tent, Robinson Crusoë's cave/fort, in amazingly tight locked rooms in even tighter locked buildings in the world of The Walking Dead, in the arms of John Snow, or being sleep sandwiched by Aragorn and Legolas. And so forth, you get the idea.

The first pages of The Witches of Eileanan described a secret tree house, which should be so safe, I felt like packing my bags and moving up there right away. To find the entrance up in the trees already seemed practically impossible, then getting in required a trick and once inside, the rooms go all the way down to the bottom again. I'd like to sleep there. Now.

So as I was reading this with the thought of "I'm so going to give this 5 stars/oh my god, this is amazing", I became slightly disappointed when the impenetrable treehouse turned out to be quite penetrable after all. In fact, it didn't even take a full chapter to be destroyed almost entirely.

This whole "Phew, we're safe now...Oh no, foiled again!"-thing was a recurring theme throughout the entire book. It sometimes felt like watching a 'Revolution'-episode, where people get captured, escape, get captured again etc., etc. No wonder it got cancelled recently. Don't get me wrong, it's good for a story when not all things go according to plan. There wouldn't be much excitement left now would there? In this book, however, I feel like it's sometimes a bit too much. Like a wild goose chase that never ends.

This, and the sometimes overly complicated political aspects of the world the story takes place in, made me drop my rating from 5 stars to 3.5. I'd love to give it 4 stars because I truly DID enjoy it. Yet, then I think of other books I've given 4 stars to, and they're just better. Period. While 3 stars, on the other hand, would sell this book short.

I'm anxious to start the second book in the series as this one abruptly ended with a cliffhanger. Small note for the next one: I hope it includes a freaking MAP! Since there's a lot of traveling going on plus the depicting of other nations/tribes/races with their accompanying regions, it would sure help giving a better estimation of the actual distances.

After many many years I finally finished the series. Overall I liked it. I was always a bit confused over who everyone was since while there was a main cast, the secondary cast was large and had a lot of similar names.

 

This book is the culmination of the entire series with the battle between the Fairgean and the other creatures of Ea. The book opens right where The Skull of the World finished, with the Fairgean attacking the humans during Beltane.

 

The humans have tried to make get the Fairgean to sign the Pact of Peace, but have been rebuffed in their efforts. This attack, and the fact that the civil wars have finally come to an end, means that the people and creatures of Ea will band together to have a final battle between the two groups.

 

If you're looking for a good, complete fantasy series with a lot of different and interesting characters, I highly recommend the Witches of Elieanan. Bonus, the books can be found for really cheap!

The Skull of the World returns the readers to Isabeau after her absence in The Forbidden Land. I missed her. She is the arguably the central character of the series and while I liked the last book, I wanted to see what she was doing.

 

When we last left her, she was splitting her time between her father's people and a nearby tower where her parents now reside. The book starts with her going on her naming quest for her father's group. While she finds her name, she also finds a new ability. She can shapeshift into different animals. After receiving her name, she can finally return to help her sister and brother-in-law who are still attempting to restore order to Eileanan. It's a busy family.

 

Shortly after returning, an old enemy captures the prionnsa, her nephew and the heir, and his friend. Isabeau manages to track them down and help figure out who has been spilling secrets to their enemies.

 

She also refinds Maya and her daughter, who technically should be the heir and I wonder if that will be settled in the final book.

 

The book ends with the land of Elieanan finally settling down into peace, but the closing moments show the Fairgean ready to attack. We also got to meet one of their princes throughout the book and get an insight into their life. With one book left, I am curious how it will all be wrapped up. I am excited to finally finish this series after so many years :)

And I continue on my quest to finally finish this series after starting it many years ago.

 

The Forbidden Land was different in that instead of following multiple characters, it focused on Finn and what she was doing. I liked this since it was easier to follow. Which unfortunately did not involve Isabeau, but apparently she will be the focus on the next book.

 

Additionally the end of the book included a glossary which I have needed for the past three books in order to keep the different families straight. This book felt more like a build up to the next two volumes, but I can't wait to read the last two now.

I found a map of Eileanan online! It really helped me figure out where the characters were.

 

My other issue now is that I do have trouble keeping track of all the minor characters. The major ones I understand and can follow but most of the minor lords all bleed into one and unless they make a specific reference I honestly have no idea who they are.

 

I was a bit surprised when I finished the last book since I expected most of the series to be about Lachlan trying to get control of the land back from Maya, but that was done at the end of book two. Granted, there is still a power struggle between the two and a fair amount of this book focused on Maya's attempt to get back into power. I will be interested to see where she goes from the ending of this book. I doubt that we have seen the last of her. I should hopefully be starting The Forbidden Land this week.