Dreams of Fire by Shauna Lawless
Publisher – Head of Zeus
Published – Out Now
Price – £1.99 kindle ebook
The immortals of Ireland renew their ancient warfare as the new generations come to terms with their place in the world. Part of Shauna Lawless's critically acclaimed Gael Song series, the novella Dreams of Fire introduces medieval Ireland as it was a century before The Children of Gods and Fighting Men.
Rónnat and Fódla are Descendants of the Tuatha Dé Danann. They live a peaceful life with their aged warrior father in the north of Ireland. The Fomorians – age-old enemies of their kind – are thought to be battle-vanquished, for no conflict has been fought between their immortal races for generations.
But rumours of war and endless shifting allegiances mean that the Descendants' position is not secure in the mortal world. There are powerful voices among the Descendants who want their kind to dwell permanently in strongholds hidden from mortals – threatening Rónnat's love of freedom.
And the Fomorians, though greatly reduced in number, are far from vanquished. Led by their mighty prince, Balorach, the remaining Fomorians, with their gift of fire-magic, seek to destroy the Descendants.
The Descendants have the advantage of their own magical powers, and mighty warriors defend them... but if they cannot be beaten, why do the voices Rónnat hears on the wind speak of death and destruction?
Prequels are a two-edged sword. Sometimes its lovely to have a peek at the earlier previously unheard story such as Sandman- Overture which answers and manages to raise mysteries but sometimes you get Anakin Skywalker complaining about sand. A good prequel should stand on its own two feet. I am pleased to report that Shauna Lawless’ return to the Gael Song fantasy series delivers just that with a look back a mere century to characters earlier lives.
Ireland’s immortals the Tuath De Danaan are at war again with the Fomorians. Times are hard for both with rising casualties. The Formian leader Balorach decides a final push to locate his enemies’ hidden stronghold may be now the best move. For the Tuath De Danaan recalling all their people from their lives living with humans is increasingly a popular plan. The warrior Ciarin and his two capable daughters Ronant and Fodha decide to attend a meeting to discuss this as well as present the daughters to the wider society. But conflict is very close.
For readers of the Gael Song trilogy, it is a welcome return, and this is a story filled with Lawless’ trademark flowing writing and unique mix of history, action and fantasy. Here the series’ main character Fodha is more in a supporting role and the bigger focus is on the previously enigmatic Ronat. This is a tale of people under gathering clouds of war and knowing the results will leave the Tuath De Danaan more isolated gives the story a sombre feeling – magic is going into hiding. The Fomorians here are equally ruthless and able to torture people using fire magic which is suitably devastating and sets them up as a powerful adversary.
I really liked the relationship between Ciarin and his daughters. It’s loving but also as he discovers signs of aging a sign that death is imminent even immortality doesn’t last forever in this world. Ronat here is coming of age realising that the world is more complicated, and she is going to have to face into things. Her abilities to see the future also start to come into play. We see the origins of the future leader of her people Tomas who plays a key divisive role in future events and the seeds of his ambition and ruthlessness are shown here beginning (as doe his relationship with Fodha). The glimpse of what life was like prior to everyone going into hiding is really interesting but it rises towards a big magical based battle which until now we’ve steered clear of in the main series but here the powers of the groups really get to come out into the open and are evenly matched with casualties across both sides. This is the way the board we start on in the first book gets set up.
Dreams of Fire would not be where I’d say you should start with this series but for anyone who has enjoyed this series (of which there should be many) it’s a great return to a fascinating world and time as a pre-cursor to the final book in the series arriving this year. Highly recommended!
