Son of the Shadows Book Two of the Sevenwaters Trilogy

Juliet Marillier — 2020

Son of the Shadows is the sequel to Juliet Marillier's evocative first novel Daughter of the Forest. It continues the saga of beautiful Sorcha, the couragous yong woman who risked all to save her family from a wicked curse and whose love shattered generations of hate and bridged two cultures. It is from her sacrifice that her brothers were brought home to Sevenwaters and her life has known much joy. But not all the brothers were able to escape the spell that transformed them into swans, and those who did were all more--and less--than they were before the change. It is left to Sorcha's daughter Liadan who will take up the tale that the Sevenwaters clan is destined to fufill. Beloved child, dutiful daughter, she embarks on a journey that opens her eyes to the wonders of the world around her...and shows her just how hard-won was the peace that she has known all her life. Liadan will need all of her courage to help save her family, for there are forces far darker than anyone chould have guessed and ancient powers conspiring to destroy this family's peace--and their world. And she will need the strength to stand up to those she loves best, for in the finding of her own true love, Liadan's course may doom them all...or be their salvation.

Reviews

Risa C@risa

Feb 28, 2022

Very different from "Daughter of the Forest," and perhaps it's my fault for expecting the two to be similar, but I still find myself disappointed. Juliet Marillier's prose is so emotive, lush, and even breathtaking at times, but she lost me on the narrative here. The pacing of the story felt erratic and the immediate stakes never felt high enough for there to be any real tension, especially in the face of the vaguely referenced backdrop of an awakening supernatural evil, tenuous political alliances, and an ever-growing foreign incursion. I'm glad that Liadan was a very different protagonist from Sorcha, but I don't think I prefer her over her mother. It's heartening to read female characters who are strong-willed and assertive, confident not necessarily in themselves always but in their unshakeable principles, but I often found myself frustrated with and bewildered by her decision-making. I prefer Bran to Red as a love interest, but I didn't really like Red at all in the first book (not for any good reason tbh). Overall, "Son of the Shadows" is worth reading if you want to marinate in a beautifully written fantasy romance, but will come up short if you wanted an epic fantasy where great mystical powers or terrible wars come to shape the entire world. It certainly feels like this book has started to set the stage for that, though I'm uncertain if I'll stick around for when they finally raise the curtain.