Product Description

Recalling the lost Celtic past to life, this rich, magical story of loyalty and love is a new Mists of Avalon for readers of historical fantasy. Raised in an isolated cove on the beautiful Kerry coast, Fainne's childhood is a lonely one. But her beloved father, the exiled son of Sevenwaters, teaches her all he knows of the magical arts, and every summer she looks forward to the arrival of her one friend, the gypsy boy, Darragh. Soon, though, her world will be changed for ever when her grandmother, the renowned and feared sorceress Oonagh, enters her life. Oonagh tells Fainne that she carries the blood of a cursed line of sorcerers and outcasts, and then she burdens her with a terrible task. She sends her to the fortress of Sevenwaters, to the family Fainne has never known, to use whatever powers she can to thwart a prophecy that is near fulfilment. The Fair Folk in alliance with Sevenwaters will win back the sacred isles unless Fainne kills the child the prophecy talks of. Tormented by evil dreams, Fainne knows she has the power to do this! Child of the Prophecy is a powerful and haunting conclusion to the Sevenwaters trilogy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96314 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback

Review
'A tale of subtle depth and sweetness' SFX 'Marillier is a virtuoso of emotional pain, and Fainne lives closer to the edge than any of her heroines. These are books in which life lived close to nature is central to the scheme of things, and Marillier writes of it with attractive delicacy; this is a powerful and suspenseful completion of a popular trilogy.' Roz Kaveney, Amazon 'A magical Celtic tale of conflict and loyalty ! Marillier again shows her immense skill in weaving a tapestry that will entrance the reader ! she is a storyteller of rare gifts, and this is an immensely enjoyable piece.' Starlog 'An engrossing read' Starburst Praise for the Sevenwaters Trilogy: 'I enjoyed it enormously. It is a fantasy, full of the magic of the Celtic night, but it has that wonderful all-important feel of reality ... a wonderful, riveting story' Barbara Erskine 'This hugely enjoyable, romantic Celtic fantasy is a terrific book, well written and unputdownable' Bookwatch 'Filled with the powers of earth and sky, lake and forest... sweet and strong as the note of a harp, and painful as a sword thrust deep ... a strong sense of realism ... a nicely wrought and well-detailed historical fantasy' Locus 'Marillier is a fine folklorist and a gifted narrator who has created a wholly appealing and powerful character'Publishers Weekly

Starlog
‘Marillier is a storyteller of rare gifts, and this is an immensely enjoyable piece.’

Starburst
‘An engrossing read’

Customer Reviews

Child of the prophecy
Generally with trilogies I find the 3rd book to be the weakest. This was most definitely the exception to the rule. This was brilliant and seemed to me to involve more magic & sorcery.
Juliet has a beautiful way of really feeling as though you are there and writes so beautifully, I did not want this book to end and miss the characters. I hope Juliet writes more like this.

Outstanding!!

Perfect!
Just like the rest of the Sevenwaters Trilogy, The Child of the Prophecy was a wonderfully written, engrossing book that dragged me into a whole different place where magic seemed to touch every corner of the world encompassed within it's pages. Juliet Marillier's books are the kind you can re-read on a rainy afternoon when you just want to unwind. Though they are certainly filled with fantasy, they have a touch of human feeling that makes me feel warm inside. Fantasy is too often cold and lacking in the the emotional department, but Marillier's work has certainly not fallen into that trap!

The Child of the Prophecy is probably the best of this trilogy. Marillier's writing has grown and improved over the span of the three books, and her characters have grown more real over time. For example, the main character Fainne is hardly perfect. She's flawed, troubled, arrogant and vulnerable and undeniably human in a way that I cannot help but empathise with.

The romance, too, is warm and bittersweet and both tragic and funny at turns. It came across as an almost realistic relationship - the kind that is not eternal and does not defy all boundaries and yet... Well, you'll have to read it to find out, won't you?

In conclusion: I loved this book. It has darkness. It has sorocery. It has far more fantasy elements than the first two novels. And yet, it is perhaps the most human of them all.

Why do trilogies have to stop at three!!
This is the final book in the Sevenwaters Trilogy, and how sad I was to get to the end - I just didn't want the stories to stop! In this book we follow the tale of Fainne, the illicit child of Ciaran and his niece Niamh, sister to Liadan, who is our heroine of book 2. We also see the return of the evil sorceress Oonagh, who is our nemesis from book one, here again to work evil aganist the Sevenwaters family through Fainne. Once again we have a very stong, but very different character, presented in a unique way. This child is no angel, but neither is she evil, and the author presents the characters' torn emotions in a heart wrenching manor, so that you sympathise with her even when she is doing her worst. As with the other two titles in this trilogy, I couldn't put it down, and read the whole trilogy in a matter of days! I loved the way each of the three heroines in each of the books were all very strong, but very different characters, from good to rebellious to bad. Each subsequent book wasn't a rehash of the first story as so often happens in trilogies, but a true continuation of a saga, so much so that you could almost believe them to be true. Magic and mayhem, hate and deceptions, love and romance, you have it all here. Come on Juliet, turn this trilogy into a series and give us more!