Liath Luachra: The Grey One

Words on paper like the good old days. No spoilers here. Good story with interesting characters hailing from the land of my ancestors. Read words good.

I found this book extremely engaging and full of action, I couldn’t put it down.Liath Luachra (The Grey One) is a fascinating character. She’s intelligent, a lethal warrior, holds her own drinking with the boys, has lesbian sexual fantasies and a penchant for magic mushrooms (and she’s only 16!). Despite her line of work and her horrific upbringing, she still has a moral compass and tries her best to do the right thing.Part of a violent band of mercenaries (some more dangerous than the enemies she’s up against) she holds her own, shocking even her colleagues with her brutality in battle. When the leader of her band offers an opportunity to escape this violent life by leading a special mission, she soon realises nothing is as it seems and that she’s probably being manipulated.Severely injured, she’s forced to accept help and friendship, two things that do not sit naturally with her, but the time it takes to heal allows her to figure a way out of her predicament.I immensely enjoyed the detailed world of Liath Luachra. The author so vividly describes the wilderness of 2nd century Ireland, I actually found myself shivering. And I won’t even start on the battle scenes.With The Grey One, Liath Luachra is not done yet and I’m really looking forward to the next volume.

We learn more about The Grey One in this book, which I really enjoyed even if it was disturbing at times.Well written, fast paced, I noticed some small typos, but that didn't ruin it.I can't wait for Book 3 of the Fionn series!

My luck with good books continues. The cover for another novel by the same author caught my eye so I investigated and bought this one. Cover art again excellent. For the first hundred pages, this was a 4-star for me. I really felt myself lost in the world of 2nd century Ireland due to the authenticity of the writing and highly descriptive prose. Some historical fiction can be very accurate but a bit dry and heavy-going. Definitely not the case here. At about the 100-page mark though, it really yanked me in and moved to a 5-star. I stormed through till the end, having one of those days where you just have to tell the kids to sort themselves out. Couldn't put it down. Although a stand-alone story, I'm glad that Liath Luachra's tale is not done yet and look forward to reading more from Brian O'Sullivan. The language was another area that pulled me in. If there is an audio-book available where you can listen to accurate pronunciation, it might be worth getting for that alone.

Much has been and will be written regarding female warriors, especially the Celtic variety like Scathach. In this book, with origins in the Fionn cycle, we see a hero emerge along these lines. But it's a real, and largely understandable, hero with a real and visceral reality that leaps from the pages and gives details and a true backstory to the myth. Brian O'Sullivan has done an amazing job at bringing this character to life in an Ireland of myth that is true to both the historical/ archeological record with details of raths (ring forts), a primeval forest, and other features that truly allow the reader to travel back in time. I look forward to more from this author and truly enjoy his work!