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 Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 10:01 pm
For those of you who may not be familiar with the plot of these books, the first installment Daughter of the Forest is based upon the fairy tale about the girl who must sew the shirts to transform her brothers from the curse of becoming swans by their witch of a stepmother. The other two books, Son of the Shadows and Child of the Prophecy, are the follow-ups.
Sorcha is the youngest child with seven older brothers. Their life seems idealic in the Irish forest where their residence of Sevenwaters is located. However, once their father remarries, the children find their lives devastated one at a time. Then upon a ritual to summon the spirit of their mother, the sorceress stepmother transforms Sorcha's brothers into swans. The Lady of the Fair Folk tells Sorcha that it is up to her to to rescue her brothers by completing a difficult task. Little does she realize that she will sacrifice more than her ability to speak when she seeks to save her family, and may be forced to give up the love of her life.
Generally I dislike first-person narratives, but I liked these novels a great deal. While the latter two have great stories and climactic moments, Daughter of the Forest will always be my favorite in this trilogy. I was shocked and deeply saddened by what happened when Sorcha tried to salvage a meal during her exile in the forest at the beginning of her task. It inspired a fanart and disturbingly enough, it was perhaps one of the best drawings that I have ever created. This fact scares me...
Anyone up for a little discussion?
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 6:34 pm
I most certainly agree with you that Daughter of the Forest was the most touching and inspiring of the three books, though all three were well written. Though the incident while gathering, for me, was a very difficult passage to get through. My empathy was with her the whole way and was touched by the gentleness of her husband, and his determination.
I feel somehow that I got so attached to Sorcha's character that no other could have taken her place. So the following two female leads I felt fell rather short of her strength and compassion and forgiving nature, though her daughter came close in Son of the Shadows.
Sadly I must conmfess that I found the female leade of child of the Profecy to be so sorely lacking in all worthy qualities that I had a hard time reading through it.
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 9:37 pm
I was deeply saddened when Sorcha died in the second book. By that point she had become my favorite character along with her brother Finbar.
As for Fainne being a weak female lead, I can't find too much fault with her because you must remember that she spent most of her life alone with her father. Sorcha grew up amidst a loving family and she gained strength from them, as did her daughter. Fainne has just got it bad coming from all aspects, being the result of an incestuous union and the granddaughter of such a manipulative sorceress.
It's great to see that I am not the only one here who has read these fabulous books. ^_^
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2006 10:24 pm
Don't get me wrong, I understand that things have been hard for her. But she was raised with love. Her parents loved her. But her mind was easily poisoned by her grandmother. And even when she went to Sevenwaters she kept wavering, so unsteady. Perhaps it is just that I can't identify with such a character. It's always harder to enjoy a book when you can't see anything of yourself in them. Or so I have always thought.
And yes, I know what you mean. I read so many books and I never get to talk about them, because no one else seems to have read any of them.
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2006 11:25 pm
Ah, ok now I get what you're saying. Yeah, that makes sense. Ultimately one must be able to connect with the characters.
The internet seems to be the only place that I can meet other people who have read many of the same books I have. The only titles that my offline friends and I have read are things like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.
So what was your favorite part in the books?
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 10:36 pm
My favorite part? oh, wow. I don't know. I loved the imagery. Liadan telling stories to the men. The tatoos also sounded beautiful. The drama of the swans circling overhead and one by one bore a shirt of their own. I'm a big fan of imagery.
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Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:17 am
I LOVE that books. The saddest thing that happens in the whole series is when Sorcha is dead. I have to cry every time I read it.
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Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:16 pm
I should re-read these books. It's been so long and I'm starting to forget things about them.
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Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 12:56 am
Fainne's lack of conviction does, indeed, leave something to be desired.
However, I look at it from a more metaphorical view.
Lady Oonagh represents the evil in the world, and Fainne represents the innocence.
Innocence is corruptible, but often it seeks to return to the state from whence it came.
The series is wonderful. I love Marillier.
I really need to re-read Wolfskin and read Foxmask.
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Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 4:00 pm
Sorcha was my favorite character too. The other leads didn't seem as strong and compassionate and detirmind as Sorcha did. Red was cool too, he was just so dedicated and just generally cool. Daughter of the Forest was definately my favorite in the series. xd
Sir Shay, that was a really good comment about Fianne. biggrin It sums her up nicely. 3nodding
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 11:16 pm
I just finished Heir to Sevenwaters and am anxious to discuss. Although I did not love it as much as the original trilogy, I thought it was a pretty good sequel. It was nice to return to Sevenwaters in a new adventure, even if it was predictable.
I confess that I did not particularly like Clodagh at first, but she grew on me in their time in the Otherworld. However, my attraction to Cathal was love at first sight.
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