Fainne is a different sort of child living a different kind of life for Kerry folk. For three seasons of the year her only companion is her father and the steady roar of the waves crashing on the coast. Cooped up inside their home, they study together and keep to themselves. In the summer, however, Fainne is allowed a little freedom and awaits her only friend Darragh when the traveling caravans pass through. Together they explore the rocky coves and enjoy both talkative and silent exchanges. But sooner than Fainne is ready, her freedom is curtailed when she’s forced to dedicate all of her free time to studying the druidic lore and magical arts. And when her grandmother the Lady Oonagh arrives things only get worse. With her father ill and Fainne coming of marriageable age, Oonagh sets her on a journey to Sevenwaters with a task to do whatever she can to stop the fulfillment of the prophecy. As Fainne comes to know and love her Sevenwaters family she realizes that she needs them just as much as her Kerry family. But if she betrays the Sevenwaters alliance and the sacred islands are not reclaimed by Erin, everything else that Fainne holds dear will be forfeit. How can she possibly prevent both the loss of the Islands and the loss of her loved ones?
Many say the series falters a little in this concluding installment and I agree. Fainne is a much grayer heroine than Sorcha and Liadan and as a result is harder to like. I questioned the level of accountability shown for some of her shadier actions and understood but was still bothered by her un-abating pleas for Darragh to go away and stay out of her life. She really treated him badly sometimes and he did not deserve her harsh words. It’s hard not to be in her shoes and think she could have acted differently, she could have found some way to avoid acting the way she did under the nonetheless extreme circumstances. That said, I still relished my time spent in Sevenwaters with new and old characters of Erin and Briton. The scenes with favorites Liadan and Bran and Conor and Finbar really sparkled. I also really liked Johnny, Sibeal and some of the other new characters. The nuanced, layered meanings of Marillier’s book titles also continue to impress. The role and identity of the child of the prophecy, as in Son of the Shadows isn’t obvious or clear cut until the end and even then is still up to personal interpretation. Fainne grew on me and it can be argued that she fairly earned her happily ever after. I can hardly wait to get my hands on the fourth book, Heir to Sevenwaters and I’m elated that there’s a fifth book currently in the works.
