The Blurb (from Goodreads):
A young woman who is both a bard--and a warrior--seeks to repay her debts and settle scores in this thrilling historical fantasy series.
The young warrior and bard Liobhan has lost her brother to the Otherworld. Even more determined to gain a place as an elite fighter, she returns to Swan Island to continue her training. But Liobhan is devastated when her comrade Dau is injured and loses his sight in their final display bout. Blamed by Dau's family for the accident, she agrees to go to Dau's home as a bond servant for the span of one year.
There, she soon learns that Oakhill is a place of dark secrets. The vicious Crow Folk still threaten both worlds. And Dau, battling the demon of despair, is not an easy man to help.
My Thoughts:
A Dance with Fate is the second book in Juliet Marillier’s new historical fantasy series, ‘Warrior Bards’. As always with her books, it is a beguiling mix of action, romance and magic, set in an ancient Celtic world where the Otherworld presses up close to the ordinary human world. I love Juliet Marillier’s books – they are full of a lyrical fairy-tale quality and a quiet shining wisdom about the importance of justice, compassion, peace, and the care of the natural world. They are a wonderful antidote to anxiety, fear, and exhaustion – I often re-read them when I need a balm for my wounded soul.
At the heart of the Warrior Bards series is a young woman named Liobhan who is both a strong fighter and a skilled musician, and her journey to be accepted as a warrior of Swan Island. Other major characters are her beloved foster-brother Brocc, a talented harpist who has married a faery queen, and an enigmatic noble named Dau, who is the main rival to Liobhan’s dream of acceptance as a warrior. In this segment of the saga, Dau has been accidentally blinded by Liobhan. His brutal, manipulative brother demand she works off her debt to him as a bond servant for a year, a role which is little better than a slave. It is not long before Liobhan realises that she is caught in a web of violence, deceit and dark magic, and it will take all her strength and wits to escape.
A gorgeous romantic read! Can’t wait for the next one.
GET YOUR COPY OF A DANCE WITH FATE HEREYou might also like to read my review of The Harp Of Kings by Juliet Marillier here:
