The old world will die in flames…
Ireland, 1011 AD. Brian Boru is now High King of Ireland. His queen, Gormflaith, instructs their young son in his heritage – but only on his mother’s side. For Gormflaith, an immortal Fomorian skilled in fire-magic, intends to finally defeat the Fomorians’ hated foes, the Descendants, and establish control over Ireland. And if King Brian stands in her way, so much the worse for him…
Fódla, the Descendants’ spy in King Brian’s camp, treads a wary path. She must protect her magically powerful young nephew from their leader, Tomas, who will do anything to achieve his aim of the Descendants returning to the mortal world and ruling Ireland. And Fódla is on dangerous ground, for she has broken one of the sacred rules of the she has fallen in love with a mortal.
As the schemes of Gormflaith and Tomas come to fruition, the only possible outcome is war. Ireland has bled red and often… but the coming clash will be a battle for the ages. Strange alliances will form, old defences will fail, and the land will never be the same again.
-Goodreads
Book Information
- Title: The Land of the Living and the Dead
- Series: Gael Song Saga #3
- Author: Shauna Lawless
- Page Count: 576
- Genre: Mythology / Fantasy / Historical
- Rating: 5.0/5.0
- Date Read: August 26th, 2024
Opening Thoughts
If you haven’t been keeping up with the Gael Song Saga by Shauna Lawless the third installment The Land of the Living and the Dead is due out in September. I’ve had the luxury of not only keeping up with the series but absolutely loving it even if it has some of my usual struggles present. I’ll get into that in just a moment. Leading up to the third book, I first want to take a brief look back and mention that I have previously given both The Children of Gods and Fighting Men as well as The Words of Kings and Prophets 5-Stars each. I had high hopes for this one and it was not only on my radar but I was watching almost daily for it to become available as soon as I first heard mention of it hitting the UK.
Pacing
The pacing was smooth as far as timing goes. I will say The Land of the Living and the Dead seemed even more intense than the previous two. I’m not sure if it was due to the anticipation of reading it, wondering if this would be the last book in the series or simply a writing design by the author. I posted online last night immediately after finishing the book that I was emotionally drained. This is where I’ll mention that I still struggle with so many of the names within this book, series and story. I believe I did a bit better with them this time though. I don’t know if I’m getting more familiar with many of them or if the added index of names at the beginning of the book continue to help me. I’m thinking a bit of both. I do love the fact that Shauna includes this addition section to start the book, not only to help me with internal pronunciations but also as a bit of a refresher of things that have already passed in the story.
World Building
The world building is still simply amazing. Shauna mentions in each of her books that she has done considerable amount of research from Irish history when putting these together. It’s difficult to believe just so much of this epic tale might have actually taken place. I think this fact alone helps me get lost in this world. This is certainly a dark and gritty world but those moments of hope or happiness shin all the brighter when we do come across them. Considering some of my recent reads are on such a grand scale of complete worlds or even universes, this world seems just as epic due to the descriptive writing the author brings to us. One other thing I will mention beyond Irish history and I won’t get into any debate as to religions or magics but in this story these are woven in to perfection to make an extraordinary story.
Character Development
The character development was once again top shelf! So many character arcs came full circle as our core groups returned to locations setting up history altering moments in book three. Seeing so many relationships begin, change directions or conclude is just one of the aspects that made this read so intense for me. Epic battles where you aren’t sure who may turn sides or who may become the heroes. There is rather large amount of loss experienced in this story, so prepare yourself. I will say that I couldn’t be happier with one specific pair that finally get to come together and experience happiness if only for what seems a very short amount of time. Shauna also does a fantastic job in writing characters I simply cannot stand and need to see them get what’s coming to them. Oh are there plenty of these!
Seeing some of the younger generation grow up in this read was also really good to see. It also put some of the other arcs of more magical characters into perspective when you take a step back and consider how many generations they have seen come and go over the decades or centuries.
Roundup & Recommendation
In the end I’m still not sure where things go from here. It was a great ending to this story but it’s certainly open for more. I’m not aware if Shauna continues to add to this saga and if so how many books she has in mind. If she doesn’t I’m still happy where things left off here. If she does, I’ll be keeping up with what comes next.
If you haven’t had a chance to read any of Gael Song Saga yet and you enjoy a solid mix of Irish Mythology, Historical Fiction and Epic Fantasy, do yourself a favor and pick up book one The Children of God and Fighting Men. If you have already started this journey and liked what you read in books one or two, keep going!
Scoring
World Building 5/5
Pacing 4.75/5
Character Development 5/5
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