Review: Flame of Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier

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Publication Date: 6th November 2013
Publisher: MacMillian Australia
ISBN: 9781742611624
Age Group: Young Adult to Adult
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy
Source: Bookshelf
Lootability: *****

Going home can be the hardest thing of all...
When Maeve, twenty year old daughter of Lord Sean of Sevenwaters, accompanies a skittish horse back to Erin, she must confront her demons. For Maeve carries the legacy of a childhood fire in her crippled hands. She has lived with her aunt in Britain for ten years, developing a special gift for gentling difficult animals. 
Maeve arrives home to find Sevenwaters in turmoil. The forest surrounding her father's keep also has uncanny inhabitants, including a community of Fair Folk. Now the fey prince Mac Dara has become desperate to see his only son return to the Otherworld to rule after him. To force Sean's hand, Mac Dara has made innocent travellers on the Sevenwaters border disappear, and now their bodies are appearing one by one in bizarre circumstances. Mac Dara's malign activities must be stopped. But how? What human army can defeat a force with magic at its fingertips? 
Maeve's gift with animals earns her respect at Sevenwaters. She bonds with her enigmatic small brother, Finbar, his druid tutor Luachan, and two stray dogs. When Maeve discovers the body of one of the missing men, she and Finbar are drawn into a journey where the stakes are high: they may bring about the end of Mac Dara's reign, or suffer a hideous death. For Maeve, success may lead to a future she has not dared to believe possible.

30 Days of Books: Day Three and Four

01 – A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already (or both!) 

02 - A Book or Series you wish more people were reading and talking about.

30 Days of Books

Day 03 – The best book you’ve read in the last 12 months

I have no words for just how effervescent this novel is. I went in expecting to like it, but I wound up loving it. The whole story has a fairytale-like quality that captures your imagination and runs away with it. Valente doesn't waste time trying to simplify her novel for children, but understood that even young children can appreciate a well written story.
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

Gather up your courage and your wishes; grab a little pinch of luck - and prepare to be swept away, in a ship of your own making, to a land unlike any other. September is a twelve-year-old girl, Somewhat Grown and Somewhat Heartless, and she longs for adventure. So when a Green Wind and a Leopard of Little Breezes invite her to Fairyland - well, of course, she accepts (mightn't you?).When she gets there, she finds a land in crisis and confusion - crushed by the iron rule of a villainous Marquess - she soon discovers that she alone holds the key to restoring order. Having read enough books to know what a girl with a quest must do, September sets out to Fix Things.As September forges her way through Fairyland, with a book-loving dragon and a partly human boy named Saturday by her side, she makes many friends and mistakes; loses her shadow, her shoes and her way. But she finds adventure, courage, a rather special Spoon, and a lot more besides . 

Day 04 – Your favorite book or series ever

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet MarillierTo reclaim the lives of her brothers, Sorcha leaves the only safe place she has ever known and embarks on a journey filled with pain, loss and terror. When she is kidnapped by enemy forces and taken to a foreign land, it seems that there will be no way for Sorcha to break the spell that condemns all that she loves. But magic knows no boundaries, and Sorcha will have to choose between the life she has always known and a love that comes only once.Check out my review here

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

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Publication Date: 1999
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN:  0330361937
Age Group: Adult/Young Adult (Mature content)
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Source: My bookshelf
Lootability: *****

To reclaim the lives of her brothers, Sorcha leaves the only safe place she has ever known and embarks on a journey filled with pain, loss and terror. When she is kidnapped by enemy forces and taken to a foreign land, it seems that there will be no way for Sorcha to break the spell that condemns all that she loves. But magic knows no boundaries, and Sorcha will have to choose between the life she has always known and a love that comes only once.

The first book of, in my opinion, Australia’s best fantasy author, Daughter of the Forest is a brilliant start. Marillier published her first book, in her later years, and since it broke through has undertaken the time and effort to research another 11 novels. 

Author Interview: Juliet Marillier

Juliet Marillier, a New-Zealand born resident of Western Australia, is a popular writer of historical fantasy best known for her Sevenwaters adult series. Her young adult novel Cybele's Secret won a 2008 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel - Young Adult. She has won an assortment of awards for her books including the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel (2000, Son of the Shadows; 2005, Blade of Fortriu; 2006, Wildwood Dancing), the American Library Association's Alex Award (2001, Daughter of the Forest) and a YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Best Book For Young Adults (2007, Wildwood Dancing). Look here for a list of her awards.

Juliet graduated from Otago University with a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Arts in languages. She is a member of The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and her beliefs are deeply reflected in her writing. Her latest books, Shadowfell and Flame of Sevenwaters are due for publication this year.