by Juliet Marillier
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Product Description
Five Winters have passed since young king Bridei ascended the throne of Fortriu. Five years, in which the people have felt a contentment unknown for generations.
But the security of a people can vanish in a heartbeat, for wolves are often drawn to fields filled with fattened sheep. Bridei is determined to drive the Gaelic invaders from his lands once and for all. And so, with his land secure and his house in order, he prepares for war.
One of Bridei’s plans to win the war to come involves the beautiful young Ana. A princess of the Light Isles, she has dwelt as a hostage at the court of Fortriu for most of her young life. Despite being a pawn of fortune, she has bewitched all at court and is dearly loved by Bridei and his queen. But Ana understands her duty. And so she will travel north, to make a strategic marriage with a chieftain she has never seen, in the hopes of gaining an ally on whom Bridei’s victory relies.
For secrecy’s sake, Ana must travel at a soldier’s pace, with a small band led by the enigmatic spymaster Faolan. Bridei implores Ana to trust him and see the good in Faolan…but Ana cannot see beyond his cold competence and killer’s eyes.
Then, when she arrives at the chieftain Alpin’s stronghold in the mysterious Briar Woods, her discomfort and unease increase tenfold, for this is a place of full of secrets and her betrothed is an enigma himself. The more Ana tries to uncover the truth of her new life, the more she discovers a maze of polite diversions that mask deadly lies. She fears Faolan, but he may prove to be the truest thing in her world.
Or her doom.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 not quite what i expected , 2008-10-02
I found "Blade of Fortriu" predictable.
The only surprise was the sudden love of Ana for Drustan.
Ana is not very likable and the changes from the "Dark Mirror" are such that it doesn't feel like is the same character. Why Faolan falls for her,seems to me, the only true unexplained mystery,in a book full of very predictable ones.
Interesting characters, like Ferada, never fulfill the potential they seemed to have in the first book
Of all the books of Marillier, i must say this is the only one that disappointed me and is probably due to the fact that my expectations were quite high.
Also i did not like the cover.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A bit disappointed, 2008-08-19
I am a Marillier fan, her Sevenwater Trilogy was excellent reading. I liked the first in the Bridei Trilogy, The Dark Mirror--not so much as the Sevenwaters Trilogy but I liked it enough to read this second book in the series.
Warning Spoiler:
My complaint is that the author made a huge mistake in this story -- She created a strong heroine and a strong hero --she gets the reader hooked into these two characters and then suddenly she creates another character, who the heroine suddenly falls in love with. After building the hero and heroine's characters up and the reader anticipates their devotion to eachother she gives up on the pair--she lost me--she had a great story going and then midstream she made poor choices in her plot. Perhaps she did this in order to write book three in this Trilogy? If that is the case all I can say is, "what a ripoff" --I am not going to be buying the third book in this series, if I read it --I will get it thru the library.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Book Two is... interesting?, 2008-08-08
I love ALL of Marillier's work, every time. I enjoy her style, her voice, the beautiful way she blends magic, history, and cultures is beyond belief. Book two in the Bridei chronicles was less than I expected, it seemed a bit of a different focus from first book. It was more about the personal feelings and romances of the characters than the larger events going on. Also, I really REALLY like a specific character who gets a wee but jilted at the end and that makes me sad. (Ha!) The ending left me bereft, where as most of her other books have left me happy and excited. It does still make me want to read the third, perhaps with more vigor so as I can see how she fixes it! It's a good book, it really is. Excellent, even. It is better than most you could ever pick up and by. It is simply less than I expected from Marillier.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Yikes! Why change what was so good?, 2008-07-30
It's really too bad that Marillier had to return to her old ways. The Dark Mirror was so brilliant compared to the Blade of Fortriu.
This book is about two characters, mainly. That's Ana and Faolan. We really wished to see what happened to the kind, sweet Ana, and make sure that she's treated properly after such displacement in the first book.
Ana is almost a different person, and she doesn't seem to be near as innocent as she was in the first book. She is strong in such peril, but she's also so annoying now...
Then there's Faolan. The *only* hope of reminding men that they are filled with testosterone. Alas, she seems to screw that up too. Suddenly he's a total wimp who has to confess his every deep dark secret.
There is a good chunk after the climax of the book (like USUAL; Marillier loves to do this in her books--feeds you way more information than you needed to know and leaves you with no imagination or even an afterthought)--anyway, there's a good chunk of the book after the climax that you'd probably wish she didn't write. It's like reading somebody's life story, and it's not very convincing when you hear someone psycho-analyze themselves.
Other than that, wow, I loved it. It's worth the read, but those few pages after the climax... are not. I wish I never read them :(
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A compelling blend of fantasy, history and romance, 2008-04-30
Blade of Fortriu continues the story of Bridei and Tuala. It is five years later and Bridei is the young king of Fortriu faced with difficult choices. In order to win a battle against Dalriada, he must make alliances with the Caitt, a mysterious and sometimes hostile tribe of the Priteni. He sees no other way but to wed Ana to the Caitt king.
The romance thread in this book involves Ana, the Light Isle hostage from The Dark Mirror. It is her story that takes precedence as she is thrust into danger at the hands of the ruthless Priteni king of the Caitt. Faolan, the assassin from the first book (The Dark Mirror) also has a story to tell. His shady past comes to life when the memories he tried to forget come rushing back. Ana and Faolan must trust one another in order to survive in the dangerous land in which they are held prisoner. For Bridei and Fortriu, they will do anything, even if it means sacrificing their own lives.
Ms. Marillier has a gift for telling stories with multiple points of views without confusing the reader. All of the main characters were given enough of the spotlight so that I was able to feel what they were experiencing. Faolan came to be my favorite because of his tormented past, which I felt was convincingly portrayed by the author. Drustan was an interesting addition to the story, his mysterious background compelling. Along with the cast of well-drawn characters, the vivid, poetic descriptions of the Scottish highlands pulled me right into the story.
I would recommend Blade of Fortriu to readers who like romance, fantasy, history and/or magic.
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