I am a huge fan of Irish author O. R. Melling's The Chronicles of Faerie, a series of young adult novels set in a landscape that shifts between contemporary Ireland and the half-hidden world of faerie. Melling's latest novel, The Light-Bearer's Daughter, centers on Dana, a young girl whose mother mysteriously disappeared when Dana was a toddler. Her father, a Canadian musician of traditional Irish music, has decided he needs help raising his daughter and plans to move them to Canada -- much to Dana's dismay, for she secretly believes that her mother may yet return.
A chance meeting in the forest with a handsome, pale stranger (who quietly exhorts her to "follow the greenway") starts Dana on a perilous journey. Something dark has entered the forest, bent on the destruction of faerie. Dana is the only one who can cross the boundaries of Ireland's faerie kingdoms to deliver a cryptic message to the Mountain King, second-in-command to the High King. Her reward for completion of this quest is not only hoped-for salvation of the faerie kingdoms, but also the gift of Dana's "heart's desire" -- the return of her long lost mother.
And what a journey it is! Dana travels across an Irish landscape transformed by myth and folklore, with gorgeous descriptions of the land's natural beauty alongside sumptuous scenes of the fairy world. There is also page-turning suspense and danger (such as being buried alive in a bog), along with threads of music, myth and poetry as every familiar Irish location is re-imagined from faerie's perspective. And then, of course, there are the faeries themselves who accompany Dana on her journey -- a dazzling cast from high kings and queens to wise-cracking cluricans, tricksterish boggles, a powerful she-wolf and shape shifting ravens.
Although they need not be read in any specific order, I highly recommend the other two novels in the series, The Hunter's Moon and The Summer King. There is adventure, romance, and danger enough for any young adult reader. Plus, a few of my favorite characters from those books make cameo appearances in the new novel.
We invite you to stop in at the Summer 2007 Young Adult Fiction issue of the Journal of Mythic Arts to read a faerie tale excerpted from The Light-Bearer's Daughter: "The Tale of the Mountain King and His Sky Bride." In Melling's novel, the tale is interwoven with the narrative of Dana's quest, each story sharing timeless mythic themes of love and loss.
This is probably well-known, but Dana's story (as well as many other Chronicles of Faerie characters) continues in Melling's 4th novel in this series, The Book of Dreams. This book is particularly fascinating for anyone studying the mythic landscape as it pertains to Canada, as Melling interweaves the folktales of the indigenous and immigrant peoples (and faeries!) of Canada into a brilliant, seamless and powerful work of young adult fiction.
Posted by: Em | July 31, 2007 at 01:25 PM
Yes, I do know about the fourth book...just learned about it today...and was delighted to see that it continues the Faerie Chronicles in Canada. This was originally published as a Penguin Books Canada -- Amulet/Abrams has been reissuing the Faerie Chronicles (with great covers) in the US. So I am hoping we will see the American edition of the fourth book soon.
Posted by: Midori | July 31, 2007 at 06:40 PM
Firstly, go raibh míle maith agat for the wonderful review! Actually, the Amulet/Abrams editions are revised and expanded versions. The new Light-Bearer's Daughter is triple the size of the original. I am currently re-working The Book of Dreams for US publication, Fall 2008. It has been a wyrd journey re-visting and re-writing the four books.
Posted by: Orla (Melling) | August 01, 2007 at 08:03 AM
Oooooh, I didn't know that was out!
Posted by: Holly Black | August 01, 2007 at 09:01 AM