eilonwyhan

This slim volume has a fun story about summoning ancient spirits into our modern-day world.

Lisa Morton, an expert on Halloween and its origins in the Celtic holiday Samhain, has been asked to read a manuscript that was recently found with an Irish bog body. The mummified corpse of a woman was found clutching a sealed box which contained a Latin manuscript detailing the Christian conquest of Ireland, as well as spells from the Druid culture. Morton is skeptical, since the Druids did not believe in writing anything down, and this knowledge was particularly dangerous. Despite her reservations, she gets talked into trying the spell that invokes the Morrigan, a female goddess worshiped by the Druids. Her skepticism evaporates when the spell is successful.

The book was a quick read, and spooky in some spots. Morton clearly has knowledge of the Celts, Druids, and early Christianity in Ireland. Her "what if" story gives some food for thought about the origins of Halloween, and how the Christian conversion in Ireland may not have been so bloodless. Some things didn't make sense to me, but maybe I read too quickly to get past some of the over-description in some places. Conor O'Cuin seemed a little one-dimensional: he was menacing, but not in any specific way that would make me believe his actions at the end of the book. I also had a hard time believing that the Druid woman, who was dying from a raging infection, had the stamina to learn Latin, write down the history of the Christian takeover AND some of the more dangerous spells she and her male counterpart knew. Sometimes, I have a hard time suspending disbelief.

Over all, though, I enjoyed the story enough to stick with it. This review is based on an uncorrected advance copy.