The Land of the Living and the Dead by Shauna Lawless

I would like to thank Ad Astra for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Ad Astra

Published – out now

Price – £9.99 paperback £4.68 ebook

THE OLD WORLD WILL DIE IN FLAMES.

Ireland, 1011 AD. The mortal kingdoms rise up against High King Brian Boru as they seek to wrest his crown from him. Yet the real struggle is between the two magical races of Ireland, the Fomorians and the Descendants, eternal enemies who both seek dominion over the mortal world.

Gormflaith, King Brian's queen, remains unmasked as the powerful Fomorian she is. Gormflaith plans to gain mastery over Ireland and destroy the Descendants in one fell swoop... but she cannot do it alone.

The Descendants are bitterly divided. Fódla, a Descendant who was once part of King Brian's inner circle, must use this division to thwart a treacherous plot long in the making - even if it means sacrificing herself. But with other lives on the line, can Fódla reveal the evil in time?

As secret schemes come to deadly fruition, the only possible outcome is war. Ireland has bled red and often, but the coming clash will change the course of history for ever.

NB this story follows the earlier books The Children of Gods and Fighting Men  and The Words of Kings and Prophets by Shauna Lawless

Sometimes the culmination of a story is about the price you’re willing to pay. To obtain the person or thing you most want be it love, power or peace how much are you prepared to sacrifice. Will you be happy with your choices, destroyed by them or just very disappointed? In Shauna Lawless’ Theland of the Living and the Dead we return to 11th century Ireland for the excellent conclusion to the fantastic Gael Song series.

Ireland has been for centuries now the battle between two magical groups. The Descendents and the Fomorians. The latter pursued the former to their near total destruction, but Gormflaith and her brother Maelmorda survived and became respectively Queen to Brian the High King of Ireland and King of Leinster. Being I positions of power they continued to scheme as to how to strike back against their ancient enemies manipulating Irish and Viking leaders to Gormflaith’s many schemes. The descendants under their leader Tomas turned inward hiding at a magical fortress and guarding magical treasures. One of them Fodla though has found Tomas was taking power for himself ruthlessly, playing with magic to control people to serve his own ends and Fodla has found humans to be far more worth saving; in particular she struck a relationship up with Murchad King Brian’s son. The events of the last few years means Fodla has gone into hiding looking after her sister’s child but now once again the machinations of Tomas and Gormflaith are pulling not just Fodla but human and magical communities into the next battle for the future direction of Ireland.

To conclude this arc of the series (more books set later in Ireland’s history have been announced) I can just confirm this was a delight to read. Lawless finely balances a huge number of characters, factions and even nations to build up the tension towards a huge climatic battle that will have huge consequences for Ireland and all the key characters we have come to know across these three books.

Prior to that the first acts of the story set up the sense that time has passed. I really liked how we see all the main characters have changed subtly over time. Fodla having taken herself off the board with Broccan on a hidden Ireland is in some ways the least changed being immortal and so her arc is exploring the changes on human and descendant side when she is required to come back. Broccan is now a young man with a point to prove and finds humans and the glory of battle too tempting to resist while Fodla finds Murched is now a strong leader in the making but has clearly been hurt by Fodla’s disappearance many years ago. Watching these two reconnect and try to start again is one of the most emotional lines as we have two people finding happiness again. Of course, this is w here all the other plotlines then come along to potentially spoil things!

Fodla’s relationship with the Descendants is once again tested as Tomas pushes things to even more extremes. We see him trying to control the other Descendants through magic and now there needs to be a reckoning. Fodla is quite key to the next chapter of that battle and here Lawless shows how much Fodla’s confidence in herself grows as she is now very much no longer in awe of Tomas and knows her own mind. Watching her stand up to him is hugely empowering but also heralds some key changes in the Descendants as to where they go more insular or start to look again at mixing with humans. These sections are filled with all sorts of magic, fierce battles and witches and a sense of the more stranger magical world at work. Huge shifts are coming and how the descendants will survive them becomes quite key tot eh book.

This neatly brings us back to the books’ most fascinating character Gormflaith. In many ways a villain but I do have to admit she is just absolutely fascinating whenever she appears on the page. Gormflaith is less about just being evil but so fully ruthless to get what she wants and its hard not to admire her schemes and resourcefulness. If it was not for her gender, she would no doubt would have been a mighty king in her won right and how she is constantly dismissed as a wife, mother or woman is a common theme not just to insult her but also, she is constantly underestimated by the powerful men around her. Now in Brian’s court she has her own magical empowered son Donnchad to train and their dynamic is fascinating. Gormflaith has not the time to play sweet games, so she instils on her children the need for power and to protect themselves. This may not always end up where she wants them to be, and the book is quite unpredictable as to where this family will be heading at a personal dynamic of people starting to think now that Brian is getting old as to who next gets the High Kingship of Ireland. Fodla’s desire to aver her family of descendants is neatly compared to Gormflaith’s desire to control and direct them and suffer no potential threat to herself which ultimately may be Gormflaith’s biggest weakness that she never seems prepared to let anyone else thrive on their own too feet.

That works neatly for Gormflaith’s cunning plan to fight to battles using Irish and Viking troops. A desperate attack on the Descendants is cunningly prepared and at the same time she wishes to start a war with her own husband t ensure her brother and sons get power next!  Watching how Gormflaith engineers all of this is beautiful intrigue and strategy.  Lawless in doing so also neatly explores and explains the shifting power dynamics of the historical period culminating in a huge set piece where thousands of men on both sides prepare for battle on the shores of Ireland. The tension has been nicely simmering and then the book’s final acts unleash all of this with great action, tactics and quite personal drama where characters end up meeting for the last time. There is a huge feeling of these storylines ending in this book so be prepared to see the end of some familiar faces but Lawless makes us feel the costs of battle and self-sacrifice. It also starts to suggest future storylines and a new cast that may start to pick up the reins. This for me firmly ends the first three books excellently but I’ll be more than happy to return to this world once again.

The Land of the Living and The Dead cements Shauna Lawless as one of our most interesting fantasy writers around creating a great mix of history and myth to create a fascinating world and bringing it to life with style plus an array of complex characters who even their darker acts make you still understand them (and for Gormflaith perhaps admire them). I strongly recommend this to fans of the previous books and this is a series if you enjoy historical fantasy you should be picking up quickly!