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116th out of 790 books
—
1,983 voters
Foxmask (The Light Isles #2)
by
Juliet Marillier (Goodreads Author)
The Norseman Eyvind, a fierce and loyal Wolfskin, came to a new land on top of the world to find his destiny. With his priestess bride Nessa he saved the land and weathered the treachery that was caused by Eyvind's blood-sworn friend Somerled. After much pain and sorrow the two lovers have managed to create a society where the Norse warriors and the gentle folks of the Ork
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Paperback, 560 pages
Published
November 1st 2005
by Tor Fantasy
(first published January 1st 2003)
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I actually really enjoyed this book which I was not expecting because so many people told me that Wolfskin was better.
However, this book was one of my favourites by Juliet Marillier.
I have never hated a character more than Asgrim and I just could not get over how selfish Thorvald was.
I loved how dark this book was at the beginning and the mystery surrounding the real identity of Somerled.
I do have to say that I thought the dragging out of the ending was a little unnecessary but other than that,...more
However, this book was one of my favourites by Juliet Marillier.
I have never hated a character more than Asgrim and I just could not get over how selfish Thorvald was.
I loved how dark this book was at the beginning and the mystery surrounding the real identity of Somerled.
I do have to say that I thought the dragging out of the ending was a little unnecessary but other than that,...more
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Juliet Marillier is quite adept at conveying human emotion. As in many of her other books, the characters reach points where all hope is lost and despair is brought to the forefront, but they continue on in a miserable state. It always brings tears to my eyes when hope is rediscovered & life, resuscitated! I give it 4 stars, instead of 5, because the first 3/4ths moved along at a bit too slow of a pace for me, but that last 1/4...well, let's say I stayed up 2 hours past my bedtime to finish...more
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I expect only great things from Marillier. Stories that captivate, writing that is steeped in imagination, history, magic, and folklore. Heroes and heroines who have an astonishing capacity for love, courage, and endurance. Other memorable characters like Broichan, Somerled, and Thorvald who are flawed but add layers of complexity to the stories.
What always manages to amaze me, however, is the fact that in the middle of a Marillier book, there invariably comes a moment when I am seized with a ki...more
What always manages to amaze me, however, is the fact that in the middle of a Marillier book, there invariably comes a moment when I am seized with a ki...more
A very good follow up to the previous Wolfskin. Here, the main character is female, the daughter of the male protagonist from the previous book. Through the character of Creidhe we again experience growth and the maturation that comes with change, travel, love, and loss. Her character however I found even more personable than her father. Yes Creidhe has the same loyalty, strength, perseverance, and hope that defined Eyvind as well but the obstacles she is thrown as a young woman further define t...more
3.5 stars
At eighteen years old, Thorvald learns that he is the son of Somerled, a cruel man who perpetrated horrors on the people of the Light Isles before his banishment. Angry that his mother lied to him about his parentage and determined to find out what kind of man his father truly is, Thorvald embarks on a journey to find Somerled. Creidhe, a childhood friend in love with Thorvald, stows away on his journey. Over the course of nearly a year, Creidhe and Thorvald grow up and grow apart, find...more
At eighteen years old, Thorvald learns that he is the son of Somerled, a cruel man who perpetrated horrors on the people of the Light Isles before his banishment. Angry that his mother lied to him about his parentage and determined to find out what kind of man his father truly is, Thorvald embarks on a journey to find Somerled. Creidhe, a childhood friend in love with Thorvald, stows away on his journey. Over the course of nearly a year, Creidhe and Thorvald grow up and grow apart, find...more
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Thorvald, the young son of Margaret, widow of the slain king and Eyvind's war leader, has always felt apart and at odds with all he knows. He learns upon his coming to manhood that he is not his father's son but that of the love that Margaret bore for the hated Somerled and that Somerled was not killed for his treachery but sent on a boat, adrift with little more than a knife and skein of water, doomed to the god's will. Thorvald is determined to find a boat and cast off to the West in a despera...more
Foxmask, sequel to Wolfskin, was a wonderful blend of fantasy, gaelic folklore, and myth. Author Juliet Marillier, as always, is in fine form. She has a masterful use of language and displays it beautifully. I really enjoy her themes of family love, loyalty to promises given, and the search for solutions to seemingly impossible problems. The character of Foxmask was quite compelling, a little boy/fox/seer who has the ability to bring a violent tribe, the Unknown, to peace, simply by his existenc...more
I've read nearly all of Marillier's books, loving the Sevenwaters trilogy and having mixed feelings about the others. I have not read Wolfskin, the prequel to Foxmask, but read this one anyway because so many of Marillier's fans adore it. My reaction: mixed. This book is a good example of Marillier's storytelling skills; it bears more resemblance to the original Sevenwaters trilogy than to the Sevenwaters follow-ups or Heart's Blood, which felt much more commercial (faster-paced, less lyrical, m...more
It all started when Thorvald read the letter holding the long-concealed truth. His father was not the venerable, slain chieftain Ulf who led the expedition and settling of the Light Isles, but Somerled, his hated brother who'd been banished by his blood brother Eyvind from the islands before Thorvald was born. Driven by the anger of his mother Margaret's deceit and the intense need to find his father, Thorvald plots to sail with his friend Sam on Somerled's same course. The two friends aren't th...more
This was another great story by Juliet Marillier. I was sad to finish is as I have now read all of her works and will need to wait a few weeks until the next one is released. That's not too long though :)
I thought this was a nice follow up to Wolfskin and continued the story of those characters well. There were a few points that I didn't like, but points that tend to be familiar with Marillier... ie. a strong female lead who loves all of the womanly pursuits like embroidery and cooking... Yes, I...more
I thought this was a nice follow up to Wolfskin and continued the story of those characters well. There were a few points that I didn't like, but points that tend to be familiar with Marillier... ie. a strong female lead who loves all of the womanly pursuits like embroidery and cooking... Yes, I...more
This book surprised me. It had a pretty good romance (not as good as the Sevenwaters trilogy, but that is reallyyyyyyy hard to match), but the book was so much more than that. It was about loss, redemption, good and evil, growing up, self-sacrifice, family...Usually it's the romance in Mrs. Marillier's books that touch me the most, but here it was the combination of everything else that made me cry like a baby towards the end. The characterizations, as always, were strong. The author describes e...more
(originally published at http://storybound.blogspot.com/2012/0...(
Oh Juliet Marillier, how I love you. Your books are always wonderful, your writing is always phenomenal, your ability to make me absolutely despise a person only to absolutely love him later is incredible, your descriptions, your characterizations, your plots are fantastic. I love this book. Of course. I love everything Juliet Marillier writes. This is the second book in the Light Isles series and is set about 18 years after the f...more
Oh Juliet Marillier, how I love you. Your books are always wonderful, your writing is always phenomenal, your ability to make me absolutely despise a person only to absolutely love him later is incredible, your descriptions, your characterizations, your plots are fantastic. I love this book. Of course. I love everything Juliet Marillier writes. This is the second book in the Light Isles series and is set about 18 years after the f...more
I respect what Juliet Marillier is trying to do with both this book and Wolfskin -- but it's really hard to translate icelandic saga into contemporary fantasy. I think she does a better job of it than anyone else, but I also think her ya book are more readable, somehow. Not really less complex, but somehow more engaging, and I think that has to do with how saga characters are portrayed. This one ends better than most, but I have a hard time investing my liking into a character that is obviously...more
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The first 1/3 of this novel has such an air of mystery surrounding it that I could hardly put it down. The three friends put themselves in such a precarious situation, yet you see how they each grow and develop. The mis-communication between characters is Maddening but entertaining at the same time. The comforting thing about reading this author is that fact that she has never left me unsatisfied at the end. No matter how she concludes her material I'm left with the sense that it's really what h...more
WOW! This book was wonderful. You’re enthralled with every page, but at the same time, you become desperately disappointed that there are fewer pages left to read!!! It was so much better than Wolfskin. The story progressed much faster than the first. Marillier has such a way with words. What I love about JM is her ability to capture human nature and emotion. Reading her books is like reading an ancient biography. She takes you on a journey through pain, joy, magic, love, war… the list goes on a...more
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were rich and interesting, and I didn't have to read book #1 to enjoy book #2 in this series. I initially picked it up on accident, thinking it was another book a friend recommended (Wolf Hall), but I'm glad I read it.
I really felt a connection with the characters and will likely go back and read the rest of the series. It's set in an imaginary group of islands in the North Sea, and the topics of redemption and morality (though not in the religious sens...more
I really felt a connection with the characters and will likely go back and read the rest of the series. It's set in an imaginary group of islands in the North Sea, and the topics of redemption and morality (though not in the religious sens...more
This is an extraordinary novel about Thorvald, son of Somerled from Ms Marillier's first novel, Wolfskin. When as a grown man, he finds out his father had been exiled, he decides to try to find him. He enlists the help of a fisherman, Sam.It is also about Creidhe, daughter of Eyvind and Nessa. Unknown to both the men she stows away on Sam's boat.
What awaits the three in the Lost Isles, now the Faroe Islands would never have occurred to them. The Long Knife people and the Shadow people live on th...more
What awaits the three in the Lost Isles, now the Faroe Islands would never have occurred to them. The Long Knife people and the Shadow people live on th...more
Feb 23, 2013
Nikki
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction-alternatehistory,
fantasy
I've been stalled halfway through this a long time, so finally I scanned it for the answers I wanted (mostly the resolution of certain people's identities), and finding myself totally unsurprised and not very impressed by the ending (the way the characters act), I decided to put it aside. I like Marillier's work, sometimes, but this one is a miss for me. Creidhe is just difficult to like, from the start, with her ideas about Thorvald and her insistence on making some eternal love affair out of a...more
Ah, Marillier, you did it again. You made me work, and love, and hate, and cry, and believe. Although you write fantasy, your stories are the most real I have ever read. It is hard for me when I close the book to remember that your characters did not exist.
Although this may not have been my favorite Marillier novel, in many ways it was the most memorable. The plot, characters, setting--and the character's journey--not just the main characters, is masterfully done. There is one particular scene...more
Although this may not have been my favorite Marillier novel, in many ways it was the most memorable. The plot, characters, setting--and the character's journey--not just the main characters, is masterfully done. There is one particular scene...more
Aug 14, 2010
Terry (Ter05 TwiMoms/ MundieMoms)
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
could-not-put-it-down-books
Another great book by Juliet Marillier and now I have read all of her books to date. This is the story of Creidhe, daughter of Eyvind and Nessa from the previous book, Wolfskin. Creidhe has grown up with Thorvald, son of Margaret and the evil Somerled from the previous book. Somerled, who is her father's blood brother, was banished by Creidhe's own father from the isles before Thorvald's birth for murdering his own brother and causing the death of many people. The story has Creidhe stowing away...more
Juliet Marillier was the first author whose books i couldn’t put to rest. Wolfskin and Foxmask were my ultimate favourite when i was young. I was very much enchanted by historical stories, though fiction, she had a way of wrapping the words as though they actually occured in time.
Vikings, war, forbidden love, quests, mythical creatures you name it, it made me want to live in that era. Even though those were rough times, the people had their magical times as well where romance brought people tog...more
Vikings, war, forbidden love, quests, mythical creatures you name it, it made me want to live in that era. Even though those were rough times, the people had their magical times as well where romance brought people tog...more
Juliet Marillier...whyis she so amazing? I could sing her praises all day long. She is one of my all time favorite writers. This is another amazing book. It was a little different, we just jumped right into the story and off on an adventure. I found myself horribly frustrated in some points, as Thorvald was similar in a lot of ways to his father in personality. But the ending more than made up for that! I would eat these words all day!
The second book of the Light Isles follows the children of Eyvind, Nessa, Margaret and Somerled as they set off on a perilous journey to understand their past. The coming battles they are drawn into pit magical forces against humans seeking to change an evil fate that robs infant's of their breath and warriors die once a year on a unforgiving island as they seek a hidden prize.
I think this is my favorite Juliet Marillier book ever. The main character goes through some awesome emotional growth and so do some of the supporting characters. Sometimes the plot seemed slow, a few times I got frustrated with her generalizations and I always have a problem with her religious universalism. But the characters and the romance pulled it through beautifully.
I'm horrified to realize that I read so much terrible fantasy as a teen, and so that makes the ones that were actually good stand out that much more. Although not quite as good as Wolfskin, this is leagues above most of the other popular mediocre "Luna"-type fantasy that was being published when I read this.
In truth I might give this 3 or 3.5 If you like Marillier, this will win you: a level-headed daughter determined to save the reckless son of a killer on a quest for answers from his father. I liked this novel for the twist on Marillier's standard plot development (the falling out of the main characters, the feral boy outside clean story lines) amidst her standard, if likeable, fare (the quest for fullfillment, literally the stuff of mythology/legends). A good, straight read.
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Juliet Marillier was born July 27, 1948 in Dunedin, New Zealand and grew up surrounded by Celtic music and stories. Her own Celtic-Gaelic roots inspired her to write her first series, the Sevenwaters Trilogy. Marillier was educated at the University of Otago, where she majored in music and languages, graduating BA and a B Mus (Hons). She has said in an interview that this academic training strengt...more
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