Colman (Doran, #3)

Colman (Doran #3)

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66  ·  rating details  ·  671 ratings  ·  44 reviews
Set in very early Christian times, Colman is a spellbinding fantasy of a faraway age, when the mystical and the commonplace walked hand in hand. The healer, Juniper, and her apprentice, Wise Child, are accused of witchcraft and forced to flee their small town. Wise Child’s devoted cousin, Colman, escapes with them. This is his story of their arrival to the land of Juniper’...more
Mass Market Paperback, 288 pages
Published February 22nd 2005 by Laurel Leaf (first published February 24th 2004)
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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,169)
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Juushika
The sequel to Wise Child and Juniper, Colman follows the lives of these three characters as they flee from Wise Child’s childhood home to Juniper’s childhood home of Cornwall, only to find Juniper’s aunt has murdered her parents, the king and queen, and taken her brother, the prince, as a prisoner. Wise Child and Colman, with the help of the leper Cormac, must infiltrate the enemy stronghold, discover the prince’s affiliation, and find a way to rescue the prince and the kingdom by defeating Mero...more
Lia
Jun 14, 2008 Lia rated it 1 of 5 stars
Shelves: fantasy
The third book following Wise Child and Juniper. Furlong wrote it while she was dying of cancer. I think it was written as a distraction and was not intended for publication. The characters and ideas are weak to non-existant, and the plot is harried and unrewarding. It is not a good read and a bad ending to the first two books. I think it is more of a reflection on how hopeless she was feeling as her struggle with cancer was drawing to a close. This book was published posthumously.
Ilana
I give up. I'm sorry, but I can't read this book without forcing myself. I got to page 90 just barely. I loved both Wise Child and Juniper, but Colman is lacking everything that made the others so good. I feel as if Furlong was trying to make an adventure story when that just isn't what she writes well. The main character of this book is a young boy, where in the others they were young girls, and his character is bland and lifeless. He has no real opinions, no real reactions and it's as if we ar...more
Madeleine
This is the third in a series - read the first 2 as a kid and then noticed this the other day and decided to see if I like it (plus it's finals...which means reading YA lit is my procrastination tool of choice).


I don't like it near as well as the first 2, but it's nice to finally get the ending...I always felt like the second book was a really dumb way to "end" things!

Ashley
This book is a solid 4 star read. Although I really enjoyed this book, it is not as solid a read as the two books that come before it, Juniper and Wise Child. Both the other books could be read to stand alone. Although the story is obviously richer when you read both of them, they make sense apart, and stand alone wonderfully. Colman, however, does not. If you have not read Juniper and Wise Child, much of Colman would be lost to you. Although it could still be an enjoyable enough read on its own...more
Taylor
I love this series -- Juniper, Wise Child, and Colman -- but I love many of the books in this world that make herbalists, wise women, and dorans out to be ordinary people that can do special things. I want to be a doran when I grow up. This book could be excellently used with a young man who is in his coming-of-age process.
Nicole
I tried to read this, but it was so horribly written that I just couldn't get through it. It's such a disappointment in contrast to "wise child" and "juniper". I can't even believe it was written by the same person. Very weird.
Caitlín (Ink Mage)
I liked this book all right, but "liked it" is all. It did not amaze me or keep me eagerly reading like the first two, but it was nice to know what happened to Juniper, Wise Child, Colman, and Finbar.
Thespian999
I didn't think that I would like this book until the very end. This was the last book that Monica Furlong ever wrote. It's worth reading.
Morag
Not as good as the other 2 of it's series. I had to struggle through it. I did love getting the back story for the main characters.
Emily
Dec 22, 2007 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: herbalists, children, fantasy-lovers
my least favorite of the trilogy, but still good--only wish i had discovered these as a little girl making them all the more magical!
Jennifer
Monica Furlong's "Juniper" and "Wise Child" were two of my favorite books as a child, but somehow I missed that there was a third book, "Colman" -- until recently.

I finally got to read this companion piece this year, and while it was wonderful to revisit beloved characters, it felt very much like the third in a trilogy, mostly there to wrap up the first two books and to better set up the future of the characters. So while I loved it, I loved it on the merits of the first two. Had I never learned...more
Austenite
A pretty satisfying ending to the "Wise Child" series, though not quite as satisfying as the original.
Danica
liked it a lot...more exciting and better than Wise Child, i thought.
Hippymomma
my least favorite of the trilogy - but it does finish it off....
Rose
And here we go again talking about the book I love most. I think that compared to the other two I love this one the most. It is the best way to describe the characters to see what they would do in times of panic and fear.

Though there is one thing I actually hate. I think Finbar get's a bit ignored at the end of the book. I mean he was the one who got the weapons and everything but he is not descriped at the battle which I think is were he should be too.

I always thought that in the end Juniper sa...more
Erin
Jun 11, 2010 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: 2010
I read that Monica Furlong finished this book right before she died, so it missed out on a lot of re-writes and edits. It needed those re-writes and edits. The dialogue is not so hot, and the action is, well, it's action. I don't really want action in my Wise Child books. But still, it's nice to wrap up the story, and nice to see these characters again, even if they're not exactly as wonderful as they were in the other books.
Rhapsody
May 11, 2009 Rhapsody rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Monica Furlong readers
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Marissa
A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy about Wise Child and Juniper, Colman gives us updates on many characters from the previous books and shows what happened with Juniper's family and kingdom. The one aspect I was disappointed about was that I would have liked to see, or at least hear of, would be what happened with Gamal and where Juniper's owl - whether it be Moon or a new friend - was. Otherwise, this was a very good culmination of what the trilogy has been building to, as it relates to the...more
Darcy
Still a great book, but written from the POV of the boy, which seemed to be a challenge to the authour. I think she really wanted to write it from Wise Child's, and it's like she has to keep reminding herself that she's Colman...Still, you can't read the first two without reading this one, and it's pretty great.
Angypants
I loved Wise Child and it's always good to have a sequel. Colman is a bit of a hit and miss- it hits upon the world and characters of it's prequels, but I missed the narrative voice of Wild Child. That's my own failing I think, and not Furlong's. She thoughtfully changed our world's when she gave us these books.
Paige
2 star book, extra star for finishing the trilogy. Colman's basically a non-character...just a sort of window through which the reader can see the rest of the story. Nowhere near as good as Wild Child or Juniper, sadly. I enjoy the Wise Child "universe" more than I thought I would, and I wish the final part of trilogy could have been better, but at least it's nice for there to be a sort of resolution to the story.
Loraine
Just wonderful. Community, caring for one another, goodness of heart over meanness of spirit, what a profound conclusion to Furlong's tale. The foreword by Karen Cushman touched my heart--I, too, am glad Ms Furlong lived to complete Colman. The purity of style, without one bit extra of unnecessary detail, seems all the more amazing, given MS Furlong's health.
Jillian
Feb 22, 2011 Jillian rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: y-a
This is the sequel to Wise Child, told in the voice of her cousin Colman. It's a nice story, though not as peaceful and calming as the other book. When Wise Child is not the narrator she is pretty annoying.
Wealhtheow
Published posthumously, this is the sequel to Wise Child. When Wise Child and Juniper are accused of witchcraft by their village, they escape with Finbar, Cormac and Colman and travel to Juniper’s homeland, where she lived first as a spoiled princess and then as an apprentice under Euny. Juniper’s previously happy country suffers under the rule of Meroot and the Grey Knight. Juniper and her friends join her countrymen in overthrowing the tyrannical rule. Unlike the first two books in the series...more
Annaka
There was a conclusion to the whole Wise Child/Juniper story! This was awesome to discover and a very enjoyable YA read.
Glenn
This is the third and final book of the Wise Child trilogy by Monica Furlong. It's not as original as the other two, but it is satisfying to find out what happens to our favorite characters. Definitely worth a read.
J
I came upon this series by accident. I thoroughly enjoyed it and wished there was more.
Jaime
Not as good as the other two books. But I have to say that Monica Furlong is a wonderful author. She has well-rounded characters that are always exciting and mysterious. It was well worth the $25 I paid for this out of print book!!
Erica
A disappointment. But apparently my copy is worth a little bit of money.
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Colman (Doran, #3)
Colman (Hardcover)
Colman (Library Binding)
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Obituary from The Guardian, Friday January 17 2003
by Michael De-la-Noy

Monica Furlong, who has died of cancer aged 72, would have achieved distinction through her writings alone. But she was always on the lookout for good causes to espouse, and once she had thrown in her lot with the Movement for the Ordination of Women, and with the aims of secular feminism in general, she became to many women - a...more
More about Monica Furlong...
Juniper (Doran, #2) Wise Child (Doran, #1) Robin's Country Zen Effects: The Life of Alan Watts Visions and Longings: Medieval Women Mystics

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