The sequel to Hopman's excellent book "Priestess of the Forest". Druid Isle picks up at what seems to be approximately fifteen to sixteen years after the end of "Priestess of the Forest". Honestly, it wasn't quite the novel I was expecting. This one is full of superb teaching moments concerning religious differences between Paganism and early Christianity, as well as detailing and dove-tailing the similarities. I was expecting something a little closer to an adventure type of story, so my initial expectations came up a little short. Placed in a proper frame of reference, I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a tale of teachable moments within the context of two individuals from opposite ends of the religious spectrum.

Character-wise, Hopman displays a flourish in putting the doubts and fears of an individual taking a step on a wider, far-reaching journey within their life. The internal reflections of both main characters is refreshing and well spun. However, the storyline seemed a little disjointed and jumpy in places. This may be attributable to the extremely short chapters that comprise the story. Some chapters were less then three pages in length. The ending of the novel was another of those "tie it up nice and neat" endings that I deplore. Everything fell neatly into place in the last five pages of the story -- which just doesn't allow the characters to breathe in the bitter side of Life alongside the fresh air of Triumph over Tragedy.

In the final analysis of the book - I found it to be a wonderful book with a strong underlying purpose that it brought out in lovely detail. Despite some of the shortfalls in the writing style, I would very much recommend this book to anyone who asked about - with one tiny caveat: read "Priestess of the Forest" prior to reading "Druid Isle". The storyline in "Priestess of the Forest" runs as an undercurrent to some important character lines and story aspects within "Druid Isle" that will be much more concise to the reader if the two are read in that order.