A Shadow of Gulls

Lugh Mac Romain #1

by Patricia Finney

The story of Lugh Mac Romain, harper and reluctant warrior, as he struggles to escape the curse of the Queen Maeve of Connaught for killing her king and is caught up in the famous Cattle Raid of Cooley by his friendship with the great Champion of Ulster, Cuchulain of Muirthemne.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Ireland, British Literature, Fiction, Historical

350 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

AKA P.F. Chisholm and Grace Cavendish

Patricia Finney's career started with a bang when her first novel A SHADOW OF GULLS was published before she went up to Oxford aged 18 to study History, back in the mists of time, when dinosaurs roamed.
Having found out early what she could do, she has kept doing it. To date she has (mainstream) published:
the Sir Robert Carey Elizabethan crime novels under the pen name PF Chisholm - eight of them so far;
three Elizabethan spy novels as Patricia Finney;
two Elizabethan noir novels as Patricia Finney;
one contemporary romantic thriller - LUCKY WOMAN - under Finney;
three children's books about Jack the daffy Labrador in Doglish (Finney) and various odds and sods including the sequel to GULLS and WRITERITIS, about how to write a novel.
You can find most of her work on http://www.climbingtreebooks.com except for the Sir Robert Carey (PF Chisholm) novels which are published by Poisoned Pen Press (USA) and Head of Zeus (UK).
Her dayjob career has been... complex. At the moment she is living in Hungary and learning Hungarian and writing a non-fiction book about her mother's adventures as a child in wartime Hungary. She is really enjoying not doing a dayjob at the moment.
Go to my website, read my blogs and reviews and sign up for my email newsletter - at http://www.patriciafinney.com

Reviews

[Hirondelle (not getting notifications) · Rating 5 out of 5]

First thing, this is brilliant. Bloody brilliant in all senses of the word. A scholarly, beautifully written, human interpretation of some Cuchulain early Irish myths. Absolutely perfect antidote to a lot of syrupy new agey celtic lovefest atmosphere which is really popular in fantasy now. It´s beautifully written, feels historically true, the characters are fully human. Maybe just maybe the best Finney book I have read yet ( I love her PF Chisholm stories, but her Elizabethan mysteries were a bit too Hollywood, too shallow for my taste).

But the second thing is a warning, this is not at all cozy, it´s convincingly alien, the past being a different planet of sorts. I got a personal tongue-in-cheek theory that any sufficiently ancient literary classic is all about cattle theft (seriously) and petty jealousies and killing people for stupid reasons, and yeah, cattle envy. This interpretation of an old classic feels true to history, and fits that mold, so it´s bloody and alien. I prefer Gillian Bradshaw´s take on history, maybe because she picks "normal" people as her focus, she is able to portray the alienness moderated somehow. In this case, the alienness of the past is convincing, brilliant and not at all comfortable (nor should it be).

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cannot talk to anyone about this book, because, like a Russian novel, i can't pronounce the names. How the hell do you pronounce Cuchulain of Muirthenme? Lughaib Riabh nDerg? Even the weapons have names like Gae Buigh. And those the easy ones. Other than that, it's a solid historical read, just what you'd expect from the fabulous Patricia Finney.

[Gregoire · Rating 2 out of 5]

J'ai ce livre en format poche depuis 1979 !!! je pense l'avoir lu à l'époque mais il ne m en n'est rien resté
Comme je fais du "désherbage" (du moins, j'essaye ... hahaha) j'ai tenté une relecture (d'où le hahaha du désherbage qui me fait bouger les piles de livres et surtout modifier ma PAL mais qui ne diminue pas grand chose côté espace ...)
Je suis très mitigé
D'une part j'adore cette période celtique de l'Irlande et un livre qui donne vie à Cuchulain, Maeve et autres Conor a de quoi m’allécher
mais d'autre part j'avoue ne pas apprécier le personnage de Lugh mac Roman, avoir des difficultés à retenir tous les termes (non anglicisés) employés par l'auteure malgré le lexique de fin et finalement avoir trouvé les scènes répétitives et trainant en longueur
En fermant le livre, je n'ai pas eu envie de suivre Lugh dans sa nouvelle vie (il existe parait-il 2 suites)
Mais je comprends que, pour certains, la "magie" celtique opère

Je rappelle que ma notation n'est que le reflet de mon ressenti personnel. non celui de la qualité intrinsèque du livre

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing read

I loved this book. Poetic and exciting. I heard the author wrote this when she was very young which makes it even more amazing. I assume it is rooted in Irish myth and history and I am eager to read more. I found a few typos but they were unimportant. Perhaps a second edition could fix that. I recommend this to all who like to read high concept fantasy

[BookAddict · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well I'll start by saying that my opinion of this had more to do with me than anything else. I just can't take over long narratives where absolutely nothing happens except thinking about a battle, deciding whether to do battle, the actual battle and then the aftermath of the battle. Other than that this was really boring... I think the only author that can write historical battle narratives that my sometimes girl brain likes is Bernard Cornwell. I never finished this. I just could not get through it... and I don't understand because I adore Patricia Finney and PF Chisholm's books.

[Eamonn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up mainly because any English language book that turns up second-hand in this non-english language country is automatically given some consideration, plus being Irish I'm familiar with the legends that form the background of the novel as they're taught in primary school (or they were, once upon a time). Even so, I really thought this wouldn't appeal to me all that much, as the only thing vaguely similar that I've read would be sci-fi/fantasy of the Burroughs variety, many years ago. I struggled through the first few chapters and let my reading pace lapse a bit but after about a third I gave it the attention it deserved and from about halfway I got really into it and thoroughly enjoyed it in the end. It's basically a retelling of the The Tain, using an observer who is close to the main characters but is something of an outsider due to his parentage and his profession.

[Bea De · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really loved the explanations about the grain kings;how the real power resided in the queen who got to choose a new king every 7 year period after which he was cut down by the druids as a bussel of grain..She then gave the man of her choosing a penis-formed stone and he knew he was chosen as the next grain king.Very fascinating.The hero kills a king some 2 days too soon and has to run or stay and die for the commiting of sacrilige.

[Patricia Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an exciting and beautifully told story of history, myth and magic in 2nd century Ireland. Lugh, half Irish and half Roman, is a wonderful main character, with a powerful voice, and the setting is vivid and finely detailed. It's amazing that the author was only in her teens when she wrote this debut novel, it's that good. (And she became even better and better over the years...I own every book she has written!) I reread it every few years...it's a keeper!!

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patricia Finney at age 16 wrote a masterpiece

This book sings like the bars who is it's protagonist about an Ireland full of myths, warfare and love. I come back and re-read it each year. The book sings of Cuchulain, Champion of Ulster and the Cattle Raid of Cooley as well as the story of Lugh Mac Romain. It makes me cry.

[scarlettraces · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love Finney's writing, in both her personas, so i was terribly excited to find this in an op shop, even though the presentation (first person, mythical irish) is not my favourite. and it was good - smoothly written, psychologically interesting, not too much poeticism. but i'm glad she moved her period forward several hundred years.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deirdre of the Sorrows? Check
The Catte raid of Cooley? Check
Cuchallain's (sp?) fight at the ford to hold up said raid? Check

A shadow of Gulls is thus based primarily on the 'Ulster' series of legends, and (for me) was one of the rare instances where literature is synonymous with entertainment!

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I read it through to the end and of course I do love Patricia Finney's writing..The content maybe and constant battle scenes, yes I know they were warriors.
Perhaps because it was written long ago and styles change, although I loved the Irish history of it..
4 stars. I have the sequel too.. just not sure if I am ready for that.

[Mely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent historical retelling of the Irish myth cycle on the Cattle Raid of Cooley, reminiscent of Rosemary Sutcliff or Gillian Bradshaw; some disturbing undercurrents around the presentation of the (female) villain not offset by any other significant female characters so far.

[Nancy McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

Wow! War, love, heroes, honor, treachery, music and poetry. Add ancient gods to the mix and you've got the Celts. This book brought the Celtic people to life vividly. Truly great book.

[Margareth8537 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written book - and she isn't even 20 yet!

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

remarkable book considering age of author at the time as it required substantial research

[Meghan Osment · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Historical Fantasy

Despite its age and sometime dragging moments , the writing holds up as a intimate encounter with the reader. Very enjoyable for fans of Irish myth.

[mandy wenham · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read this book years ago. Really interesting characters and vividly brings to life that period in time. Great read.

[Judith Paterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is amazing to think that Patricia Finney was only 17 when she wrote this.
She obviously knew an awful lot about Ireland at this time - sometimes I found it a bit hard to follow and was glad of the glossary and list of characters at the back.
Enjoyed the story and will read the next one. She hasn't quite hit the heights of her later books well worth reading this one anyway