This is a very enjoyable Celtic fantasy by one of the masters of the genre. Mr. Lawhead creates a realistic world set in Eirlandia (Ireland) when fairies hadn't yet gone underground and the Scalda are invading the country. The different tribes are struggling to overcome the invaders with one man, Brecan, seemingly planning to become High King. Conor is the son of one of the minor Irish kings, a strong warrior with a birthmark on his face and he is on a collision course with Brecan since he suspects him of colluding with the Scalda.
The worldbuilding is fantastic; it was easy for me to envision this ancient Celtic world and peoples. The story is rift with Celtic myths and legends and I became immersed very easily. A great start to a new series. ( )

An engrossing adventure story in the spirit of Dafoe and Stevenson although taking place in the misty realm of the Celtic Isles. ( )

A delightful mixture of Irish myth and legend involving a young man, Conon, wrongly exiled for theft. Along with a druid he and two stalwart friend from his tribe investigate whether a tribal king, Brecan of the Brigantes, has ambitions of becoming the High King. But Conor, after infiltrating his stronghold. finds out there is more to Brecan's ambition than that. Conon and his friends also fight the villains, the Scalda, members of a people similar to Vikings or Saxons. When two of the three are badly injured they are taken by faeries [both male and female] to the faeries' homeland, the "Region of the Summer Stars", different Otherworld locations of Irish myth: e.g., Tir na nOg; Avalon, to be healed.

I've read others of the author's Celtic fantasy and have enjoyed all the novels I read, although fantasy per se is not my favorite genre. [Dragons and other fantastic creatures leave me cold.] His writing reminds me very much of another author I like very much, Guy Gavriel Kay, in that his worlds are thinly disguised real places: Eirlandia=Ireland, in this case. The faeries were all 2-dimensional and the Scalda completely evil. Conor and his friends were intrepid and loyal to each other, which I admired. This is the first volume of a new series; I want to follow their further adventures. My copy had a "teaser" of an excerpt from the next volume. ( )

A very good read and enjoyable read in the Celtic tradition of author Stephen Lawhead. I found all the Celtic words a but difficult to follow and understand at times. ( )