Finally finished my NetGalley summer reads after staying up late to finish ‘Sword of the Sun’- a mesmerising and heroic tale of ancient Irish gods and goddesses and the human heroes that promised to defend an ancient and powerful artefact. This story has everything! Estranged, extended and unconventional families! Moody teenagers.
Rock music. An Irish National Park. A guardian bear that glows! A really cool sword! When financial misfortune strikes the O’Donnell family, Aisling, John, Fin and Ben (their two teenage sons) are forced to leave Dublin and their lives behind and return to the sticks - Ennis, County Clare. Aisling accepts an offer to return to her family home, one which holds an uncomfortable, painful and mysterious past, to live with her sister and her wife, and their daughter, Ji-Ah. It is in the ancestral home that things take a turn for the strange and ‘old magic’ comes to the fore of Ben and Fin’s minds. Dark dreams, crows and thundering mountains take over their thoughts. Can Ben discover the truth behind his Grandad’s long buried research and fight off the dark beauty that is the Morrigan?

The plot

Our book opens in 1979. In his forties, Brendan O'Donnell lifts his head from his life's work – a passion. This all-consuming obsession keeps him engrossed, not even having time for his wife and two children. A noise makes him stir, and within his dimly lit room, he espies a single figure lurking in the shadows. It is Anand, aka Morrígan, Battle Crow, Shadesinger, and She-Who-Is-three. Ancient as the hills, she revels in battles and deciding the fate of armies and individual soldiers. Her two sisters, who occupied her form, were driven out of her, so she is now just one. She seeks the means to recover and be reunited with her sisters. An ancient sword, The Sword of the Sun, and a silver metal arm to wield it are required. But the sword is good and needs to be turned to the dark side before she can. And she neither has nor knows the whereabouts of either.

Brendan is the latest and soon-to-be last of his line. A line of a family long since charged to protect the sword and arm from the Battle Crow for fear of the destruction she will unleash. In a whirlwind of crows that emanate and are the Morrígan herself, he breathes his last that night, but doesn't reveal his secrets. Found in the morning surrounded by crow feathers, a heart attack is diagnosed, and his wife locks the room up and tries to forget her loveless and seemingly selfishly obsessed husband. Her daughters, Aisling and Niamh, never get to understand their father's work or its importance. Instead, animosity for their father grows with time like a pernicious weed, and the secret promise of the O'Donnells' and the whereabouts of the two items is lost. But, the Morrígan is patient and bides her time for another chance...

In the present time, we meet Ben, an autistic boy, his elder teenage brother, Fin, his mother, Aisling, and his dad. They have been forced to move back to the family home when their home in Dublin is put up for sale by the landlord. It is a last resort as far as Aisling is concerned, but Niamh and her wife, who now own the house, have made the kindest gesture.

Niamh's Korean wife has a teen daughter, about Fin's age, called Ji-Ah, and she and Fin don't hit it off as they have far differing tastes in metal music. Teenage angst abounds, and stress levels rise.

For Ben, things are bad. New friends and school are always challenging, more so for the autist. The family is warned NOT to go investigating a nearby cave system that is dangerous and has been locked up for many years.

Things start to go weird for Ben when he sees a strange figure in the ruins of an old castle. Three crows also seem to be following him, appearing at the house and in town.

Ben's passion and huge curiosity draw him to look at the legends of crows in the local library. A kindly young librarian called Danu helps him, and seems familiar.

Curiosity soon drives Ben to find the key to Brendan's office room, the only evidence of which is a door with a missing plaque.

Here, he discovers a stopped-up cupboard and, within, cherished documents and pictures kept by Brendan that show how deeply he loved his family. Driven to know more and to set right his aunt and mother's prejudice for their father, Ben digs on.

It is a strange thing that since arriving at the house, both he and Fin have been having nightmares. Fin has been sketching a figure in black, whilst Ben has, amongst other things, sensations of flying.

Life goes on, and the kids rub along as best they can. When one night Ben awakes to find his brother vanished from the house, he heads off to check out beyond the garden and towards the cave.

OK, from here, approximately halfway through, the adventure takes us to new highs and earthly depths. What may await Ben in the cave, for that surely seems to be where Fin is, given the lock on its gate is now broken, is a ride into mythology, dark magic, tension, resilience and a fight and flight like no other, save maybe one from Lord of the Rings.


So, what did we think?

Like the preceding adventure, The Silver Road, this book casts us once more back into the rich tapestry of Irish history and mythology. The uninitiated need fear not as here are ample references to characters, objects and places referred to at the back of the book if you need more insight into who's who and what's where, or indeed if the character is a reworking or created by the author to aid the story.

For those like us, who just love a good story but struggle with (Celtic) names of old or switch off at lengthy historical introductions, I am pleased to say this story won't leave you behind as the main characters are easily identified and followed. The scene setting prologue in 1979 is both informing and tantalising.

The family dynamic and diversity, physically and culturally, made us smile. The array of characters works really well. This is a book of many facets. It isn't about Ben's autism, though that plays a part in the story. It has a far wider-reaching and subtler impact. Diversity and culture, relationships and forbearing. The time-old battle of good versus evil has been given a fresh twist that will excite a new and broader audience. Hopefully, this will encourage a lifelong respect for cultural heritage, too.


In conclusion

This book must surely crown SJ O'Hart as the queen of Irish folklore storytelling. Bold, energetic and steeped with legend, feeling, and action that wouldn't be out of place in the best of Tolkien. The perfectly executed blend of fact, legend and mythology that left us spellbound. Middle Graders won't find a better story straddling two worlds to lose themselves in than this.

Definitely one of O'Hart's best books. It really gripped me early on, and had an incredibly compelling story. I loved the detailed history of irish mythology that was woven into the story, and by the end culminated in one of the best written battles I've come across. very impressive indeed!

the characters were distinct and likeable, always a bonus! The whole book just felt so alive, it was an absolute delight to read.

my only gripe, and it's very small, is that even though there is a pronounciation guide at the end for some of the names and words, some of them are brushed over so you kind of get half a guide. As someone who doesn't have any clue about how to pronounce irish Gaelic (other than Mh being V, similar to scottish gaelic), i was completely lost most of the time. I'd love some annotations when the names first appear, and then a list at the end with reminders (so you dont have to check the annotations all the time).

Quite a startling, graphic opening when the grandfather is induced into a heart attack by the Morrigan which may deter readers at the younger end, but then continues as a tense adventure with a strong sense of place and Irish mythology. At the same time it positively represents themes of diversity and family relationships. An interest in Irish legends helps as there are some quite long passages of retellings, but generally this is an engaging read