The Stormkeeper’s Battle
Bringing a trilogy to a fitting and satisfying conclusion is a challenge for any writer but from the first page Catherine Doyle takes up that challenge with style and gusto. Fionn Boyle, her central protagonist, is the Storm Keeper of Arranmore, and he, like Doyle, is facing the challenge of his life. The Morrigan, the immensely powerful dark enchantress, has been resurrected, and the Island has been cut off from the outside world. With no prospect of help coming, Fionn must prepare to face her.
Doyle has always written the Irish landscape in to her fantasy narrative organically and with great skill. No more so than in this final instalment in her trilogy, where the storm-tossed waves and the beleaguered island take centre stage, imbued with a deep mythological significance.
Relentlessly tense and exciting, The Stormkeeper’s Battle is also tremendously clever, something fans of the trilogy have come to expect from Doyle. Her characters shine even in the midst of the magic flying through the air – they carry the story and this reviewer defies any reader not to get carried away rooting for them in this last battle.
Doyle manages that most difficult of tasks – to tie up all of the trilogy’s loose ends while making the final instalment in Fionn’s tale a compelling story in its own right. High recommended.
