Fionn and the Legend of the Blood Emeralds

About this book

Dark is a reluctant accomplice on his stone mad uncle Connie’s to secure the possessions of ‘friends’ from another time. It is to this other era that Dark returns when his uncle collapses with a mystery illness Night after night he travels across the fields to enter the forbidden fairy fort and the world of Fionn MacCumhaill. The world too of a young man called Matha whose quest is obstructed by bewitched cats, disgruntled warriors, unhelpful herons and various other unsettled types. Dark finds his friends moving away from him as his own quest gets complicated. He gets drawn into robbery, hacking hospital records and talking to birds as Connie’s condition worsens. Soon Dark, like Matha, sees that there are things he has to learn without understanding and he finally comes to realise the truth of his uncle's words, 'They walk among us.’ Comments on O’Neill’s previous title, Old The Lost Tales of Fionn Mac Cumhaill ‘Tom O’Neill brings hundreds of heroes, villains, and fabulous creatures to us in a tour-de-force of story telling.’ Gemma Hussey, former Minister of Education ‘There is nothing implausible about the emotions that course through these latter-day folktales that bring LED lighting to fairy raths; no false notes dim their sense of loss and betrayal or, indeed, O’Neill’s idiomatic style. This is a book straight from the oral tradition – it would sparkle if read aloud.’ Mary Shine Thompson, The Irish Times www.HeroicRealm.com