Customer Reviews

On the Edge of Darkness

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a well written, compelling story of a love that intersects the past, as well as the present. An excellent piece of paranormal fiction, it keeps the reader riveted to the pages.

The story begins in the nineteen thirties, when a fourteen year old boy named Adam, while traipsing in the isolated crags of the Scottish highlands near an ancient Celtic stone, meets a girl named Brid whom he mistakes for a gypsy, due to her wild, long hair, and her exotic style of dress. Unbeknownst to him, a portal in time has opened, allowing Adam and Brid, who is actually a Druid from the sixth century, to cross back and forth in time. Adam, however, does not realize that he is actually travelling back and forth in time, while Brid is not only fully aware of what is happening, but is doing so in contravention of what her uncle, a high priest to the Druids, and her training have taught her.

Over time, she becomes obsessive about Adam, who is her first love, while Adam, as he grows up, moves on with his life. In leaving the heartsick Brid behind and consigning her to his memories, he takes his life in a seemingly new direction.

Brid, on the other hand, forsaking the teachings of her people and incurring the wrath of her powerful uncle and a sure sentence of death, is dead serious about Adam, and she goes through the time portal in search of him. Adam, who has by now left home to go to medical school, is unaware of her obsession and of the lifelong quest now set in motion.

Over the years, Adam makes new friends, becomes a doctor, gets married, and has a family, but Brid, trapped in the wrong time, begins to haunt them all, as she searches for Adam. Her obsession with him finally turns deadly, and the body count begins, as she seeks to tear him asunder from all whom he holds dear.

It is only fifty years into the nightmare that this obsessive love is finally put to rest. How this happens, and at what cost, will keep the reader turning the pages of this well written and imaginative novel.

As I read this book in the wake of rereading The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, I was thoroughly in the mood for more Celtic tales of Druids, rituals and magic. This story does not conjur up half the magic of Bradley's masterpiece, but it does satisfactorily probe some of that primordial mystery that shrouds the ancient world and its people. In this tale, unhappy adolescent Adam spends most of his time on the hillside where the Celtic stone from another century proudly stands. Little does he know, but the stone is a gateway to another time, a time where Druid Priestess-in-training, Brid, is able to pass from her time, the 6th century into the far future---Adam's time in the 20th century. At first he views the vivacious Brid as a marvelous playmate, but when she initiates him into the pleasures of sexual love, he is smitten--at least for while. As Adam matures, he leaves his home village and sad childhood to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor. His life moves onto other women, marriage and children of his own. However, Brid does not move on, she is still the young and beautiful Druidess who defies her family and her religious traditions to pursue Alan across the boundaries of time. Her obsession is all-encompassing; she lets nothing stop her from getting back into Alan's life and to control him in the only way she can--in his bed. Brid's melancholy and frustration is uniquely portrayed by Erskine--indeed it permeates the tone of the entire story.
Ms Erskine is surely the master of the obsessive tale; the reader while finding Brid somewhat annoying after plaguing Alain for over 50 years, can understand her bewilderment over aging Alan's puzzling behavior when defending his frazzled family from her, and commiserate with both their mutual attraction for one another and Alan's disgust with himself as he falls prey over and over again to Brid's charms. After three generarions of daunting pursuit and umpteen pages, it is to the reader's great relief that with the help of a powerful present day druid and Alan's grandchild, Brid's claim on Alan can finally be loosened and Brid's own immortal soul released from her uncle's grasp.
Although I enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down, I must say I enjoyed Erskine's earlier works much more. In particular, "House of Shadows" certainly pricked those tiny hairs off the back of my neck! Even so, "On the Edge of Darkness" succeeds in eliciting sometimes fright-fraught emotions for both protagonists---even if these emotions are a bit disturbing----which stay with the reader after the book has been closed and put down.

This was an excellent edition to my collection of Barbara Erskine tales.

Adam is a troubled 14-year old in the Scottish Highlands when he meets Brid and they become friends. What he doesn't know is she is a Druid from many centuries ago. They become even closer as the years pass, eventually becoming lovers. As Adam gets older and moves on with his life, going away to school and getting married, Brid is confused and consumed with jealousy that she has been abandoned. Her curse follows Adam's family for two generations until it is broken by Adam's granddaughter.

This tale wasn't as creepy as other novels by this auther (House of Echoes or Midnight is a Lonely Place) but it had a very compelling supernatural element. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, its wonderful imagery, characters I grew to love (or, in Brid's case, sympathize with) and the sense of romance in both the location and the relationships.

If you're an Erskine fan already you are in for a treat and if not, this is a great book to get hooked...

In her list of books, Barbara Erskine has mastered the art of using an item, a place or a person as a catalyst for a journey between the present time and the past. In this title, a Celtic stone cross in the Scottish highlands is the portal through which fourteen year old Adam meets Brid, a girl from sixth century who is training as a Druid priestess. But just as Adam can enter the sixth century, Brid can enter the 20th, and there a 50 year nightmare begins for Adam and his loved ones.

This is quite different from Barbara Erskine's other books, which basically follow the theme of a fairly normal modern day person finding themselves transported to another time. Here a dark entity comes into this time. 'On the Edge of Darkness' explores some rather disturbing emotional problems. Adam's father is such a complete religious fanatic he drives away his wife, and his son lives a sad, lonely and emotionally battered life. Brid forms such an obsessive attachment to Adam that her jealousy knows no bounds. The emotional void in which this leaves Adam's wife is dreadful.

If you are a fan of stories of the past and present colliding, which I certainly am, you could do a lot worse than reading this book. On the way, you will get to explore some dark areas of the human pysche - areas I would rather read about than live through.

I bought this book at the airport to take on holiday and found i could not put it down. It is passionate but yet really spooky in places. Highly reccomended and a whole lot better than House of Echoes, the ending holds up far more than House of Echoes.

It grieves me to say this book is nothing special. The plot sounded amazing to me when I first read it on the website, but once I started reading it I discovered that it was poorly explained and executed.

Adam meets a young girl one day who he becomes friends with even though she lives in an odd gypsy village in the Scottish hills, while he is the son of a minister. They soon become lovers, but Adam moves on to be a doctor and when Brid, fearing for her life because her uncle the druid wants to kill her is rejected by Adam she swears to become the main focus in his life. Of course, it turns out Brid is really from the 6th century and has great powers that allow her to cross time.

The way Brid became accommodated to life in the 20th century is just stupid. No person from the 6th century who saw a car would be able to hold it together, much less eat chocolate without a huge sense of wonder.

Brid's situation as a person who can travel through time, change into a cat, leave her body at will, and do all sorts of other stuff is never portrayed as anything out of the ordinary, and as much as she does make Adam's life miserable, the actions people around Adam take to be safe from her are just plain silly. Also it's never clear if Brid really is in the 20th century, or just having an out of time out of body experience from the 6th century. Or both. Not much in this book makes sense, and the very end of the book is so out of place in the book it renders the whole ending stupid.

This is not one of Barbara Erskine's better books, and I recommend skipping this one. It has the feel of a draft written very early on that was never revised for anything except spelling. This book doesn't even seem to fit a category, be it historical fiction or thriller. If you want a real good historical book about time travel try the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, or Doomsday Book by Connie Willis.

I hate to say it, but this only gets two stars from me.

One of those books that you don't want to put down! I have read all of Barbara Erskine's books and enjoyed them all thoroughly. I particularly like historical novels, but the way that she writes makes a book 'un-put-downable'.

I would recommend this book and the previous ones to anyone and can't wait for the next one!

Having found this book in Scotland last fall, I excitedly purchased it and set aside, only recently getting a chance to read it. This is classic Erskine and a welcome return after her last two books which seemed to be written for the American market rather than from the heart. All the classic Erskine elements are here: a Celtic theme, wonderful paranormal elements and a mystery to be solved. Ms Erskine will not disappoint with this latest offering. This one is sure to join the ranks of KINGDOM OF SHADOWS and LADY OF HAY in providing the reader with a full-bodied read of such depth and mystery that even the most cynical historical reader won't be able to put it down. Glad to see a return to what she does best; classic paranormal fiction

This is a well written, compelling story of a love that intersects the past, as well as the present. An excellent piece of paranormal fiction, it keeps the reader riveted to the pages.
The story begins in the nineteen thirties, when a fourteen year old boy named Adam, while traipsing in the isolated crags of the Scottish highlands near an ancient Celtic stone, meets a girl named Brid whom he mistakes for a gypsy, due to her wild, long hair, and her exotic style of dress. Unbeknownst to him, a portal in time has opened, allowing Adam and Brid, who is actually a Druid from the sixth century, to cross back and forth in time. Adam, however, does not realize that he is actually travelling back and forth in time, while Brid is not only fully aware of what is happening, but is doing so in contravention of what her uncle, a high priest to the Druids, and her training have taught her.

Over time, she becomes obsessive about Adam, who is her first love, while Adam, as he grows up, moves on with his life. In leaving the heartsick Brid behind and consigning her to his memories, he takes his life in a seemingly new direction.

Brid, on the other hand, forsaking the teachings of her people and incurring the wrath of her powerful uncle and a sure sentence of death, is dead serious about Adam, and she goes through the time portal in search of him. Adam, who has by now left home to go to medical school, is unaware of her obsession and of the lifelong quest now set in motion.

Over the years, Adam makes new friends, becomes a doctor, gets married, and has a family, but Brid, trapped in the wrong time, begins to haunt them all, as she searches for Adam. Her obsession with him finally turns deadly, and the body count begins, as she seeks to tear him asunder from all whom he holds dear.

It is only fifty years into the nightmare that this obsessive love is finally put to rest. How this happens, and at what cost, will keep the reader turning the pages of this well written and imaginative novel.

Another good book by Barbara Erskine. I found it quite different from her other books. Some pages of the book gave me goosebumps. Pepole will love, and then hate Brid. Some will actually feel sorry for her. I didn't.

A must read for every Erskine fan! Can't wait for the next book.