Customer Reviews

The Hawk's Gray Feather (Keltiad)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
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The Athurian legend has been done and redone so many times that no one quite knows what's historical or not any more. Ms. Kennealy has built a mythical universe in which the Athurian legend is told with new flavor and color. She mixes traditional elements with aspects of a deeply spiritual nature. I found myself thoroughly engrossed the entire time. It is a mark of her talent, that even though I had foreknowledge of how the story went (it's written as a journal account), I found myself moved to tears in certain points. Her characters are vivid, three dimentional beings and as they move about her universe I feel for them. While I do not think this is quite as good as her Tales of Aeron (there isn't much that is), The Hawk's Grey Feather is a solid beginning to a completely enjoyable trilogy. I highly recomend it.

The Hawk's Gray Feather is the opening of an unusual and masterful retelling of the Arthurian legends by Ms. Kennealy-Morrison. Her graceful prose style has always reminded me of having my own Celtic bard retelling an ancient Celtic legend. Her use of connections are amazing and completely orginal. Of the 26 different versions of the Arthurian legends I own, this is my all time favorite.

I love tales of King Arthur and I generally like science-fiction. Ms. Kennealy combines the two poorly. The Celts come from outer space. they have psychic powers and faster-than-light-travel. They fight with swords and spears. This probably explains why the Romans beat them... These tales are a wonderous amalgamation of a bit of reading of the poorer end of Arthuriana, New Age literature, a liberal dose of odd drugs, and a sense of light fantasy. The characters are, at times, interesting, but for the most part incomprehensible. Again, this may explain why the Romans drove them off earth...