Irish Magic [Paperback]

Roberta Gellis (Author), Morgan Llywelyn (Author), Barbara Samuel (Author), Susan Wiggs (Author), Denise Little (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1995

A collection of four enchanting Irish myths by bestselling authors--Morgan Llywelyn, Susan Wiggs, Roberta Gellis, and Barbara Samuel--includes magical stories of warrior women, sorcery, lightning storms, and transcendent love from the oldest surviving prose in English literature. Original.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This well-matched quartet of longish stories gives us a taste of women's magic in ancient and modern Ireland. Best by far is Llywelyn's gripping "Galway Bay," in which an American tourist is ensnared by the Ran--the seal-people--who use her heart's secret yearnings to lure her into joining their sea life; it's told with zest and lust and just the right amount of spooky goings-on. Roberta Gellis' "Rarer than a White Crow" is a rousing story of the wooing of the warrior maiden Caer by the ancient Irish god Angus Or; it's full of mythic detail and voluptuous love. Set in the same mythic period, "The Harper's Daughter" by Barbara Samuel is an inventive retelling of the famous tale of Deirdre of the Sorrows; in this version, rather than killing herself when her love is killed, Deirdre is transformed into a Circe-like figure who survives to live happily with her love, Naoise. Finally, "The Trysting Hour" by Susan Wiggs is a genuinely magical story of haunting love between fairy folk who, trapped by curses into incarnating as humans, must find each other or die trying. Extraordinarily well written, the stories refract each other's light so that each shines more brightly. Patricia Monaghan

About the Author

Denise Little worked for Barnes & Noble/B. Dalton Bookseller for many years, first as a bookstore manager, then as their national book buyer for romance, science fiction, and fantasy fiction. She then joined Kensington Publishing, where she edited her own line of romance, Denise Little Presents. She's currently executive editor at Tekno Books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: Kensington Books (February 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821748823
• ISBN-13: 978-0821748824
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,824,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A mixture of romance, folklore, sorcery, and supernatural, June 27, 2000

By 

Fred Camfield (Vicksburg, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Irish Magic I (Mass Market Paperback)

This book will not appeal to everyone and is reviewed in the context of the intended audience. It is a collection of four novelettes by master storytellers. The first story, "Galway Bay" by Morgan Llywelan, is a change of pace for readers familiar with her full length historical novels. It is set in modern times, and concerns a part-Irish woman on vacation in Galway, Ireland, who encounters the underlying realities of Irish folklore and discovers romance in an unexpected place. The second story, "The Harpers's Daughter" by Barbara Samuel, is set in ancient Ireland and concerns Deirdre, destined to be the bride of a king, but she loves another. Expressed in Deirdre's thoughts (about other women in the king's court), "One of them, one day, would have the warrior who'd snared her heart, while she would lie with the fat, old king. It wasn't fair." Deirdre is cursed with extraordinary beauty that creates uncontrolled lust in the minds of any men who see her. Can she find a refuge with the man she loves, and will magic protect them? The third and fourth stories deal with connections to the spirit world in an ancient Irish setting. The third, "The Trysting Hour" by Susan Wiggs, is about a spirit that can assume a mortal man's shape, and who desires a woman meant to be a king's wife. Can he win her hand while he prevents the king from consumating the marriage? And is she really an ordinary mortal woman? The fourth, "Rarer than a White Crow" by Roberta Gellis, has a man placed under a spell by a shape-changing witch with her own agenda (which can only be guessed at). People are at an interface between the spirit world and the mortal world. Angus must win the hand of Caer and love her til the end of her days in order to be free from the spell, but that is easier said than done. Can they thwart the real agenda of the witch? The book contains explicit sex and violence. It is an excellent set of stories for those interested in this type of fantasy romance.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your heart is literally on the floor., July 22, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Chugiak, Alaska, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Irish Magic I (Mass Market Paperback)

I originally purchased this book in a sales bin at Barnes and Nobles and I have to say once I started it, it was a fight to put it down, even to eat. The first story, Galaway Bay, was so touching to me I cried all night. The other stories were written with talent and grace. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants emotion from a book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Morgan Llywelyn's Story Galway Bay ONLY, February 24, 2005

By 

Adria Todd (Cameo Field) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Irish Magic (Paperback)

This book started out so well, but it fizzled fast. The scenery of Ireland shined, which is the ONLY reason this story deserved 1 star, but the girl, Eileen Costello, who was vacationing there, had little personality and it was hard to get to know her because the author gave us no physical description, no hair or eye color, etc, only a slightly tempermental New Yorker whose ex-boyfriend turned out to be married.

Eileen's love interest in Ireland is called "Mrs. Daly's son."

*He has no name.*

And it was never made clear what it was Mrs. Daly's son saw in Eileen to make her 'the one.' He didn't know anything about her!

When we first meet Mrs. Daly's son at the restaurant, he made a wonderful impression and it seemed the story would be great, but after that initial encounter, Eileen doesn't see him again until the end of the book. And I do mean the end. The very last sentence, to be exact.