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The Riders of Sidhe

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Beautifully graceful ships arrive at the isolated island, concealing an evil force led by a terrible being of sinister purpose. These attackers are the household troops of Balor One-Eye, a being so deadly that a look destroys. For fifteen years Queen Taillta and her soldiers have guarded a child, watching and waiting for this day when they would fight again.

The boy Lugh Lamfada escapes as the Queen's soldier's fight. His boat carries him to a fog enshrounded island of magic, protected by the sea-god Manannan MacLir. Manannan gives Lugh a quest designed to not only provide information, but also leads to self-discovery. Lugh must go to Eire to observe the the Tuatha de Darnann, enslaved by monstrous pirates called Fomor.

The Fomor are twisted and distorted men, damaged by the technology of their forebearers and lead by the inhuman Balor One-Eye. Balor perceives Lugh as a threat to his power and perhaps even to the Formor's very existance. Ancient prophesy predicts the youth who seeks his destiny and brings surival to the people he comes to love.

THE RIDERS OF THE SIDHE is Book One of The Gods of Eire trilogy. A gifted story teller, Kenneth C. Flint's prose sweeps the reader away on an epic journey to self discovery and the salvation of a people. A masterful blend of Celtic legend and science ficiton, this epic journey acheives an otherworldly, almost surreal flavor. Extraordinary heroism, the knowledge of druids, and the magic of bards provide an interesting and varied background. Originally printed by Bantum, this eBook version allow this marvelous tale to be shared once again at Awe-Struck E-Books.

This is the tale of Lugh of the Long Arm, one of the greatest of all Celtic myths. This powerful legend comes to life in a new trilogy filled with all the fire and magic of the ancient bards!

Lugh is a champion from out of the sea sent to Eire by the seagod Manannan MacLir (Lir from the Gods of Ireland Novels) to observe and report on the condition of the de Dananns and their continuing struggle to drive the Fomor race from their land. The Fomors are a primarily grotesque warrior race that seeks to subdue the de Dananns into submission and slavery. Lugh's destiny will ultimately shape the de Danann's as he becomes their champion ordained by the Great Queen Danu herself.

One exciting quest/adventure after another keeps the pages turning quickly. The exploits of Lugh, Gilla, Aine, the Dagda, the Morrigan, Nuada, Balor of the Evil Eye, King Bres & the Fomor will keep you craving more and more. This is a trilogy of Lugh the Long Arm: 1) The Riders Of The Sidhe, 2) Champions Of The Sidhe, and 3) Master Of The Sidhe. Read these books! You will not be disappointed!

Ken Flint is obviously a student of Celtic mythos, especially Irish myths, and here he delivers a solid tale of the beginnings of Lugh of the Long Arm. All of the Celtic gods show up here as regular characters, which the implication (completely unspoken) that through the years they were turned into gods by their descendants. A lot of mythology (Greek, Roman, Celtic, Norse, etc.) likely started that way.

Anyway, this first of three books follows the struggles of Lugh to become the champion of the de Dannan peoples and lead them to victory over the hated Fomor people, commanded by the evil and awesome Balor of the One Eye. The books are an interesting blend of fantasy and science fiction. While the de Dannon people fight with swords and spears and use magic while living a relatively simple life in stone and wood huts, the Fomor are quite the opposite. The "lower" Fomor are those afflicted with some knd of genetic hereditary affliction, turning them into monsters. At the beginning of the books, they live on the island Eire (an old name for Ireland, by the way) and are overlords of the subjugated de Dannan race. But we find out that there is another kind of Fomor, these live in a modern tower made of glass, complete with working elevators, and routinely use engine-powered ships, tanks, and other forms of transportations. This is where Balor lives.

Lugh leads the de Dannons against these awesome foes, in a way fighting two battles at once. One is the open rebellion against the lower Fomor and their king Bres on the island Eire. The other is a more covert war against the puppeteers, the "high" Fomor in the Tower. The story is well-written and peopled with interesting characters not common to fantasy literature. Flint does a good job of catching our interst and bringing the old Celtic myths to life in a lively story that at the same time is derived from the Irish myths, yet not slavishly devoted to them. Well worth the effort to find this book, and I highly recommend it.

It's hard to be too critical of this book (and its companions). On the one hand, I haven't found as many reworkings of the Irish folklore as of the Welsh (although I'm sure they are out there). It's good material, and obviously the writer, Kenneth Flint, finds it inspiring. I bet if I'd read these books when they came out, 20-odd years ago, I'd have eaten them right up, the way I enjoyed Evangeline Walton's retelling of the Mabinogion, and Lloyd Alexander's Prydain books, and even the Matthews' books on Taliesin. I'm less patient now.

This book brings to life the famous Lugh of the Long Arm and his companions in myth, including Manannan mac Lir, the Dagda, Morrigan, and others. You can look under Lugh in Wikipedia for a nice useful history of some of the characters. Lugh is definitely more fun to read about than his Welsh equivalent Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Flint does a good job at making them human, or human-like (demigods, magical, etc., maybe aren't quite human). Both dialogue and narrative are often a bit stilted, which I found distracting, but given the mythic subject, some folks do like that air of formality. So while I found it sometimes distracting, as I've said, I also consider it more or less appropriate, and a matter of taste.

I thought some of Flint's descriptions and reworkings were clever and original, like the technologies of the Fomorians. But the book dragged a little, and I am not going to read the next two just yet. I will keep them though, as they seem to be out of print, and maybe I will read them sometime in the future. I think next time I want to read novelizations of Irish folklore, though, I will read more by Morgan Llywelyn. Flint's books are more what you'd find in the Fantasy/Science Fiction section, and Llywelyn's are more Romance/Historical Fiction, but I enjoyed her books Bard and Lion of Ireland, and I know there are many others.

Thank you for reading, and good luck.

Out of the mists the Fomor came to enslave the isle of Eire, a dread race of twisted men ruled by an inhuman lord: Balor of the Evil Eye. But a champion came from out of the sea, a youth called Lugh, seeking his destiny, sent to Eire by the seagod Manannan MacLir to fulfill an ancient prophecy.

With Gilla, a jesting rogue, and Aine, a spirited warrior-woman he came to love, Lugh challenged the Fomor to restore the True King to the throne of Tara, and summoned the Silver Warriors of the Sidhe to fight in the realms of men.

THE RIDERS OF THE SIDHE

The tale of Lugh of the Long Arm is among the greatest of all Celtic myths, Now this mighty legend comes blazing to life in a new retelling filled with all the fire and magic of the ancient bards.

This trilogy was handed down to me in the 90s from my dad who read it himself in the 80s. I've read uncountable fantasy books and this trilogy is by far the best. You don't need any knowledge of Celtic mythology to appreciate just how good this is. It wasn't until after I had read this series about six times that I started to even think about delving into Celtic mythology. This needs to go back into print, with the original artwork. A little marketing would go a long way, and probably lead to some pretty awesome movies.

If you like fantasy/adventure books this series is a must. You even learn a little mythology along the way. I am sorry to learn that these books are out of print, and hope that this changes.