Customer Reviews

The Skull of the World: Witches of Eileanan #5

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kate Forsyth's ability to keep you on the edge of your seat, waiting anxiously to discover what will happen next is uncanny, and once again proven in this book. The world she has created (which began in the first book, The Witches of Eileanan) has taken on a life of it's own and simply grows stronger with each addition to the series.

In this book, The Skull of the World, the 5th book of the Witches of Eileanan series, we find ourselves once again with Isabeau (who was absent from the 4th book, The Forbidden Land, as The Forbidden Land and The Skull of the World occur at the same time on Eileanan. They were originally one book which was split into two for size reasons) during her self-imposed exile on the Spine of the World. Isabeau has immersed herself in the life of the Khan'cohbans when the time comes to undertake her journey of initiation to the Skull of the World. It is on this difficult journey that Isabeau will (finally) discover her true Talent.

With splendid surprises around every corner, lurking dangers, and returning characters that you can easily come to love, adore, hate, and even fear, this book comes to life as much as (if not more than) the last four in the series. You will not be disappointed.

Book five of the series, the Skull of the World, brings us back to Isabeau and all of her complexity as a character. Introduced to us as an innocent orphan, fledgling witch, and impulsive girl, she is now a woman, who has lived adventure, suffered torture, endure privations, found her twin sister and both of her parents, and reared a child. She has been studying with the Kahn'cohbans, her father's tribe of fierce faery warriors, learning discipline, fighting, and survival skills, and the skills of their Soul Sage. She makes the perilous journey to the Skull of the World to find her name and her totem. Her education with the Kahn'cohbans complete, she returns to her own people, to take her Test and be inducted into the Coven of Witches. She then begins to study in earnest so that she can pass her Sorceress Test.

Lachlan and Iseult are away during this time, caught up in the action of book four. While they are away, the royal children are kidnapped, and Isabeau is framed for the crime. Narrowly evading capture, she is the only one who can follow and rescue the children. But it is a mission that requires her to use all of her powers and wits.

Overcome with sorcery sickness from this overuse of her powers, she becomes marooned on the very island on which the former Banrigh, Maya the Ensorcellor, has been hiding. There Isabeau must confront her ambivalent feelings about Maya.

As we know the outcome of Lachlan's and Iseult's journey to Tirsollier from book four, Forsyth keeps us interested in the fate of Eileanan by bringing the sea people, the Fairgean, into focus. In addition to giving us a closer look at its people in the characters of a prince named Nila and his lover, a half-breed slave named Fand, she also gives us a look at what their priestesses have in mind for the Witches of Eileanan and the rest of the humans.

This book doesn't seem to have as much going on all at once, like some of the earlier books, partly because it is taking place at the same time as book four. I think that made it a more enjoyable read. We were allowed, with fewer interruptions, to concentrate on Isabeau, who is a wonderful, rich character, with whom we have travelled for some time. It is very satisfying to see her come into her power in this book, and you'll know she has more in store for us in the next book, The Fathomless Caves.

I have been [pulled] into a new and fabulous world with Kate Forsyth's Talent in creating the Eileanan series. Forsyth's thought throughout the entire series is unbelievable. Her ability to hint about actions that won't take place until later books is truly remarkable. She weaves the tale with deaft hands.

Isabeau is back and studing hard. Her life on the spine of the world has certainly not been as pleasent as her life with Meghan was. However, all hardships in life will be rewarded in time, as she finds out during her trip to the Skull of the World. With her fantastic new Talent, she has the ablity to become a great sorceress.

Once back with the coven Isabeau studies hard and is well rewared with suspision and accusations when the heirs to two countries are kidnapped from their beds. Determined to prove her innocence and save the children she loves, she sets aside her studies and begins another journey that will assureadly be full of danger and trials to be overcome. Trials that must be dealt with by use of her extraordinary Talent.

Again threads are being woven into the tapestry of Eileanan with the excerpts of the Fairge prince, Maya, and Bronwen, where the patterns must become clear in the next book. Those who are used to the Evil Step-mother/Queens will find Maya to not be the typical villan. She is a mother and will protect her child, but she is also a pawn to be moved and, if need be, sacrificed in order to save the game. Many will be surprised to have the opportunity to glimpse into the reasons why some villans act the way that they do.

I can't praise Kate Forsyth's writing/weaving enough. I think that readers who think that the story ended at the end of the second book, have not fully understood just how indepth and how much forethought was put into these novels. Keep them coming Ms. Forsyth you have many avid readers and we look forward to your next Eileanan novel.

For those of you who missed Iseabu in the Forbidden Land, you are going to love The Skull of the World. I too have missed her while I was traveling with Finn and Brangaine. Once again Kate Forsyth has spellbound me with the enchantment of Eilanean. I am very much looking forward to the final book, although I will
be sad to see it end.

This book has been eagerly awaited by many, I'm sure. I myself have been impatient to read it. After almost six months, I find that I haven't been disappointed.

This book is mainly about Isabeau, with a couple pages of a Fairge prionnsa\prince and his half-breed lover woven in. The characters seem mostly to be in their usual moods, including Lachlan and his fury and suspicions. There is a slight moment in which Meghan gets a bit prickly over the Key with Isabeau, but it is almost unnoticeable.

At the start of the book, right after a fairgean excerpt, Isabeau is on the Skull of the World. She wins the right to search for her name, a journey which also reveals her Talent. In a way, I wasn't surprised by it, but it is very powerful. When I pondered over her Talent in earlier books, the possiblity occurred to me but I brushed it away. As it turns out, the far-fetched stray thought was correct.

There is much mastery in the story telling of Forsyth. She keeps the reader interested throughout almost the whole book. Another leak is in the Righ's court, yet none can even guess who. And the identity of this person surprised me greatly! I would never have guessed . . .

But, moving on, Isabeau is once again home. Time passes through which Isabeau is accepted into the Coven. She is blissfully content with her studying. Then Margrit of Arran ruins it all. She steals Donncan and Neil from their very beds while Isabeau is in a drugged sleep. When she wakes up, it is just in time to see the swan-pulled sleigh disappearing into the sky.

With the disappearances, people turn against Isabeau. Desperate to prove her innocence and save the two lads dear to her heart, Isabeau sets off after Margrit hoping to return the two bairns home before their parents get back.

"The Forbidden Land" and "The Skull of the World" were meant to be one book. They were split into two because of size, which is why Isabeau was absent from the last book. This book has five stars because, although some parts made me uneasy (that's how submerged I become into books) there was nothing unenjoyable or unentertaining.

I loved this book! At last Isabeau is coming into her own, and you can see why things that happened to her in the past books happened. I can't wait to read the last book in the series - I've loved them all but Kate Forsyth just gets better and better with every book. The focus is so tightly on Isabeau in this book, you just feel everything which happens to her so vividly. I do hope she and Dide can find a way to be together, though. Ever since I found out in Book 4 about how he's been secretly in love with her all along, I've liked him so much and it explains things which happen earlier which I didn't really understand at the time. I don't want to give too much away for those who haven't discovered this amazing series yet, but the way Isabeau and Maya have changed and developed is just so incredible and surprising - I never would have expected to feel so much sympathy for Maya and any other writer would have had her stay the evil queen instead of taking you down thsi totally unexpected path. These books are always full of surprises - which is why I just canna wait for Book 6!!!!!!!

This series is a new series that I started around six months ago.I am very impressed by Kate and her books, she makes you feel that the witches,espiecally Isabeau,and Megahan are real people. I am hoping that in the final book that Maya and Bronwen are accepted by Lachlan and Iseult, and I hope that the Fairgen people and the people of Eileanan can work out their problems and somehow learn to work together. The Skull of the World was a book that I was anxiously wanting to read and this book did not let me down. I am going to wait another whole year to read the last book of the series.

Isabeau the fiery red head is back! Still an apprentice of the Khan'cohban, she must prove herself by attaining her new name at the Skull of the World. And as if the name of the place she must journey to weren't scary enough, when Isabeau asks how she will earn her new name, she is told that she must be eaten, digested, and spit back out. When she asks whether they mean that literally or metaphorically, she is only given a cryptic riddle.

Unlike the previous book in the series (which had a very slow start), this story is jam packed with action right from the word go. Just when you think it's going to let up, there is yet another thrilling scene! And yet, it is not overdone. The writing is still as good as ever, the scene descriptions vivid and realistic, the characters true to form. We even get to meet Isabeau's cousin, who is a member of Isabeau's rival tribe. She ends up challenging Isabeau to a fight and we are then treated to a display of just how good a fighter Isabeau is even against a scarred warrior, tried and true with three scars. It's a good thing she wasn't fighting a scared warrior, as that would not have been such a challenge!

Part of the way through the book, I wondered why it had been named "The Skull of the World." Her quest to attain her new name in this wicked place seemed more like something of a subplot, i.e, I would have thought that the completion of this quest would have been the book's ending. Even so, this journey was interesting. While on it, Isabeau has several near death encounters and she also discovers that she has the ability to transform into a variety of animals. This shape shifting ability ends up saving her life on numerous occasions and is a vital gift that helps her later on. The discovery of this ability was the most important part of the book, so maybe the book's title would have been more appropriate if it had had something to do with her transfiguration.

After the completion of her quest to the Skull of the World, Isabeau journeys down the Faerie road (a way of high speed travel) to meet up with some of her friends in Lucescere. Arriving there, Meghan asks Isabeau to shape shift that she may bare witness. Isabeau complies, only to find that this is a higher magic that can potentially give her sorcery sickness if used too frequently. Her bout of sorcery sickness causes her to sleep for three weeks straight and she nearly dies.

The crux of the story takes place when Iseult's and Elfrida's sons are kidnapped by Margrit and Isabeau is blamed for it by a cunning spy within her midst. Isabeau narrowly escapes being arrested and then ventures to Margrit's stronghold to attempt to rescue the twins.

This book really had me turning the pages. The drama was high and the action nonstop. In the author's note at the end of this book Forsyth makes an apology for turning this trilogy into a six book series and promises to wrap it up in book six, but I was fine with it being this long. (One must bare in mind though, I am an avid fan of Robert Jordan, a man renowned for God awful long books and a series without end!) If you are looking for a good series that actually DOES have an end, look no further!

The whole series was blow you mind good, but this was the best book of them all. Can't reveal anything sorry!. Hope Forsyth writes more like it. Loved it, fantastic, billiant, revelutionary!!!!!!

This book was sooooooooooooo good I can't put it into words. I could not stop reading. My sister got very annoied. Since I don't want to ruin anything I won't tell you anything about the book. You have to read this book, but read the rest of the series first. YOU WILL ENJOY! Kate Forsyth is a great writer. Loved it.