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Author Arwen's worldbuilding skills are on full display in this metaphysical romantasy set upon the intriguing Isle of Skye in Scotland. She weaves a lyrically written tale laden with myth and legend, effortlessly balancing the viewpoints of her protagonist's three significant lifetimes. The intertwined lives of Ianna, a merwoman, Meg (Inanna's identity in the third dimension of eighteenth-century Scotland), and the contemporary English writer, Kaia, are presented with clarity. Each woman is blessed (or cursed) with opportunities for romance, or a lack thereof, making the story plotlines a rather busy, multidimensional tapestry that is a pleasure to contemplate.
Arwen's vivid, lyrical descriptions instantly draw the reader into the various settings. Many bits of knowledge must converge in Kaia's mind as she, through dreams and real-life encounters with supernatural beings on Skye, discovers the full meaning of her ancestry: her destiny to defeat Scathchornail and send him packing back to his centuries-long state of confinement in the Shadow Side.
There isn't much room for happily-ever-afters in a tale fraught with so many conflicts and shifts in perspective. But the forces of light and the compassionate nature of consciousness are at full force in Arwen's creation throughout Kaia's encounters with zombie-like Skinwalkers and shapeshifter demons, as with the more pleasant experiences in the natural world, such as riding a water kelpie that transfigures into a mythical white stallion on land. The unsullied natural world of the Isle of Skye restores Kaia's confidence and reveals a life-force imbued with light. This story is perfect for those lucky enough to read it and, for a little while, transform their everyday woes into the more manageable symbolic forms of fairy tale and legend.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review