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Eyes of the Goddess:
Book Two of the Fianna Cycle by Janine De Tillio Cammarata Highland Mountain Publishing
book review by Marjetta Geerling
""'By the light of the Mother Goddess, I beseech you to protect what is right!' Maecha called. She swung her powerful sword, Imbas Skye, and didn't stop to watch the limbs fall from the men she took down."
Maecha, daughter of a High King and leader of an elite band of warriors, continues the adventures from Warriors Within, the first book of the Fianna Cycle. In book two, Eyes of the Goddess, Maecha must rescue her father from the Scottish Picts. As Maecha's powers strengthen and traitorous plots are uncovered, Maecha discovers that it is the evil Fire Lord—who covets Maecha's sword, her kingdom, and her body—behindall her troubles. With the help of gods, goddesses, and her loyal band of warriors, Maecha fights to save her family and her land.
In the present day Catskills, ten year-old Natalie is haunted by dreams. When it is uncovered that Natalie is the daughter of a powerful Druid from Maecha's time and has an important destiny to protect Maecha's and Kelan's unborn daughter, Natalie is dream-trained in magic. It is not enough for Maecha to defeat the Fire Lord, she must also prepare for the danger that Natalie's dreams and her own developing powers foretell.
Cammarata's action packed storytelling never lets up. The urgency of the pacing draws the reader into Maecha's world quickly, but it is the fierceness of her loyalty and love that defines the narrative. Well-developed details ground the magical elements and make a world where people time travel in their dreams and are friends with gods believable. Jumping from the ancient past to modern day is at first jarring, but as the characters' lives weave together, their complicated relationships deepen the meaning of the story and give it a powerful sense of destiny fulfilled.