This exciting YA tale is fourth in the The Adventures of Finn MacCullen series. An ancient Irish hero was named Finn Mac Cumhail or McCool so we can guess that this book FINN'S CHOICE refers to Ireland. Finn lives near Denver but he is apprenticed to be an immortal Celtic warrior. Finn tells us that he is half-human, half-Fey, and with his master Gideon he has been hunting goblins.

Finn is thirteen and he has two quite normal pals, who live across the street: the Steel twins, Rafe and Savannah. With other friends who turn out to have strong determination and talents, he has been fighting off goblin attacks. In the best tradition of YA fantasy heroes, his parents were killed in a hunt. Now a goddess has learned about him, and she comes with an order to test his mastery of the elements, which is unfamiliar to Finn. But first, he's got to use bronze knives to fight off the latest goblin attack.

Finn has all the usual attributes of a boy growing into his teens; he munches breakfast cereal or pizza, insists that a cellphone would be really useful, and has started to develop a crush on a girl he likes, Tara Butler (who might shoot him with arrows in his rear). We can easily identify with the character, perhaps because the author has had fun drawing him for three previous books. At the same time he is trying to master Celtic poetry, battle maneuvers and layers of Fey politics.

I like that the action shifts unexpectedly to a rural Irish area, the limestone Burren region. This isn't far enough to ward off danger. Finn has to make an agonizing choice. The adventure has a great deal of realism but isn't dragged out too long, with conversations rather than background lectures and a strong emphasis on friendship.

The author Darby Karchut tells us that this is the last book about Finn, but he can continue to adventure in the readers' minds. She lives in Colorado and writes YA and adult fantasy books, with a portion of the profits going to an education not-for-profit group. I suggest grabbing the whole series about Finn and his friends and enjoying them right through to FINN'S CHOICE.