Liobhan, her brother Brocc and another warrior Dau, are young bards training with a band of warriors on Swan Island. This Celtic fantasy brings us back to an Iron Age when settlers made an uneasy peace with the Fair Folk and customs held power. THE HARP OF KINGS is a traditional instrument that should be played at the coronation of a new king of Breifne. An urgent request for bards has reached Swan Island. Possibly, someone wants to sabotage the upcoming coronation at Midsummer – because the old harp has gone missing.

The Swan Island folks train spies as well as fighters, and right now, their most musical spies are Liobhan, Brocc and Dau. Dau seems overly patronising and sarcastic towards women but it must be unusual to see such a nimble female fighter as Liobhan. The trio has to adopt false identities as they travel to Breifne and mingle quietly as travelling players working for a living by day, entertaining in the great hall by evening.

Prince Rodan is about to be crowned, but the bards and especially the girl get a sense that he’s not going to be a good ruler. That’s not their concern, and many a rash young man has grown wise in time. They need to talk secretly with the druids who have inexplicably mislaid the harp and make friends among the large household. They also befriend Mistress Juniper, a wise woman and storyteller dwelling in the woods. There are threats, magical and otherwise. Something grim is stirring.

This first tale in the Warrior Bards series has to do the work of establishing situations and characters. This means it can feel slow at times. There is a fair bit of repetition, as we see every event from three peoples’ points of view in separate chapters, and then they have to report to other people. At times I didn’t care who was speaking as I knew that bit already and just wanted to move on with the story.

Juliet Marillier has previously written other Celtic fantasies, and I understand this one is a spinoff from her Blackthorn and Grim series, as Liobhan mentions her mother is called Mistress Blackthorn. Fans of the earlier books may be delighted to continue the adventure, but it is definitely not necessary to have read them. THE HARP OF KINGS will entertain music lovers and is a YA historical adventure with plenty of food for thought.