The splendid Gael Song series mixes fantasy with history. Shauna Lawless once more weaves Irish folklore and imagination into historical events in her Gael Song: Era II. SON OF THE SERPENT picks up where Daughter of the Otherworld ends. We are reading a book of two halves. First, there are the ongoing, weakening, brutal rivalries, not only between small Irish kingdoms but also within them, in the form of internecine plots for leadership. Second, the second half is enabled by, and follows naturally from, the damaging clan structure, as one chieftain invites a bunch of mercenaries to come to his aid, promising them land and marriage. This begins the Norman invasion of Ireland. Men hardened by modern European siege battles and the Crusades sail across to pit their wits and weapons against the poorly armed Irish, who traditionally fought battles in open country or, more sneakily, in a feast hall.

Cuan is a new character, just a lad when his uncle arrives with a party of men at a feast at the family dun or fort. His elderly grandfather dies, and almost immediately treachery and fighting break out over who will be clan chief. A similar system operated in Scotland, which is why the English were able to subdue the clans of that land. Cuan has to flee, not even sure who will take him in, as he could be a marked man when he grows up. Thirteen years later, we meet him again.

1169 AD also shows Isolde, Fódla’s baby from earlier books, who withdrew from society for a hundred years because, as one of the Descendants of the Tuatha Dé Danann, she needed to hide her long life. Now she’s back, and really, not much has changed in the land once fought over by Brian Boru and the Vikings. Christianity is supposedly here, but it is scarcely outside cities where churches can keep faith strong. A monk called Brother Angelo is walking the tracks, praying for the dead.  

The sinister Fomorians, magic users, are represented by Gormflaith. In the previous story, Daughter of the Otherworld, she was living in medieval Paris with three generations of her family, but came to England when she saw her chance. For some reason, she is still determined to re-invade Ireland with her kin and shape-change her way to power. King Henry and his French wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, are concerned about the growing power of the knight Richard de Clare, known as Strongbow, so he’s basically given a castle in Wales and told to shove off. This leaves Strongbow free to accept the invitation from Diarmait McMurrough to join him in fighting in Ireland and marry his young daughter, Aoife (called Eva in the book). The book at this point is peppered with names like FitzHugh, as the Anglo-Normans take over the story.

You get the picture: this is already a turbulent time, with loyalties changing fast and treachery the order of the day. I admire Shauna Lawless for taking on this period in her already complex fantasy style, adding the influence of a few women and witches perhaps to explain why so many loyalties died or some people led charmed lives. I would say this is definitely not the place for a new reader to start; they should at least have read one of the earlier Gael Song books. SON OF THE SERPENT is a continuation of the tales begun in The Children of Gods and Fighting Men, and fighting we certainly get. At times breathtaking and at other times just brutal, this fantasy- inspired representation of the twelfth century will introduce many readers to the history behind the headlines.