The Heart of the Fire

Rating:
Summary: 5 STARS PLUS!
Review: After reading this book, I will never take for granted the liberties of today. I became one with Fiona (whose story is told) through her love, fear, joy, sadness, strength, and pain. There are no words to describe the power that this book holds. Being taken back to a time that I felt a personal connection, I found myself knowing, feeling, and seeing as I held onto each and every chapter. I have purchased additional copies of this book for my own coven sisters. You are sure to treasure this book as I have. I pray that the Goddess sends love and healing into the past to Fiona, Annie, and the other brave innocent spirits who fell to the hands of hatred. To Cerridwen Fallingstar, thank you for sharing your memories. Blessed Be!

Rating:
Summary: Hmm...
Review: As a novel, this book is engaging and worth a read, with a very emotionally impacting conclusion. As some kind of indication of "the way things were" during the witch-craze in Europe, I think people are better off reading Jeffrey Russell's The History of Witchcraft, or Triumph of the Moon by Timothy Hutton for an examination of historic and modern witchcraft practices in Britain.

First of all, I had a big problem with the description of the alleged "secret" coven run by Fiona's grandmother, possessor of a lot of what seem to be modern Wiccan magical tools that would have been beyond the means of any peasant in King James's day. I do not buy the premise that the "Old Religion" survived intact from pre-Christian times down to the present; that Margaret Murray-influenced idea has since been discredited and was in fact already being called into question when this book was written in the 1980s. Also, these illiterate and uneducated peasants call upon Diana and believe in what seem to be Eastern-influenced notions of reincarnation -- which I find hard to swallow. Because of these details and others, I can't take the author's claim of this being a real past life experience very seriously. There are too many telling historical inaccuracies, and the notion that these remote Scottish villagers were practicing what eerily resembles modern Wicca is just too far-fetched for me to accept.

That being said, I think that if you look at the book as just a novel, it's not half bad. If you can ignore the glaring inconsistencies and the "millions of witches died" ideas that pervade the book, what you have left is a moving story of a young girl's life and death. (And no...I don't think saying this is a spoiler...how ELSE does anyone expect a book about an alleged persecuted "real witch" to end?) There are some wonderfully evocative scenes, some of which are erotic, and although I found it hard to take the "past life" claim seriously, the ending is very affecting and sad, even gut-wrenching if you're of a sensitive nature.

As a work of fiction, this is a mostly well-written tale with good descriptions and an interesting premise. I agree with the previous reviewer who said that the characters are a bit one-dimensional, but I also agree with another reviewer who said that this is probably a good description of the past as many modern Wiccans and Pagans wish it had been. This doesn't mean that it WAS that way, however; modern scholarship has proven otherwise. But even so, The Heart of the Fire is an entertaining and affecting read, and a pleasant enough way to while away an afternoon or two.

Rating:
Summary: Hmm...
Review: As a novel, this book is engaging and worth a read, with a very emotionally impacting conclusion. As some kind of indication of "the way things were" during the witch-craze in Europe, I think people are better off reading Jeffrey Russell's The History of Witchcraft, or Triumph of the Moon by Timothy Hutton for an examination of historic and modern witchcraft practices in Britain.

First of all, I had a big problem with the description of the alleged "secret" coven run by Fiona's grandmother, possessor of a lot of what seem to be modern Wiccan magical tools that would have been beyond the means of any peasant in King James's day. I do not buy the premise that the "Old Religion" survived intact from pre-Christian times down to the present; that Margaret Murray-influenced idea has since been discredited and was in fact already being called into question when this book was written in the 1980s. Also, these illiterate and uneducated peasants call upon Diana and believe in what seem to be Eastern-influenced notions of reincarnation -- which I find hard to swallow. Because of these details and others, I can't take the author's claim of this being a real past life experience very seriously. There are too many telling historical inaccuracies, and the notion that these remote Scottish villagers were practicing what eerily resembles modern Wicca is just too far-fetched for me to accept.

That being said, I think that if you look at the book as just a novel, it's not half bad. If you can ignore the glaring inconsistencies and the "millions of witches died" ideas that pervade the book, what you have left is a moving story of a young girl's life and death. (And no...I don't think saying this is a spoiler...how ELSE does anyone expect a book about an alleged persecuted "real witch" to end?) There are some wonderfully evocative scenes, some of which are erotic, and although I found it hard to take the "past life" claim seriously, the ending is very affecting and sad, even gut-wrenching if you're of a sensitive nature.

As a work of fiction, this is a mostly well-written tale with good descriptions and an interesting premise. I agree with the previous reviewer who said that the characters are a bit one-dimensional, but I also agree with another reviewer who said that this is probably a good description of the past as many modern Wiccans and Pagans wish it had been. This doesn't mean that it WAS that way, however; modern scholarship has proven otherwise. But even so, The Heart of the Fire is an entertaining and affecting read, and a pleasant enough way to while away an afternoon or two.

Rating:
Summary: Hmm...
Review: As a novel, this book is engaging and worth a read, with a very emotionally impacting conclusion. As some kind of indication of "the way things were" during the witch-craze in Europe, I think people are better off reading Jeffrey Russell's The History of Witchcraft, or Triumph of the Moon by Timothy Hutton for an examination of historic and modern witchcraft practices in Britain.

First of all, I had a big problem with the description of the alleged "secret" coven run by Fiona's grandmother, possessor of a lot of what seem to be modern Wiccan magical tools that would have been beyond the means of any peasant in King James's day. I do not buy the premise that the "Old Religion" survived intact from pre-Christian times down to the present; that Margaret Murray-influenced idea has since been discredited and was in fact already being called into question when this book was written in the 1980s. Also, these illiterate and uneducated peasants call upon Diana and believe in what seem to be Eastern-influenced notions of reincarnation -- which I find hard to swallow. Because of these details and others, I can't take the author's claim of this being a real past life experience very seriously. There are too many telling historical inaccuracies, and the notion that these remote Scottish villagers were practicing what eerily resembles modern Wicca is just too far-fetched for me to accept.

That being said, I think that if you look at the book as just a novel, it's not half bad. If you can ignore the glaring inconsistencies and the "millions of witches died" ideas that pervade the book, what you have left is a moving story of a young girl's life and death. (And no...I don't think saying this is a spoiler...how ELSE does anyone expect a book about an alleged persecuted "real witch" to end?) There are some wonderfully evocative scenes, some of which are erotic, and although I found it hard to take the "past life" claim seriously, the ending is very affecting and sad, even gut-wrenching if you're of a sensitive nature.

As a work of fiction, this is a mostly well-written tale with good descriptions and an interesting premise. I agree with the previous reviewer who said that the characters are a bit one-dimensional, but I also agree with another reviewer who said that this is probably a good description of the past as many modern Wiccans and Pagans wish it had been. This doesn't mean that it WAS that way, however; modern scholarship has proven otherwise. But even so, The Heart of the Fire is an entertaining and affecting read, and a pleasant enough way to while away an afternoon or two.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Based on the reviews below, I really wanted to like this book. With anticipation, I picked a lazy weekend where I could give this book my undivided attention. It appears as if I expected too much.

After reading the first two chapters, I knew this book would be bothersome to me. Firstly, Ms. Fallingstar tells us that this book is based upon her past-life experience as a witch in Scotland during the 16th century. Based upon her fantastical historical revision, my review would have gained one star if she had not made such a claim. She repeats the oft-quoted (and highly inaccurate) assertion that "millions of witches" were tortured and martyred during the "Burning Times." Thankfully, the modern witchcraft revival is moving away from such exaggerated and inaccurate statistics.

I can forgive these errors in scholarship, however, I laughed out loud at Ms. Fallingstar's descriptions of her "coven" in Scotland. It takes tremendous suspension of disbelief to accept that these covens were highly organized into a "network" of sorts. To add insult to injury, these villagers in the highlands of Scotland have special candles, athames, bollines, secret Craft names, chalices, etc. Gran (Fiona's grandmother, leader of the coven and resident 'wise woman') even has several special cloaks and "expensive candles" that she only uses for ritualistic purposes. In the end, it sounds as if the author is projecting some modern witchcraft practices upon these (in all probability) poor Scottish villagers.

Overall, the writing style was mediocre. The detailed sexual descriptions were erotic the first five or six times - after the fifteenth sexual escapade, it borders on the boring and gratuitous. I also thought that the characters were fairly static and one-dimensional for a book of this length. The story itself isn't horrendous - in fact, the last four chapters were both compelling and vivid - it's just a shame that it took 70 chapters to get there. This would have made an okay fantasy novel, but to pass it off as a genuine past-life experience is a bit of a stretch.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Being a Wiccan of Celtic descent, many of the events struck a cord of resonance in my soul... If you enjoyed Mists of Avalon and The Forest House, you will love the Heart of the Fire.

Rating:
Summary: No More The Burning Times!
Review: Cerridwen Fallingstar possesses Goddess-given talent and presents an upsetting but necessary chronicle of her life as a Scottish witch. She has walked through the darkness of her past to share it with the Pagan community, lest we forget where we came from.

Rating:
Summary: 5 STARS PLUS!
Review: Cerridwen Fallingstar's novel is amazing. Her writing style is not that original or beautiful, but her descriptions manage to reenchant the world...after reading the first few chapters I went outside, cast a circle, and felt a more palpable energy than I have recently.

As Fiona, the main character, grows and changes, one can't help but be caught up in her world. Once she met the minstrel i felt something catch and i thought, 'ah, that's a lot like the kind of person i'm looking out for..." And once the witchhunter came, Goddess, I felt my heart sink heavy with some sort of collective memory.

Even though I am a Witch, the New-Agey, simplistic politics that Fallingstar adds at the end got my goat a little bit. You see, she claims that Fiona McNair is one of her past incarnations..which I find simultaneously annoying and believable.

At any rate, this book is not to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: This Book Was Impossible to Put Down
Review: Cerridwen Fallingstar's novel is amazing. Her writing style is not that original or beautiful, but her descriptions manage to reenchant the world...after reading the first few chapters I went outside, cast a circle, and felt a more palpable energy than I have recently.

As Fiona, the main character, grows and changes, one can't help but be caught up in her world. Once she met the minstrel i felt something catch and i thought, 'ah, that's a lot like the kind of person i'm looking out for..." And once the witchhunter came, Goddess, I felt my heart sink heavy with some sort of collective memory.

Even though I am a Witch, the New-Agey, simplistic politics that Fallingstar adds at the end got my goat a little bit. You see, she claims that Fiona McNair is one of her past incarnations..which I find simultaneously annoying and believable.

At any rate, this book is not to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: committed to the character
Review: Fallingstar's story binds the reader so closley with the protaganist that when the inevitable occurs, much as one is aware of the pending outcome, one cannot abandon the character. This reviewer found herself calling "I am here for you, Fiona!" through each horror experienced. I've passed it around to all of my friends. Now my 13 year old daughter is reading it...and I hope she will come to further celebrate her self, her spirit and her sexuality by way of the reading.