Rating: 
Summary: Mildly interesting, somewhat amateurish though
Review: I found this book to be mildly interesting; it held my attention more or less long enough for me to finish it. The detailed description of witchcraft was good, I thought, and there were some interesting touches like the skeelie woman who held Isabeau captive in her hut, but honestly, I've seen Celtic mythology done so many times before it's just not that new anymore. I did feel a certain lack of depth to the characters, and there were some amateurish touches--for example, the entire book being written in dialect was, I think, the mark of a new author and I felt the torture scene was somewhat unskillfully handled. It's good enough light fiction; if I want something more serious, I'll read Stephen R. Donaldson or Michelle West's Sun Sword books (Broken Crown, etc.)
Rating: 
Summary: This is her thesis project!
Review: Kate Forsyth does an absolutely AMAZING job writing these books. I found The Witches of Eileanan by accident, read it, loved it, and nearly cried when I realized I had to wait just over a year for the next book to be released in America. The world engulfs you with the vivid storytelling and amazingly strong and very real characters. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy novels. These books are also a wonderful delight for those who follow the pagan traditions since Kate draws heavily from the wiccan traditions to weave her lore of witchcraft. These books are just a must read!
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: This was an excellent book! I absolutely loved it! I wasn't sure if I would, but I had picked it up when my husband had bought some more Drizzt books. I decided to give it a try. Now, I'm anxiously awaiting Amazon to deliver the rest of the series!!!! :)
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Bliss!!
Review: It just doesn't get any better than this. Kate's writing style has had me enthralled from the first page. The way that she tells this story draws you right in. She paints a vivid picture of a fascinating world full of magic, mystery and truly endearing characters. She begins by introducing us to just a small part of the story and it's cast, then slowly adds more and more depth, characters and cultures. Yet she manages to keep a fast pace where there is never a dull moment. Her use of the scottish dialect is easy to follow and adds beautifully to the flavour of the story. This is a world I never want to leave. If you like books filled with various faery creatures, magic, quests, and a wide range of diverse characters then this is for you. This book is not all about battles and/or political intrigues. It's about people and societal differences. She makes an eloquent statement for tolerance of other ways of life. The premise is that a coven of witches (The actual pagan, spiritual, nature loving kind, not the wart on the nose two dimensional kind.) crossed over from 16th century scottland, in order to escape persecution, to the world of Eileanan in a bending of space referred to as "The Great Crossing". In the centuries since then they have been dealing with the native inhabitants, some of whom are friendly and welcoming others who are NOT. I also really like that she has made magic in this universe like any other talent. Some have much, some have little or none. It may be dormant or untapped and the character may not even know about it. She has also used many points from true wiccan practices. Festivals, equinoxes, ceremonies, etc. She really researched old scottish lore and did a marvellous job of making it very real. For anyone who is a practicing pagan (or even just interested in knowing more about its tenets and practices) and likes to read fantasy, this is a must! Lastly, I am so glad to have found a writer who has BOTH storng female And male characters. None of whom are two dimensional. One minute you may hate them and the next have total empathy for them. No one in this book can be taken at face value. And just as soon as you think you know what's going on, poof she throws something completely new and different at you. I can't wait to see what happens in the rest of the series and I am so glad that what was first planned as a trilogy turned into a sextet.
Rating:
Summary: The Witches of Eileanan
Review: This is the first book by Kate Forsyth that I have read and I found it to be extremely magical and captivating. From the moment I began to read I could not put it down. I thought the way she changed the wording around a little was very interesting. Also, I liked the way she showed the story from different character's points of view. As for the characters, my heart ached for Isabeau, and Ishbel intrigued me immensly. Also, I loved the way Iseult was so much in contrast to Isabeau. I wonder about their history and what is to happen with them. I am very curious as to how Margrit of the Thistle and the dragons will later fit into the story. All in all, it was a wonderful book, and I can't wait to read the sequel.
Rating: 
Summary: It was good but...
Review: I liked the book when I read it and I bought the second in the series, but then... it didn't feel neccessary to buy the next six ones. I don't know, if the series had been a triology I would happily have read them all, but now it felt it would go on forever. Kate has a nice writing style and language, but I must say that the pace is a little slow maybe.. or.. well, usually when I read a good fantasy book I can't put it down. With these I could put them down and not read them for several days! And as I've already said, I didn't feel like buying the next in the series.
Nice but not enough.
I prefer Robin Hobb, Sarah Zettel and George RR Martin.
Rating: 
Summary: Red heads are very rare in this scary world
Review: What would you do if you were a witch who is the strongest with magical fire and your guardian is the strongest witch in the world who trusted you with the key that held the world together? Imagine you were also getting hunted down at sixteen for knowing your guardian. Isabeau is the protagonist of The Witches of Eileanan. Her quest is difficult, for her hair gives her away all the time; red heads were very rare in this scary world. The beginning of the book starts two days before her birthday and many people start to show up in the secret mountains to test her on her magic power and wisdom. Just as the test ended, an army came for the witches and warlocks and for Isabeau. Now Isabeau must run for her life and save an old man who is blind in the present, but he can see the future. In other words, he is oracular. I thought the book was good because I had to figure out if the people were going to die at any moment or if they were going to get caught by the armies or the witch sniffer. Throughout the whole book there was some type of magic or magical creatures. But I hated how the book was set up and the ending. The book would tell a five page story about someone, but just when it started to get good, the story changed to another person and focused on them. The end just stopped when everyone was safe for moment, but there is a second book, The Pool of Two Moons, that continues the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Bleh!
Review: I ordered this book (and the second in the series) after reading the numerous rave reviews here, and I can't remember the last time I was so seriously disappointed and bored by a book. I bought the book several months ago and still pick it up periodically to slough through a few more pages, still hoping to find the magic that everyone else apparently has. To date, I am only half-way through the book. **I devour books. I have read hundreds, if not thousands of books, in my life. In that entire time, I can count on one hand the number of books I have not been able to finish because they were so abyssmal. This book is about to be added to that collection.** I had to add that last bit because even though I can almost always find something to enjoy in a book, this book is defying me to find anything redeemable. The characters are shallow, the story is marginally original, and the world is even less so. And the writing? Ugh. If you are going to write dialect, write it well. If you are going to write a story, well another reviewer put it best - "show, don't tell". I figure so many Amazon reviewers can't be wrong, so you should probably take my review with a grain of salt. But, if you can't look past the problems that I've mentioned with this book, then maybe you should pick this up from the library and skim it before investing in buying it and any others in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Love it, Love it, Love it!!
Review: I have read all six books of the series and I do plan to read them over again. This is a good beginning to an excellent series that is original and plays heavily on the main female characters. The creatures that exist in this world are just as wonderful and my interest in the plot and story was not dimmed one bit.
If you want a good book of fantasy, then do yourself a favour and read this book. You will not be disappointed.
I also had the chance to e-mail Ms. Forsyth and she was a delight to write to. She was one of the few writers that actually cares about her readers and what they think of the series.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing.
Review: I hate to be the lone dissenter here, but I was terribly disappointed by this book. I read all of the glowing reviews and so ordered it, fully anticipating enjoying the heck out of it. Forsyth has some interesting ideas and even a good plot. I found the more pagan ideas on witches a nice break from most medieval fantasy. Thus the two stars. Her downfall is her incredibly sloppy writing and poor characterization. The phrase "show, don't tell" came to my mind on almost every page of the book. I don't want to be told that
Isabeau longed for adventure - it strikes me as amateurish at best. Show me by her actions. If you have to go into her thoughts, then don't make such general, I need to establish a character statements. Trust your reader to understand her through her actions, and if the reader doesn't, then you need to work on the character. And even when she went out of her way to say that a character was one way, the actions sometimes disagreed with it. Meghan of the beasts, having bowel actions all over the place because she's talking to dragons. Er... I thought she was a leader, someone who communicated with animals, and somewhat brave, level-headed, and clever. It's okay for a brave character to be scared, but bowel actions? Falling to the floor in awe? I know a lot of people enjoyed this book, and if you order it, I hope you do as well. But if you're as annoyed by sloppy writing as I am, I would recommend looking elsewhere.
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