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Summary: Ever wanted to be a hero?
Review: This book was great it is an interpretation of the story of Cuhulain and the Cooley Cattle Raid but it goes beyond that to describe the hero and his life as a warrior and a man they start as a boy with his strange obsured origins and continue through his remarkable childhood if you ever had dreams of being a hero and fighting epic battles then you will enjoy this book too.
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Summary: An Irish Beauty
Review: This book was the best I have ever read. The details paint a beautiful painting as you read this book. I couldn't put it down, it graps you from the first page. If you want love, adventure and a legendary story this is the book to read. Cuchulain's life almost leaps out at you and brings you to his world of magic.
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Summary: Amazing!
Review: This book was the most awe inspiring peace of work that I've ever read. It developed the character from a child and into a man while at the same time creating a character that you cared about and wanted to be like.
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Summary: One of the best!
Review: This is a stunning book, and everybody who is even remotely interested in the CuChulainn legend should read it. To the people who said that if we wanted a truly great book we had to read the Taín: I HAVE read it (I've actually read part of it in Old Irish). I have also read several other Irish stories (the Finn-cycle), since I am studying Celtic Literature and Culture. While the original stories are fun to read, they cannot be compared to this book (or other modern re-tellings), because their purpose was completely different. They were written to hand down history, and to be embellished as they were told orally, while this books is written for a modern audience. Hence, the style is completely different, but please, stop comparing them, and just enjoy this masterpiece!!Anyone who hasn't read it yet, by all means give it a chance! It's one of the best books I've ever read, and the re-telling of the Deirdre-legend is simply superb.
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Summary: Absolutely one of the finest books I have ever read!
Review: This is absolutely one of the finest books I have ever read! The story is told with a magical captiveness comparable to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings! This tale continuously left me wanting more! A beautiful story of the pre-St. Patrick Irish, Red Branch forever!
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Summary: Many Problems With Interesting Moments
Review: This is the second Llywelyn book i've read, I read 'Druids' several years ago. I enjoyed Druids very much, so I was excited to start reading Red Branch. Unfortunately my excitement dwindled quickly.
I'm not saying that it's a bad book. For me it has many problems. Her writting style is simplistic, in between moments of attempted flash and bold description that leaves me cringing. It took me almost the first half of the book to warm up to the main character, Cuchulain, and I couldn't help but thinking he was such a 'Mary Sue' character; although this is a book that retells mythic heroic deeds, so that's not such a bad thing ultimately. It was still difficult for me to get over just how perfect he was.
Llywelyn was also incapable of making me believe in the depth of the world. The world in which she set her characters was trite. Again, I know this is a fantasy based novel retelling well known cultural myth, but at no time during reading this book did I feel immersed in its universe.
I also found myself reeling when from one paragraph to the next, quickly and without warning, she changed the time and sometimes place of the story. Most authors let their readers know when hours lapse between paragraphs in a pleasant way rather than just shoving it down your throat.
As I said it's not all negative, though. Being a heroic, mythic adventure tale the characters and situations were often very interesting. I enjoyed reading about these legends of which I had no previous experience. I kept threatening to stop reading it, but it held enough fun and interesting moments to keep me reading. I'm not sure this book deserved the almost 500 paperback pages it is made up of. It seems better suited as a series of character events told throgh a series of short stories, rather than a novel.
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Summary: A story told in the Bardic tradition.
Review: This legend of CuChullain is told in all its glory. The legendary tales of the great Irish champion come to life amidst the backdrop of pre-St. Patrick Ireland. The "Hound of Ulster" is undoubtedly the greatest Irish hero, and the Bardic accounts of his feats are collected into one book which is masterfully written. The Cattle Raid of Coolley is the centerpiece, where Ulster King, Conor McNessa, and his rival Mauve go to war in this lesson of greed . This is a must read for anyone who enjoys Irish folklore, or just plain enjoys a good book
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Summary: A story told in the Bardic tradition.
Review: This legend of CuChullain is told in all its glory. The legendary tales of the great Irish champion come to life amidst the backdrop of pre-St. Patrick Ireland. The "Hound of Ulster" is undoubtedly the greatest Irish hero, and the Bardic accounts of his feats are collected into one book which is masterfully written. The Cattle Raid of Coolley is the centerpiece, where Ulster King, Conor McNessa, and his rival Mauve go to war in this lesson of greed . This is a must read for anyone who enjoys Irish folklore, or just plain enjoys a good book
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Summary: Morgan's Best Work To Date ignore the previous reviewer!
Review: When I first heard about it I was skeptical...how could the stories of Cuchulain be explained in a "historical novel"? A modern retelling of the Ulster cycle? ...can't be done! Ms. Llewelyn did it! She breathed flesh and blood into the greatest of all Ireland's ancient heroes! The triumph and the tragedy are immortalized once again for a new generation! As always her battle scenes are well told and sure there are "love scenes" but the Ancient Celts were much more casual about affairs than their puritanical descendants have become. Ignore the trite reviews written by illiterates who only read book adaptations of films!
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Summary: Brilliant !!
Review: Whether or not you believe in the existence of Cuchulainn, you're convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that he lived, by the end of this book. This is a totally captivating read, hard to put down. Morgan burns a picture of Cuchalainn into your mind, that will never leave you. It's romantic, tragic, sexy, violent, powerful and hits all of your emotions in one read. The characters are extremely strong, you'll miss them when you've finished reading...you'll love it !!
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