The Raven Chronicles
The Raven Chronicles is a dark fantasy series rooted in Irish mythology, following teenage Setanta as he discovers that being the son of Cú Chulainn and the Morrígan is not quite the gift it sounds like.
The old stories have not gone away. They have simply learned how to hide.
When Setanta’s mother disappears, he is pulled into a world of banshees, púcaí, the Sluagh, ancient grudges and creatures that most people have long decided belong in books. Unfortunately for Setanta, they are very real and they seem to know far more about him than he does about them.
Across the series he is joined by Norbert Sweeney, a leprechaun with his own peculiar way of looking at the world, and Fiadh, his fiercely loyal dog. Martina also becomes an important part of Setanta’s story, bringing a very human courage into a world that is becoming stranger and more dangerous around him.
The books draw on familiar figures including Cú Chulainn, the Morrígan, Fionn Mac Cumhaill and Abhartach, the Blood King, but they are not treated like untouchable statues from Irish mythology. They are allowed to be difficult, selfish, loving, frightening, funny and occasionally very bad at being the legends people expect them to be.
Setanta is growing up while all of this is happening. He has inherited a famous name, a complicated family and the beginnings of a war he did not ask for. The monsters matter, but so do friendship, grief, loyalty, family and the question of how much of our parents’ unfinished business we are expected to carry.
The series currently includes Setanta and the Lady by the Water, Setanta and the Hungry Ones and Setanta and the Blood King.
The forthcoming fourth book, Setanta and the Death of the Ravens, pushes Setanta deeper into the conflict that has been building from the beginning, as old loyalties begin to fracture and the consequences of his family’s past become harder to avoid.
Fast, dark, funny in places and very Irish, The Raven Chronicles takes the old myths seriously without treating them as sacred.
