The Curse of Conchobar―A Prequel to the Adirondack Spirit Series by David Fitz-Gerald #BookReview #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour @AuthorDAVIDFG @maryanneyarde

  I am so excited to share my review of The Curse of Conchobar―A Prequel to the Adirondack Spirit Series by David Fitz-Gerald.  Thank you to The Coffee Pot Book Club for your invite to take part in the tour. 

The Curse of Conchobar―A Prequel to the Adirondack Spirit Series

By David Fitz-Gerald

Banished by one tribe. Condemned by another. Will an outcast's supernatural strengths be enough to keep him alive?

 

549 AD. Raised by monks, Conchobar is committed to a life of obedience and peace. But when his fishing vessel is blown off-course, the young man's relief over surviving the sea's storms is swamped by the terrors of harsh new shores. And after capture by violent natives puts him at death's door, he's stunned when he develops strange telepathic abilities.

 

Learning his new family's language through the mind of his mentor, Conchobar soon falls for the war chief's ferocious daughter. But when she trains him to follow in her path as a fighter, he's horrified when his uncanny misfortune twists reality, causing more disastrous deaths and making him a pariah.

 

Can Conchobar defeat the darkness painting his steps with blood?

 

The Curse of Conchobar is the richly detailed prequel to the mystical Adirondack Spirit Series of historical fiction. If you like inspiring heroes, unsettling powers, and lasting legacies, then you'll love David Fitz-Gerald's captivating tale.

 

Buy The Curse of Conchobar to break free from the fates today!

I have already read one of the books in the Adirondack Spirit Series, She Sees Ghosts, and I decided to read that book because of the trailer. Unfortunately, after extensive searching, there is no trailer for this book. Nevertheless, I enjoyed She Sees Ghosts and was excited to jump into reading this one, although I was a little surprised to find that the author had completely changed his style of writing for this book.

Conchobar washes up on a shore after taking out a fishing boat and getting caught in a storm. How he survived so long with no food or fresh water, I do not know, but this is a book about the supernatural, so who knows. Luckily, he is found by a tribe who get him on his feet and give him some much-needed sustenance, but when the group is attacked, Conchobar finds himself in the middle of a war, and is taken in by the other tribe.

I think the thing I loved most about this novel is the names. This book is set before the colonisation of North America, and while Conchobar was given a name at birth, I found it interesting that the tribes were a little different. People’s names were not chosen by their parents, but rather by their lives. In particular, I was rather fond of Struts Like A Goose, because while he was given the kind of name that nowadays might be due to bullying, his name is a part of him and he is respected just the same, despite his tendencies to walk around honking. 

In She Sees Ghosts, I cannot remember much explanation behind Mehitable’s ability to see the dead. As far as I can recall, it was passed down through her family. In this book, I struggled to find justification for Conchobar’s supernatural abilities to send his spirit through the roots of trees to see distant lands and potential threats. While I could get over this, there was one thing that greatly confused me, and that was the small amount of what I can only call time-travel nearer the end of the book. I had no idea what was going on, and neither did Conchobar, so there wasn’t an explanation. 

I will admit, I much preferred She Sees Ghosts to this book, but I do not want to judge this book too harshly, as the week this book reached the next spot on my to-read list, my child caught an awful cold so I was reading little bits in between cleaning up tissues and fetching ice lollies, and my judgement may have been slightly hindered by the stress of a child who suddenly doesn’t want to eat anything but chicken nuggets. I will definitely be reading both books again, but my initial reaction is that this book didn’t quite live up to my expectations after reading She Sees Ghosts.

Despite my criticisms, I did enjoy reading this book, and I would still recommend the series to anyone who would like a big dollop of history with a side of supernatural and a generous helping of love and feuds. I go back and watch the trailer to She Sees Ghosts every now and then, just because I love it so much. 

I received my copy from The Coffee Pot Book Club but you can grab yours from your favourite bookstore, just click here!!

David Fitz-Gerald

David Fitz-Gerald writes fiction that is grounded in history and soars with the spirits. Dave enjoys getting lost in the settings he imagines and spending time with the characters he creates. Writing historical fiction is like making paintings of the past. He loves to weave fact and fiction together, stirring in action, adventure, romance, and a heavy dose of the supernatural with the hope of transporting the reader to another time and place. He is an Adirondack 46-er, which means he has hiked all of the highest peaks in New York State, so it should not be surprising when Dave attempts to glorify hikers as swashbuckling superheroes in his writing.

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