The Swan Maiden by Jules Watson

Today I was supposed to be reviewing The Raven Queen by Jules Watson as part of a blog tour for that book, but due to the vagaries of the postal system, I haven't actually received the book yet. That left me scratching my head wondering what I should post instead. A quick look at all the half written reviews I have sitting in draft (and yes, there are a lot of them) revealed that I had a review of Jules Watson's previous book that was oh so close to finished, and so I have done the tidying up of what I had written previously and I am posting that instead. I don't know why I didn't finish the review earlier, especially seeing it was one of the few books I rated as 5/5 reads in the year I read it.

It was fair to say though that I already knew I was a fan of Jules Watson after reading her Dalriaida trilogy, which is set in Roman Britain, and features a warrior princess, battles against the Roman invaders, a handsome Irish prince and much more. I have reviewed all three of the books in the trilogy. The first is The White Mare, the second book was called The Dawn Stag and the third book in the trilogy was published in some places as The Boar Stone with an alternative title of Song of the North. Click on the links to read my reviews of the trilogy.

Jules Watson is an Australia author who had been living in Scotland, but has now moved to the US. For more information about Jules, check out this interview we did with her at Historical Tapestry, and also at other stops around her blog tour for The Raven Queen. You can find all the stops here.

I will definitely be reading and reviewing The Raven Queen as soon as I can.

In this lush, romantic retelling of one of the most enduring Irish legends, acclaimed Celtic historical author Jules Watson reignites the tale of Deirdre—the Irish Helen of Troy—in a story that is at once magical, beautiful, and tragic.

She was born with a blessing and a curse: that she would grow into a woman of extraordinary beauty—and bring ruin to the kingdom of Ulster and its ruler, the wily Conor. Ignoring the pleadings of his druid to expel the infant, King Conor secrets the girl child with a poor couple in his province, where no man can covet her. There, under the tutelage of a shamaness, Deirdre comes of age in nature and magic…. And in the season of her awakening, the king is inexorably drawn to her impossible beauty.

But for Deirdre, her fate as a man’s possession is worse than death. And soon the green-eyed girl, at home in waterfall and woods, finds herself at the side of three rebellious young warriors. Among them is the handsome Naisi. His heart charged with bitterness toward the aging king, and growing in love for the defiant girl, Naisi will lead Deirdre far from Ulster—and into a war of wits, swords, and spirit that will take a lifetime to wage.

Brimming with life and its lusts, here is a soaring tale of enchantment and eternal passions—and of a woman who became legend.

I have read and enjoyed Jules Watson's Dalriada trilogy,and so was very much looking forward to reading this book when it came out and I haven't been disappointed!

A retelling of the Celtic tale of Deidre, this tells the story of a young woman who has been separate from society, being specifically raised to be the wife of a king (Conor) and with a strong mystical focus, but she has other ideas and so flees with the assistance and protection of rebel warriors Naisi and his two brothers. As the group struggle to find their place in the world, they can't seem to escape what seems to be their fate especially when it seems it is only a matter of time before Conor finds them.

Where Deidre was not interested at all in Conor, she finds herself attracted to Naisi. I thought the build up in the tension between Deidre and Naisi was great and there was definitely a lot of chemistry between the two of them. The balance between the relationship, the various mystical elements and the story was really well done. These mystical elements were a feature of Watson's earlier books, and I hope that this is something that she continues to explore in her next books.

There are a few signs that make it obvious to me when I am really enjoying a book apart from the feelings it invokes in me as I am reading it. One is when I break my no reading books at lunch time at work, and another is when I am prompted to Google things like locations, or as it was with this book, to find out more about the Irish myths about Deidre which this novel was based on, and both of these things happened with this book,

I was completely immersed in the world that Watson has created, and with the characters. There were a couple of times maybe where the book dragged a little, but by the end of the book I closed the book with a huge sigh of satisfaction.

Cross posted at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Interview with Jules Watson

Ever since I read the first book in the Dalriada trilogy by Jules Watson, I have been hooked on her writing! I have been anxiously anticipating the release of The Swan Maiden. I was therefore very pleased to get the opportunity to interview Jules on behalf of all of us here at Historical Tapestry. I think I might have been a little bit excited on the Australian connection on the day I wrote the questions, but I hope that I can be forgiven for that!


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How does an Aussie girl end up living in Scotland, writing books about Ancient Celts?

I had "this thing" about the Celts even as a child - for no reason whatsoever. My parents were English immigrants. I'm not Irish or Scots by blood, and no one in my family knew about such things. It just came up from within! It made me start reading all the Celtic-inspired fantasy authors for kids, such as Susan Cooper, Alan Garner and LLoyd Alexander. I was obsessed with ancient peoples, and when I got to university I did a degree in archaeology to feed the maw of the history beast. That sealed my love of the Celts. I then fell in love with The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, set in Dark Age Britain, which had Celtic undertones. I kept waiting for another Mists of Avalon, with the same mixture of adventure, romance and Celtic spirituality, but no one was writing such a book. When I decided to write, I knew that's what I had to do. My husband is a Scot transplanted to Australia as a child, but I did not get my connection to Scotland from him. I just knew I had to go there, I was drawn there, and the moment I saw the wild mountains I knew instinctively it was my home. I've been trying to get my husband to move back there ever since, and finally I succeeded! The Celts came first, the history second, Scotland third, and writing fourth. And last is that I married all of it together and ended up married to a Scot, in Scotland, writing Scottish history.

Looking about your About Me page on your lovely new website, you have had some pretty interesting jobs. What was the strangest, or most interesting job that you have had?

I would have to say driving huge trucks on a gold mine in Western Australia. One minute I was a bookish city-dweller, the next I was standing in 60 C heat in a red desert, surrounded by gigantic machinery digging rocks out of a kilometre-long hole in the ground. It was like a Wild West camp, with only kangaroos and tattooed bikers for company! I had an absolute blast. My memorable moment was when I was driving an enormous house-sized truck, piled with rock, out of the pit. The track was wet when I got to the dump, and I lost control. This behemoth started to slide beneath me, and then did a complete spin in what felt like slow motion. When I stopped I just sat there, wondering if I was alive. So yes, that was interesting!

One of the things that I often hear from authors is that they don't get time to read very much anymore, or that they have to read outside their genre. Do you still find time to read, and if so what are a couple of your favourite recent reads? What are your favourite books and/or authors?

I am guilty of that. The problem is that when you become an author, you tend to write the kinds of things you liked reading before. But now you can't read them, in case you accidentally cross-pollinate. So all of a sudden your reading slows. Also, after looking at words all day I need a break from that. I have stopped reading, and it's awful, so I am trying to start up again. My favorite books are The Mists of Avalon and Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, plus Lord of the Rings. I also really liked Joan Wolf's series about the Saxons and Britons. I obviously have to read outside my genre, but have not been very good at it of late.








When I read the Dalriada trilogy, I was particularly impressed with the detail that you were able to provide of life in the tribes. Reading the authors notes, it seemed that there is very little known, so how much freedom does that give you as a writer? Is the same true for your new book, The Swan Maiden?

One reason I wrote about the first century AD in Scotland is because not much is known. I wanted to write a great adventure romance, and I didn't want to be too restricted by historical records. I have stuck to the bits we know - mainly from Roman records about their invasions into Scotland - but I personally loved setting my imagination free to do the rest. I thread aspects of Celtic spirituality all through my books, in the sense of dreams and visions, and I think that sits better in a little-known time. It's a cliche, but the Scottish landscape IS mysterious, and if you set any story here, the edges naturally start dissolving into the mists. I like hovering at the fringes between known and the great unknown, between civilisation and wilderness, and that translates into my books. This is even stronger in The Swan Maiden, since it is based on an Irish myth. My previous trilogy used scraps of Roman history, and archaeology of the first century AD. But scholars don't even know when the Irish epics were set, so even that certainty is taken away. I chose to set The Swan Maiden in the first century BC, so the lifestyles of the characters are roughly the same as in the Dalriada trilogy, and I draw on the same archaeology and snippets of Roman writings about the Celts from across the "Celtic" world.

Tell us a bit more about The Swan Maiden? What inspired you to tell this particular story? What are you hoping the reader takes away from the book?

It is based on the tale of Deirdre and the Sons of Usnech, which though it was not written down until the 12th century, probably dates to earlier than the 6th century. I love the heroic Irish myths for all their drama and nobility, and the Deirdre tale is one of the most beautiful and tragic. I always found it inspiring: the tale of a girl betrothed from birth to an old king, who finally takes her fate into her own hands. She defies her king and her people and runs away, claiming her own love and a life of freedom. It's incredibly romantic in the same vein as Romeo and Juliet, Paris and Helen of Troy, and Tristan and Isolde: lovers defying society to be together. There's also a feminist element, I suppose, of a woman rejecting the shackles put around her by a male world of warriors and power-hungry kings. I hope her courage is inspiring, but most of all, I like the way she breaks away to discover who she really is in her deepest self. She claims her right to stand as herself alone, not existing only in relation to a man. I think that's inspiring for everyone, male or female - to somehow be your own unique self in this crazy world. Of course, she also risks all for love, and I think love is a vital thing to cling to the crazier the world gets. I'm also interested in the spiritual elements of the Celts: the ability of souls to move between different forms; the existence of an Otherworld close to our own. So I hope readers go away feeling uplifted, that we can transcend violence and tragedy and still triumph.

Your current agent represents some really big names in historical fiction. How important is this in terms of getting your books out, particularly into the US market? Does the same agent represent you in all regions?

Yes, it is important. Over thirty years, he has built up a reputation for spotting bestsellers, and signing leading authors in the historical fiction / fantasy genre. He knows all the US editors buying work like mine, and they respect his judgement. So when he's putting me forward, they are least going to listen to what he says. They may still pass, of course, because they don't like it even if he does, or it's not their thing. But having a great agent puts you way ahead of the pack. He represents me worldwide.

What's next for Jules Watson?

I'm currently working on the second book based on ancient Irish myths. It's not strictly a sequel to The Swan Maiden, and both books can stand alone. It is called The Raven Queen, and it's a reimagination of the life of Queen Medb or Maeve, and her part in the famous Irish epic The Tain. She is a juicy character, since the monks that wrote down the oral tales about her in a later period portray her as a sex-crazed war-mongerer. I wanted to imagine what sort of woman she "could" have been to inspire such hatred. My previous heroines have all had a spiritual dimension, often being seers or priestesses, but in this case Maeve is a warrior and ruthless ruler in her own right. Though there is an intriguing druid lurking about in the background...

Last question. Having lived overseas myself, every now and again there were things that I missed from Australia. Is there anything that you miss from Australia and why?

I don't like the blazing heat, but I miss the feel of the air in Perth on a summer's eve when the burning sun had just dropped below the horizon. Then there was a magical hour of dusk where you could sit on the beach and smell the salt air, and enjoy the balminess. I miss balmy. I also miss Australians! They are so easy-going and up for anything, and I like how they are free of class consciousness. I didn't realise there was an "Australian-ness" of character until after I left. Oh, and good Thai food...and swimming... It was hard to write misty Scottish epics in such a climate, however. I get very inspired hiking up Scottish hillsides, despite the rain!

Jules Watson
Author of Celtic historical fiction

NEW BOOK: THE SWAN MAIDEN -
the ancient myth of Deirdre,
the Irish "Helen of Troy"

http://www.juleswatson.com



Thank you so much Jules for taking the time to answer our questions. You can read reviews of all of Jules' previous books by clicking on the following links:

The White Mare
The Dawn Stag
The Boar Stone

Please note that The Boar Stone is published in the US under the title, Song of the North.

HT News

Another Helen Hollick interview, this time at Medieval Bookworm. It seems that Hollick is going to be going on a blog tour, and there is a list of of the tour stops on Meghan's review of The Kingmaking.

Michelle Moran has interviewed Jules Watson about her new book, The Swan Maiden.

I mentioned a week or so ago that there was a new HF author group blog. Now, there has been a change of title to Early Medieval Britain and there are new contributors to the blog as well. The current list is Anne Gilbert, Carla Nayland, Elizabeth Chadwick, Kathleen Guler, Meghan Kawka and Nan Hawthorne.

New Release: The Swan Maiden by Jules Watson

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to discover Australian author Jules Watson. Her Dalriada trilogy was very enjoyable. Since reading it, I have been waiting very impatiently, but finally the day is here! And not only had Jules been busy with getting ready for the book release, she also has a new website launching as well! This is one book that I am looking forward to reading!

In this lush, romantic retelling of one of the most enduring Irish legends, acclaimed Celtic historical author Jules Watson reignites the tale of Deirdre—the Irish Helen of Troy—in a story that is at once magical, beautiful, and tragic.

She was born with a blessing and a curse: that she would grow into a woman of extraordinary beauty—and bring ruin to the kingdom of Ulster and its ruler, the wily Conor. Ignoring the pleadings of his druid to expel the infant, King Conor secrets the girl child with a poor couple in his province, where no man can covet her. There, under the tutelage of a shamaness, Deirdre comes of age in nature and magic…. And in the season of her awakening, the king is inexorably drawn to her impossible beauty.

But for Deirdre, her fate as a man’s possession is worse than death. And soon the green-eyed girl, at home in waterfall and woods, finds herself at the side of three rebellious young warriors. Among them is the handsome Naisi. His heart charged with bitterness toward the aging king, and growing in love for the defiant girl, Naisi will lead Deirdre far from Ulster—and into a war of wits, swords, and spirit that will take a lifetime to wage.

Brimming with life and its lusts, here is a soaring tale of enchantment and eternal passions—and of a woman who became legend.

I think it sounds great! The Swan Maiden is released in the US and the UK on 24 February (yes, today!). I have to say though, I am really disappointed that there is no Australian version of this book scheduled for release yet!

The Boar Stone by Jules Watson

Roman England, 366 AD: Minna, a Roman serving girl, is flung out into the brutal world to fend for herself. Desperate to reach her soldier brother at the northern frontier, she falls in with acrobat Cian, a tribeless youth with no loyalty to anyone but himself. A terrible mistake sees them thrust into the wilds of barbarian Scotland, a land in chaos. The Romans have sent scouts north from their frontier, seeking to subdue Scotland by any means possible. The dark Picts retaliate, raiding and pillaging Roman farms.

Caught in the middle is Cahir, King of the Dalriadans in Scotland. Year by year he has watched his people fall under the Roman yoke, and wounded by shame, his power dwindles.

At Cahir's fort, Cian and Minna must struggle to survive. Cian retreats into the pain of his hidden past, while Minna has an entirely unexpected path open before her. What are these visions and dreams of Scotland that plague her, full of battles and bloodshed? Minna's visions reveal a destiny that she shares with the wounded king Cahir, as seer and lover. Yet her journey to heal them both has far-reaching consequences, even she cannot see.

When I first read the description of this book after I had finished the first two books in the trilogy, I wasn't sure that I could see how the three books were going to feel like a complete trilogy. The first two books were set in AD79 and AD81, but this one is set nearly 300 years later! And yet the author has done a great job of melding the stories of the three books together, merging the stories of the beginning of the resistance to the attempted Roman occupation of Alba to the stories of the beginning of the end of the Roman occupation of northern England.

Our main character is Minna, a young Roman girl who has a tribal background. She is working as a tutor to a Roman family, when her beloved grandmother dies, leaving her alone, and about to be married off to a man that she can't stand. Determined to avoid that fate, she travels north, heading for Hadrian's Wall where her soldier brother is stationed. Along the way she meets up with Cian, a young acrobat who agrees to help her make her way, but instead they are captured and sold off to be slaves to the Dalriadans in Alba. Minna is employed by the Queen of the Dalriadans to become the tutor to her own children, to teach them the way of the Romans. However, the more time that she spends in Alba, the more she feels the pull of the ancient lands, and the call of the spiritual realm of the land. She begins to learn more of the healing arts, supplementing the knowledge that she had already been given by her grandmother, but in time it turns out that she is a seer, destined to provide the prophecies of the future of the King, Cahir. Cahir in turn is destined to be a major figure in the fight against the Romans which gained renewed impetus in the late 300s, eventually leading to the Romans withdrawing completely from Hadrian's Wall, and all of Britain in the late 300s and early 400s.

When I read the second book in the trilogy I noted that there seemed to be more focus on the mystical elements, and that is still true of this book, but I do think that in this one it is better balanced with the rest of the story, perhaps because it is all new to Minna, and therefore we are learning along with her.

One of the most interesting dynamics was the tenuous partnerships that are built between tribes to help fight against the hated Romans, that won't necessarily stand the tests of time, friendship and trust.

Cian is an interesting character, although, in some ways he was too convenient, drifting in and out of the narrative, at very convenient moments. The glimpses into his past were very interesting, and I would have like to have seen that explored a little more.

At the end of the day though, this was a more than satisfactory conclusion to a well-written and entertaining trilogy.

It appears as though this book is going to be released in the US in January with the title Song of the North. I was also interested to note that Jules Watson is working on a new book which will be a retelling of an Irish myth this time, and that she has a new agent, the same one who already represents authors like Diana Gabaldon and Juliet Marillier, which has to be a huge boost to her confidence as a writer. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for her next book!

Rating 4.5/5

The books in this trilogy in order are:

The White Mare
The Dawn Stag
The Boar Stone

The Dawn Stag by Jules Watson

This is the second book in the Dalriada trilogy that started with The White Mare. This was posted on my personal blog but I have posted it here in anticipation of finishing my review of the third book in the trilogy.

AD 81. Agricola, the ruthless governor of Roman Britain is intent on capturing the last unconquered territory in Britain - Alba, Scotland.

Rhiann is an Alban priestess and princess who submitted to a political marriage to Eremon, an exiled Irish prince. Out of duty, grew love - a powerful and desperate love that will bind them together through conflict and betrayal. Now in them lies the hope of a nation. For Agricola's army is formidable - brilliantly armed and heavily supported. To the people of Alba it is a wall of steel and fire advancing across their homeland, bringing with it desolation.

The predestined day draws near: the armies of Alba and Rome will meet in an epic battle to decide the fate of a country. Rhiann searches for guidance in the spirit world, little realizing how big a part she will play in this endgame. Eremon knows only that he must risk - and sacrifice - many lives, perhaps even his own.

I read The Dawn Stag a couple of months ago and was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Whilst I like the idea of reading about Rome, I haven't actually read that many! But combine Scotland (or Alba as it is known in this book) and Rome and I am definitely interested.

This book takes up where The Dawn Stag left off and covers a period of approximately three years. In the summer months there are battles to be fought against the increasingly frustrated Romans, and in the winter time to recover and to be together, focussing on what it is that they are fighting for - a free Alba.

Whilst the story of Rhiann and Eremon is definitely interesting, and one that I wanted to follow, the author does not forget about the secondary characters. There is love and there is loss, happiness and heartache. The other interesting character was Agricola, the leader of the Romans. He is facing a huge loss of prestige and reputation if he cannot defeat these uncivilized warriors and soon, yet he gets drawn into losing battle after losing battle, and becomes increasingly frustrated.

I have to say that to me it felt like there was a greater focus on the mystical in this novel. Rheann is Ban Cre - not only the carrier of Royal blood, and possibly mother to one of the next leaders of her people, but also their spiritual leader. It is Rheann who must reconcile herself with the events of her past and find her way back to the Goddess, who must draw the other tribes together to fight in unison with the forces led by her husband to give them any chance to defeat the enemy, who must fight to save lives, including some of those that she loves.

The relationships are well written, and the events, about which is really known, feel real and compelling. The only thing about this book that concerned me was really the ending. There is a third book out in this trilogy in May next year called The Boar Stone, but it really felt as though the story was all wrapped up in this book. Having read the synopsis I guess I have an idea of how the third book will tie in with the first two books, but I suspect that for the most part we have seen the last of Rhiann and Eremon, and the other's that we have come to know and love from Dunadd. If not for the ending, this book probably would have ended up with the same rating as the first book, which was 4.5 out 5.

Instead, I am giving it a rating of 4/5


The books in this trilogy in order are:

The White Mare
The Dawn Stag
The Boar Stone

The White Mare by Jules Watson

I have just finished reading the third book in this trilogy now, so thought I would post my reviews that were originally posted on my blog of the first two books in the trilogy.

AD 79. Agricola, the ruthless governor of Roman Britain has just subdued the Welsh. Now he has turned to the last unconquered territory in Britain - Alba, Scotland.

For Rhiann, an Alban priestess and princess, the thread of invasion changes her life irrevocably. The king, her uncle, has no heir, and it is her duty to submit to a political marriage. But she is emotionally scarred from a terrible trauma, and can imagine nothing worse than matrimony. Desperately, she looks for a way out, but sees only the Romans closing in.

Into this volatile situation sails an Irish prince, Eremon, exiled from his home by familial treachery. His aim is to win renown and regain his throne, but first he has to deal with an unexpected alliance, prove himself a military leader, and unite the feuding tribes of his adopted country.

Against this backdrop of looming war Rhiann finds herself embarking on an unexpected journey of love and loss that will the true purpose of her life.

The White Mare is the first novel in the Dalriada Trilogy and marks the arrival of an exciting new talent in historical fiction. In the grand tradition of the saga, it is a tale of heroic deeds, of kinship and kingship, and the struggle for power, honour, freedom, and love.

One of the things I love about reading is the way that you can travel to other places and/or times, without actually leaving modern comforts behind!! This book transported me to Scotland (Alba) in AD 79. The Roman forces are massing in the south of Alba waiting for the order to be given to conquer the wild tribes of the north once and for all, given Rome control over the whole of the mainland Britain.

With the prospect of war looming, Eremon arrives. He is fleeing from a usurper that has taken his rightful place as King from one of the tribes of Ireland, and is looking for a place to spend time regrouping until he can go and take back what is rightfully his. His plan is to make a name for himself, and one way that can happen is if he becomes war leader of the tribes. However, that will take some doing, because the tribes of Alba are notorious for their ongoing feuds and battles. Eremon sees that the only way to defeat the Romans will be to be fighting as one cohesive unit, and works his way towards that girl.

Rhiann is a princess and also a priestess, and she has one pressing duty - to provide a royal heir. Quite interestingly, author chooses to have the crown pass through the females of the family, so that if Rhiann has a son, then he will become King, instead of the more traditional way of passing the crown from father to son. Rhiann is a leader of her people and a very strong woman, in all ways except one. She is traumatised from events that happened several years ago where her foster family was all killed, and she herself suffered terribly. These events have left her with a terrible distrust of men, and warriors in particular.

When it is agreed that a political match be made between Rhiann and Eremon, she is terrified of what is to come, and for a long time after the wedding she maintains a completely distant persona. Gradually though, Eremon and Rhiann begin to work together for the good of the people of Alba, although it is fair to say that there are setbacks along the way. They also work together towards healing of both their relationship and their minds.

The author doesn't back away from the faults of the characters, moving the story forward through the mistakes and errors in judgement that occur.

With a strong emphasis on the role of fate and on the role of religion during those times, there is almost a mystical feel to this book. It has to be said that I haven't read a lot about Roman times, or the tribes of the time, so I have no idea how feasible some of the ideas are that are presented in the book, but they seemed reasonable enough to me as I read it. What I look for in a book is readability, and for a story that hooks me in and makes me want to keep reading. Using these two as measurements, this sprawling sage is a winner!

I enjoyed it immensely and I will definitely be reading the sequel, The Dawn Stag, and the final book in the Dalriada trilogy, which is due out early next year.

Rating 4.5/5


The books in this trilogy in order are:

The White Mare
The Dawn Stag
The Boar Stone