“I am your death Aedan, and so you are drawn to me…”
Aedan, an immortal sidhe, must journey through the land of mortals in pursuit of the one who has cursed him: a mysterious creature known as Linet. Aware that Linet’s sanity is quickly deteriorating, it is a race against time to find her before she becomes something that can bring ruin upon the lands of Eriu.
On his journey Aedan must come to grips with the culture of Milesians, mortals whose ways seem primitive and futile to his sensibilities, a race that still harbors resentment after the war between the two peoples a century ago. Still, Aedan must study their mannerisms, in the hope that he can understand the spark that so drives them, a spark that his own kind had lost long ago.
My Review:
Five out of five Stars
If you are interested in Irish folklore about the Tuatha De Danaan, then this is definitely the book for you. I felt this talented author definitely did his homework before he wrote these facinating stories in Chasing Mortality. We learn about a creature who was once human but only wants to fade away, and he’s willing to kill anyone who tries to remember him. We meet a familiar who is willing to kill to protect the woman who takes care of him. Also a creature who shows up as an apparition to unwary travelers at an Inn. Three days later they disappear, never to be seen again. In another we have a man who marries a tree, but the tree is much more than it first appears. We have changelings, and mad queens, and portraits that cause people to go insane. Legend says the Tuatha De taught mortals about architecture, the arts, and magic, but they also brought us their darker abilities, including dealings with necromancy. This is a unique read as it is a series of short stories that work to come together as a novel. You feel the tension build in each story as time quickly runs out for Aedan, who has been cursed by the mysterious Linet. I learned a lot about the sidhe and their darker side as the cursed Aedan tries to track down Linet, but we also learn they weren’t all heartless when it came to dealing with mortal humans. I personally enjoyed each and every one of the stories in this novel and can’t recommend it high enough. It’s definitely one you’ll want to take a chance on.
Ricky German is an aspiring writer and professional desk jockey. When not doing either he is a keen practitioner of aikido, of which he is a black belt, and spends time hiking the moors and woodlands, exploring the paths less travelled. He is also torturing his neighbors with an ill-conceived attempt to learn the violin. Ever the escapist, he is currently evading real life to work on Aedan and Linet’s world in the form of several short stories.
His story VICTIMS OF VANITY won joint first prize in Crimson Cloak Publishing’s 2016 short story writing competition and is published in the anthology compilation of the best entries THE RIDER.
https://www.facebook.com/ricky.german
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/RIKSTER
Denna Holm 