This book falls in the middle for me; it wasn't as bland as "Hunter's Moon," but not quite as engaging as "The Summer King."

Dana Faolan is upset with her father's news that they are leaving Ireland for Canada. She cannot shake the feeling that her mother, who disappeared when she was young, is still out there somewhere. So when the High Queen of Faerie (Honor from the previous book), comes asking that she deliver a message to the ancient wilderness king Lugh, Dana accepts.

There are brand new mythological creatures and figures here, and I enjoyed that. I also enjoyed some of the messages about the environment, and finding your own identity, fighting the demons of your own nature. I agree that the eco-message was a little heavy-handed, but it seems authors can never seem to handle that particular subject quite right.

While we get to know Dana quite well, she still wasn't my favorite heroine. Minor characters almost appealed to me more, and they weren't even that well developed, as they were in "The Summer King." I am still anxious to see how all the characters collide in the final installment, "The Book of Dreams." ( )

http://books.moonsoar.com/archives/2014/10/16/the-light-bearers-daughter/ ( )

Though this book is not quite as good as the second one, it is definitely better then the first. Though I found it hard to get through sometimes because it was very slow in parts, I enjoyed how it all came together in the end. This novel is truly about fighting your inner demons, and overcoming them to let your light shine through. An almost psychological journey that just shows how much repressed memories control our lives. ( )

Read this book while on a trip to Ireland/Scotland. Didn't enjoy it as much as the previous books by Melling, but the subject matter was interesting as usual. Only wish the setting dealt more with Celtic myths. ( )

This is the third book in Melling's Chronicles of Faerie series; I had read and really enjoyed the first two a couple of summers ago, but put off this one largely because it was only available in hardback (I actually purchased the remaindered hardback, but somehow the bulk discouraged me from picking it up. Or something).

Anyway, I was a bit disappointed in this one compared to the first two. It took a long time to get started, largely because the short chapters following the main character initially alternated with slow-moving chapters about larger events that were described in a fairly distant tone. We heard about some sort of evil being that was slowly gaining in power, and about some other being that was trapped by spells under a mountain and was slowly gaining consciousness. I think I would have preferred to experience the story more fully from the point of view of the protagonist, rather than being fed external information in what I found a fairly uninteresting fashion.

I also found it a bit jarring when one of the faerie characters reverted to human form and spoke in American English, which detracted a lot from my attempt to be immersed in another world. And I couldn't believe that the major reveal on page 260 of 330 was partially spoiled by the title! That was a poor choice.

Still, I did eventually get caught up in the story, and I find myself wanting to read the next book in the series, so I must have enjoyed it well enough. I'd certainly recommend first two books, The Hunter's Moon and The Summer King, and if you liked those then you'll probably want to continue on. I think the first books were written a fair bit earlier, though (something like 1994 and 2000 compared to 2008), so that might explain the difference in quality. Or maybe I was just in a bad mood this time. ( )