Madness & Reckoning: Stories of the Morrigan's Brood Series

Morrigan's Brood #2.1

by Heather Poinsett Dunbar, Christopher Dunbar, Jillian Rosenburg

From the authors of the Morrigan's Brood Series comes a pair of short-stories that take place between the conclusion of Crone of War, Morrigan's Brood Book II, and the beginning of Dark Alliance, Morrigan's Brood Book III. Following the events of 564 CE, madness strikes one of the Lamia’s most important personages. Can the Lamia march on, or will this insanity cast them into civil war? Following the events of 564 CE, the Deargh Du must come to grips with change or see old strife resurface, which could tear the Deargh Du apart.

110 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 23, 2011

Reviews

[Christopher Dunbar]

From Heather Poinsett Dunbar and Christopher Dunbar, authors of the Morrigan's Brood Series, comes a pair of stories that take place between the end of Morrigan's Brood: Crone of War and the beginning of Morrigan's Brood: Dark Alliance. I am Christopher Dunbar, one of the authors, so I won't review our own work, but I shall provide a little background.

Heather and I, while writing books 6 through 8 of the series, looked back on Morrigan's Brood: Dark Alliance and realized that we needed to explain a little about the transitions of some of our major characters between books 2 and 3. Characters like Mandubratius and Máire became more interesting in book 3 than in book 2, so we felt we had to explain how they became more interesting.

In Madness, one of the two short-stories within this book, our friend Mandubratius becomes quite insane, more so than usual, following the Lamia's war against the Deargh Du and their Celtic blood-drinker allies. Amata must find a way to placate the Lamia senate until Mandubratius can recover, but schisms in Lamia politics threaten to plunge the Lamia into civil war. Meanwhile, Patroclus considers what must be done to preserve the Lamia, at all costs.

In Reckoning, Marcus, Son-in-Darkness to Morrigan, ex Praetor and general of Rome under Gaius Julius Caesar, hero of the Deargh Du war against the Lamia, is reduced to the menial and morally strained role of cutthroat, as he and Máire find themselves embroiled in "housekeeping". Sáerlaith, leader of the Deargh Du, has tasked Marcus and Máire with eliminating those Deargh Du who wish to return to the old ways of bigotry and isolationism. Though this is a mission from Morrigan, She warns that every action has its consequence. Can the Deargh Du survive this cleansing? Read and find your answer.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great!