What do you think?
Rate this book
Chronicles of Ealiron #3
Crowharrow
Deep in the heart of Loralin Forest, folks whisper of the crowharrow, an immortal predator with the body of a male god, towering black wings and the claws and fangs of a mountain cat. Just a legend, they say. But the wise know differently.
In a cottage surrounded by gardens lives Tansel, a young woman with a healer's hand. Sheltered by solitude, innocence and the secrets of three generations of troubled wizards, she does not understand why, during a personal crisis, a mysterious mage named Caelfar takes her away from her home under a premise of protection. But her aunt Aradia, a witch, has been waiting. She knows a terrible secret involving Caelfar and the crowharrow, a diabolical seducer and destroyer of maidens. When the beast casts its spell on Tansel, only Aradia knows what it means.
Caelfar, while enormously powerful, is very old and worn for reasons long buried in his past. His desperation to protect Tansel from the crowharrow and a strong distrust of Aradia's motives drives him to summon a wizard named Eaglin of Ostarin, the son of a god and master of the old powers. When Eaglin answers this summons, he is confronted by a secret of his own, an old wound in his heart that takes shape as the crowharrow itself. Thus tormented, he journeys to Loralin accompanied by Lorth, a wizard-assassin with an inborn vision into the Otherworld, and with whom Eaglin shares a turbulent yet appreciative history.
Sheltered by the wilds her entire life, Tansel is ill prepared to deal with the intensity of an immortal seduction spell, let alone the long shadows of wizards and the complexities of family politics. At the hands of the Otherworld, she and the wizards are swept up in a whirlwind of peril, deception, and upheaval that exposes a devastating connection between the crowharrow and Tansel’s bloodline.
Unfortunately, healing this curse will require a terrible sacrifice.
Can be read as a standalone story.
Includes a map and a glossary.
In a cottage surrounded by gardens lives Tansel, a young woman with a healer's hand. Sheltered by solitude, innocence and the secrets of three generations of troubled wizards, she does not understand why, during a personal crisis, a mysterious mage named Caelfar takes her away from her home under a premise of protection. But her aunt Aradia, a witch, has been waiting. She knows a terrible secret involving Caelfar and the crowharrow, a diabolical seducer and destroyer of maidens. When the beast casts its spell on Tansel, only Aradia knows what it means.
Caelfar, while enormously powerful, is very old and worn for reasons long buried in his past. His desperation to protect Tansel from the crowharrow and a strong distrust of Aradia's motives drives him to summon a wizard named Eaglin of Ostarin, the son of a god and master of the old powers. When Eaglin answers this summons, he is confronted by a secret of his own, an old wound in his heart that takes shape as the crowharrow itself. Thus tormented, he journeys to Loralin accompanied by Lorth, a wizard-assassin with an inborn vision into the Otherworld, and with whom Eaglin shares a turbulent yet appreciative history.
Sheltered by the wilds her entire life, Tansel is ill prepared to deal with the intensity of an immortal seduction spell, let alone the long shadows of wizards and the complexities of family politics. At the hands of the Otherworld, she and the wizards are swept up in a whirlwind of peril, deception, and upheaval that exposes a devastating connection between the crowharrow and Tansel’s bloodline.
Unfortunately, healing this curse will require a terrible sacrifice.
Can be read as a standalone story.
Includes a map and a glossary.
273 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 16, 2012
5 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
F.T. McKinstry
16 books179 followersF.T. McKinstry hails from the northwoods of New England, and is an avid reader, artist, and musichead. A passion for speculative fiction, mythology and fairytales lured her into writing high fantasy. Well, her path through that spooky forest was long indeed and fraught with monsters, tragedies, and detours. She got into computers and kept lots of cats. And the rest is stories.
For more information, see wolfprintpublishing.com.
For more information, see wolfprintpublishing.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 15, 2013
The third volume of The Chronicles of Ealiron is a thorough psychological investigation of the effects of a supernatural force on the inhabitants of the magical Ealiron realm. The crowharrow (or sioros) is an overwhelming, annihilating male force that periodically swoops down with hurricane devastation on Ealiron. But is such a phenomenon really much different from psychic forces in the air in our own world, where thoughts, ideas and impulses, whether creative or destructive, suddenly gain predominance in the worldwide culture? The crowharrow targeting the protagonist, the eighteen year-old Tansel, is not only a magical being endemic to Ealiron, but also part of a family curse, and its exterminating power mixes into the misunderstandings, tragedies, and dysfunctions of Tansel’s family extending back to her great-grandfather’s generation.
The crowharrow force unhinges everyone, bringing out unacknowledged fears, talents, and strengths--as well as holding various taboos and flawed suppositions up to the light. Though an encounter with a sioros may appear to be random bad luck to those who encounter it, in reality the crowharrow seems well-tied to the unconscious darkness of the characters.
The crowharrow seduces and abducts, kills and destroys, but, like the rest of the Ealiron world, it follows the magical laws of nature in the realm of Ealiron, which correspond to the psychological laws of our own. How do the characters handle these forces? What courage or cowardice do they bring to the struggle? Some accept tidy explanations, no matter how painful or incorrect. Others cover the issues up, resorting to magical dogma to explain their action or lack of it.
Numerous characters strive in their own ways to shield the orphan Tansel, a talented gardener and an innocent maiden, from the crowharrow. But in trying to protect Tansel’s innocence are they also denying her growth, change, and the right to claim new strength? Is loss of innocence really the annihilation everyone fears?
Lorth and Eaglin, the two wizards assigned to investigate the affair, possess great power, yet they’re constantly confronted with the limitations of a reality they must honor. For magical powers cannot be abused without serious consequences. Lorth, the hero of the first two novels in The Chronicles of Ealiron series, displays an admirable and growing mastery of wizardry, yet even his pragmatic wisdom and courage can be short-circuited by the powers surrounding the crowharrow.
The author convincingly marshals the psychic energies of the characters towards unexpected conclusions and new perspectives. In addition to a deep examination of the souls of all the major characters, the novel resonates with the beauty of the natural world, of gardens and the numinous earth.
Michael D. Smith
The crowharrow force unhinges everyone, bringing out unacknowledged fears, talents, and strengths--as well as holding various taboos and flawed suppositions up to the light. Though an encounter with a sioros may appear to be random bad luck to those who encounter it, in reality the crowharrow seems well-tied to the unconscious darkness of the characters.
The crowharrow seduces and abducts, kills and destroys, but, like the rest of the Ealiron world, it follows the magical laws of nature in the realm of Ealiron, which correspond to the psychological laws of our own. How do the characters handle these forces? What courage or cowardice do they bring to the struggle? Some accept tidy explanations, no matter how painful or incorrect. Others cover the issues up, resorting to magical dogma to explain their action or lack of it.
Numerous characters strive in their own ways to shield the orphan Tansel, a talented gardener and an innocent maiden, from the crowharrow. But in trying to protect Tansel’s innocence are they also denying her growth, change, and the right to claim new strength? Is loss of innocence really the annihilation everyone fears?
Lorth and Eaglin, the two wizards assigned to investigate the affair, possess great power, yet they’re constantly confronted with the limitations of a reality they must honor. For magical powers cannot be abused without serious consequences. Lorth, the hero of the first two novels in The Chronicles of Ealiron series, displays an admirable and growing mastery of wizardry, yet even his pragmatic wisdom and courage can be short-circuited by the powers surrounding the crowharrow.
The author convincingly marshals the psychic energies of the characters towards unexpected conclusions and new perspectives. In addition to a deep examination of the souls of all the major characters, the novel resonates with the beauty of the natural world, of gardens and the numinous earth.
Michael D. Smith
December 14, 2019
Having read and enjoyed the first two books in the series I didn’t enjoy the gay sex scenes. They didn’t bring anything to the story, in my opinion ,but spoiled it for me and I gave up on the book shortly afterward.
No criticism of the author just not my thing.
No criticism of the author just not my thing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2022
Action by Other Characters
Great writing and character development. Got to see and understand other major players while the Hunter assisted through out the story.
Great writing and character development. Got to see and understand other major players while the Hunter assisted through out the story.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews