The Light-Bearer's Daughter

Chronicles of Faerie #3

by O.R. Melling

The third book in this critically acclaimed trilogy, which Booklist described as shimmering with magic, myth, and romance

Dana has few memories of her mother, who disappeared when she was small. But she has always dreamed, despite her father s discouragement, that her mother would come back one day. When her dad decides to leave Ireland and take a job across the ocean in Canada, Dana is heartbroken. How can she leave her home and the only chance of seeing her mother again? She runs away, high into the fairy mountains of Ireland. Following ancient paths, with a mysterious wolf companion at her side, Dana encounters a world of tragic enchantment and fairy romance, and discovers a great secret about herself.

With lush descriptions and rich Celtic lore, plus cameo appearances by characters from the previous books, this latest chronicle will satisfy fans of the series and entice new readers.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairies, Fae, Magic, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2001

About the author

Born in Ireland, raised and educated in Toronto, Canada along with my seven sisters and two brothers, now living back in Ireland again. I have a beautiful daughter, Findabhair, doing her M.A. in Marine Biology and a beautiful cat, Emma, who would love to eat the fish Finn (great name for a marine biologist, eh?) wants to protect. My favourite author of all time is CS Lewis. I've read everything he ever wrote including non-fiction and adult fiction, but the Chronicles of Narnia are the best of all.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

WARNING!!!! ***MINOR SPOILERS***

Having read the first two books of the series, I was quite excited to read of the new adventures in the world of faerie in The Light-Bearer's Daughter. However, I found my enthusiasm being destroyed by the plot. Here was my first dilemma: her PETA rant. I love animals, I respect them, however, she makes it seems like anyone (or everyone) who doesn't bend over backwards to protect them is evil. In one part of the book, Dana's ancestor wolf (yes wolf) shows her that those involved in science=evil ( even though, scientist do help discover treatments to deadly diseases), those who work in cosmetics=evil, pharmaceuticals=evil, anyone who isn't in love with nature=evil. Secondly, the faeries are always the good guys,however,forgetting the fact that they're basically kidnapping Dana ( and letting her be pursued by a demon) to get a message to a king (and, i'm guessing that still makes the faeries good huh?) Secondly, the environmental brou-ha-ha getting forced down my throat nearly drove me insane. Again, i'm all for keeping the environment clean but, i'm not going to worship the earth. She basically compares the environmentalists to saints (Saint Kevin I believe she called in him the book) as if environmentalists can do no wrong. There just idealistic saints. I'm sorry, but, on either side of the line (environmentalist or non-environmentalist) neither side is perfect. Thirdly, Dana's mother abandons her daughter (just to go back to faerie) and pretends like everything's okay.
she greets Dana again (gives her a crap excuse) and goes off back to fantasy-world. Forgetting about her daughter, and poor Gabe and thus abandons them so she can go play queen. I believe that was the worse part of the book. As much as I love O.R. Melling's books, I believe I'll never read another chronicle of faerie ever again.

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good! I thought it was way better than the first book in the series.

[Rebi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Damn when you buy an entire book series because you read and enjoyed the last book when you were like ten; you force yourself to finish them cause you bought them so you can exchange them for better books without feeling like sh*t for having them shipped to you from overseas and not reading them.
Situation familiar? Anyone ?

no.

Most people have the sense to know their nine year old selves could be enticed by sparkles.

[Lexidreams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a wuss for lovely descriptions but they can not make a bad book good and if this book didn't have them I would give it away immedietly. The characters are obviously dumbed down and idealized which is why I felt and still feel so much this book is meant for a much younger audience (not that I think children deserve all the crappy books but they do notice it less). No sooner is she running because someone probably wants to rape her, than she's thinking how pretty the trees look in the light. None of the characters reactions and feelings are realistic which is so frustrating. This book chose to be artificial sweetener istead of a yummy cake, which lets face it doesn't take much (or so I've always believed). Instead of having the characters really deal with the situation in a way you can believe, it is simply washed over again and again.

The plot for this book is fine. Nothing really new but most things aren't these days. But there is no umph to it, nothing that grabs you at a deep level, and yes, even fairytales can manage that.

Are you a fan of base books that you've already read before in another form, dumbed down characters, short sentences, and scraps of imagery? Why do I have the book(s) for you.

[Jeanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Light-Bearer's Daughter was just ok. There were some fun, interesting moments, such as Dana's meeting up with the boggles, but for the most part this story was somewhat repetitive and monotonous. I was rather surprised to see the first two Chronicles of Faerie books tied in as I didn't see much of a tie between the first two and have even thought the books didn't require reading in sequence, but now I think maybe they should.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first two books of this "series" (the books are interconnected, but none are truly sequels/prequels to each other) when I was in high school and fell under their spell, but never got a hold of this one, although I was aware of its existence. Then, years later, I stumbled across it in a library. Reading with adult eyes, instead of teenage ones, it's hard to say whether this is a weaker story, or I am simply a different reader.

I liked the choice of Dana, a girl at the precipice of adolescence with all the turbulent emotions thereof, instead of the older heroines of previous books, and, relatedly, how the book didn't have any focus at all on her romance. It was good to see Honor again, although it was hard to see her still suffering from being caught between worlds, and it felt like it took a little something away from The Summer King. The book still brims with dreamy pose and Fair Folk feel deeply faery and inhuman, with a wild merriness and affinity for beauty warring with a carelessness for mortals that borders on cruelty.

Parts of the story verge a little on the "Ferngully" side; too well-worn a story to carry much emotional weight. The story of Dana's mom is more complex and interesting, but it is resolved too easily. The author has no choice but to telegraph much of the resolution, because Gabriel (Dana's dad) is barely in the second half of the book, but it's hard to feel Dana's desperation to reunite her mom and dad when you already know he is going to end up with another character . The copious borrowing of Biblical quotes and references irritated me more here than in previous books, partly because so many of them were being used by pagan figures or in service of ideas contrary to the Bible, whereas it felt, for instance, in The Summer King as if the words came from the human characters' background.

The book still has that "faery feeling" that casts a powerful spell, but a thinner, more simplistic plot, or perhaps, clearer sight, left me less enchanted than I expected.

[Olivia J · Rating 5 out of 5]

A re-read that sent me right back to my childhood. I can’t not give it 5 stars.

This was the book in the series I most connected to when I was little. Maybe because I was closer in age to the main character when I read it. Possibly because of my own experiences with my not wholly cohesive home life. In any case, I love the story. I love Dana and how flawed she is (since she’s a literal child). I love that she takes on the journey largely alone because it’s a journey of self discovery and coming to terms with what happened to her and her family. The characters that help her are great, and the ending doesn’t bother me. I like that it’s not an expected happily ever after but the characters are still happy.

[P.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was substantially better. I think the main reason is the much younger protagonist. Dana is only 12 which I think works better. Honor is back as is Midir. And it seems that there is now a 4th book which I will have to check out. According to the bonus snippet, Dana will have to save both worlds again. This book even had a guardian wolf.

[P.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was substantially better. I think the main reason is the much younger protagonist. Dana is only 12 which I think works better. Honor is back as is Midir. And it seems that there is now a 4th book which I will have to check out. According to the bonus snippet, Dana will have to save both worlds again. This book even had a guardian wolf.

[Heather Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book first at my college library..and started reading immediately. Only to be heartbroken in the middle when I realized it was a series..and I was on BOOK 3!!! So I stopped and had to read the other books, before I could find out the ending to this book!! The cover of this book sold me! Beautiful!

[Zach]

I thought this book was right up my alley. It had all the things I look for in a book, adventure, fiction, wacky characters, and a lot of suspension. I thought the author did a wonderful job of developing the main character and giving us a very good insight into who she is as a person.

[Shannon Aardsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another lovely addition to the series. Not my favorite of the three I've read, but it had some of my favorite elements out of the whole series (the boggles!!!).

[Kimmi by the Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

* 3.5 stars*

Cute! Found the younger protagonist a bit harder to deal with, but the quest in this one was fantastic. Can't wait to finish the series!

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute story!

[Geneva English 1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, a little weird. I liked some of it but parts felt quite convoluted. Perhaps intentional, but not my personal style.

[Shazza Maddog · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems like there is a derth of books taking place in the land of Faerie recently. When I picked this one up, it was one of at least four new books at the library, all set in the realm of the fey.

Our lead character is a girl named Dana, who, like many other heroines, is motherless. She doesn't know what happened to her mother to make her disappear. Her father is Gabe, a musician, who has decided that living in Ireland as a single father is not what he should be doing; he should return to his homeland of Canada, which Dana does not want to do. However, all of Gabe's family are in Canada, he'll have help raising a girlchild, etc. For a sort of a treat, he takes Dana to the local woods where there are eco-warriors living in the trees, trying to protect an ancient forest. Dana decides to go climbing in one of the tree houses and gets betwixt and between, meeting a lady of Fairy. She says she's human, or was, before she drowned, but she has a task for Dana if Dana is willing to take it - go wake the Mountain King, Lugh, as evil has entered the land and he is the only one who can fight it. Honor promises Dana a wish if she accomplishes this task and Dana, having one particular wish in this world, agrees.

Honor and Dana make plans to meet on another day to start the journey and we get a little bit more of Dana and Gabe's backstory, including introducing another woman whom it is obvious has a reciprocal crush on Gabe. The trio agree to go out for a picnic and Dana manages to whisk herself away - only to find out that the evil has already risen, is awake, and hunts her in the form of one of the eco-warriors, a man named Murta.

Dana has many adventures while trying to reach the mountain king; namely her time with the boggles. There are other characters that come into play - a talking wolf, the shapechanging Mrs. Woodhouse, Honor herself, who sometimes is human and cheerful and playful and sometimes a lady of the fairy court and Ivy, one of the girl boggles who are in charge of keeping Lugh asleep with their voices raised in song. Dana manages to awaken the king, only to have him nearly destroy the land with his anguish - but being a king of fairy, he manages to right it again. Dana accomplishes her task and gets her wish - though not in any way she previously guessed she'd get it.

The story is very well written with a lot of interesting characters. It's a very good coming of age book (and yay, look, it's one for GIRLS). While the title states, "The Chronicles of Faerie", this book can be read completely independent of the others in the series.

If you're fond of quests, impossible tasks and the like, you might be interested in this one.

[Deborah Andreasen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twelve year old Dana lives in Ireland with her Canadian father. Her mother disappeared when Dana was just three years old. Her father, Gabe, decides it's time they move back to his homeland, and Dana is sent into a fury thinking when she realizes leaving means losing all hope that they'll ever find her mother. Suddenly a strange young woman appears and gives her a mission. Deliver a message to King Lugh, a Faerie king, and a wish will be granted.

Dana knows exactly what she wants to wish for. She takes on the mission, "Runs away" from home to find Lugh of the Mountains and tell him an evil has entered the Land. Where is the light?

Along her way Dana is met with insurmountable obstacles, and every time she is met with a terrifying challenge, someone else is there to rescue the girl.

I found the first half of the book difficult to get into. It took me about a week to read the first 150 pages. I finished the second half in one day.

The descriptions of Faerie land were fabulous. They were fantastical and frank, which made them so believable. The characters were well developed.

I think one of the reasons it was so hard for me to get into the book was the story is fairly mature. Even the secondary characters are all adults. The main character, however, is only twelve years old. She acts and thinks age appropriately (though at times slipping into a mind set I never would have had at 12), which sometimes makes the story disjointed. Here you have a girl traversing the mountains in search of a king, facing demons and shadows, outwitting a clan of boggles and deciphering the mystery of a fae woman who is sometimes a magnificent Lady, sometimes the (literal) ghost of a young drowned woman...and yet she cries out, "Mama!" a lot.

I gave The Light Bearer's Daughter 4 stars. Once I was able to get into it, the story kept me intrigued. It is an interesting read for anyone who loves stories of Fae.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was all right. There is some really compelling backstory to this book, but you don't really learn about it until halfway through. My biggest problem was with how aimless Dana's journey seems, especially at the beginning. She really has no idea what she's doing, all the obstacles she faces seem relatively pointless, and she doesn't ever really seem to do anything for herself despite being told by everyone repeatedly that this is her journey and so she has to do it herself. When she's not being guided by a faerie creature, she's being protected by one. She doesn't even really do what she sets out to do, as it ends up happening anyway without her. The only thing she really succeeds at is in her lamesauce role as messenger, but the King already knew the information in her message anyway. It really seems like her entire journey was for nothing. However, I did really appreciate how Dana's life and the events of the book are inexorably bound to each other. I liked that you get to learn what happened to her mother in the end, although things don't turn out the way Dana hopes they will.

I was also very irritated with how preachy this book is concerning mankind's treatment of nature and animals. I am a self-professed nature lover and I'm all down for doing what we can to protect and conserve nature, but in this book, humans are made out to be some kind of monsters. Although there are those who tear down trees and mistreat animals for money or even just because they can, not everyone is like that. It really would have been better if this book cut back on a lot of the "save the trees, humans are evil" stuff and instead focused more on plot.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Melling's book is definitely a mixed bag. Not to say that his writing is ever "bad" per se, but it is terribly disjointed. At times, he appears to be writing a children's book with plot similar to a trip down a rabbit hole. In other sections, he appears to be writing a ballad or epic. The changes in tone and atmosphere are distracting.

The other negative I can mention is his frustrating over-use of biblical quotes, never identified as such. Being a lover of myth and faeries who has had a Christian upbringing, I found such frequent quoting annoying at best. It pulled me from the story and confused me as to his purpose. Did he include these bible quotes (ex: quotes from Song of Solomon to express the feelings of two romantic characters) to give the writing a more epic feel? At other times, he quoted things commonly heard in pagan circles (as above, so below). I found this mix of Christian and Pagan with seemingly no purpose distracting.

However, having said all of that, there were portions of this book that I also thought were just amazing. The book seems to swirl around in circles until the protagonist reaches her goal, but once she does, the last 100 pages or so are truly wonderful to read.

I am biased when it comes to this novel as well, since it also (like Lisa Tuttle's _The Mysteries_) incorporates my favorite myth, the Wooing of Etain, into the story line. Because of that, I give this book a higher rating even though if I weren't so biased, I'd give it 3 stars.

[Kathleen F · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to finish Melling's trilogy. Of the three, I believe this was my least favorite--largely because the plot was a bit emptier than the other two. Also, I suppose, by book three, one gets a bit incredulous about the fairy world (or, if you prefer, the artier 'realm of faerie') being in crisis *yet again* and finding out that only a young teenage girl can save it. I'm all for female protagonists in young adult/fantasy books, but this seems truly formulaic. I mean, even Harry Potter had Hermione Granger.

Looking at the group of three books as a whole, what I find most disappointing is that this is a trilogy only in the loosest sense of the word. In other fantasy series I've read, each book, if it doesn't chronologically follow/continue the next, it at least is contributing to a greater theme. If these three are part of a larger series, then that theme hasn't yet become clear--which is a shame, because there is a great potential in the idea of the faerie trying desperately to survive in a time of modern civilization. Melling loosely makes reference to this in each book, but there is no sense of an epic movement towards some sort of ultimate resolution.

[Jodotha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this entry in Melling's Chronicles of Faerie series, though without a romantic interest, I'll admit I didn't love it quite as much as her others. Yeah, I'm a sucker for the romance.
That said, I still adore her take on the Fae of Ireland, and her representation of the little people and their various homes. I LOVE how varied she keeps her cast of characters. Granted, there are a lot of variations on the Fae out there to work with, but so many authors forget that. But not Melling. She makes use of so many, from the most well known to the most obscure.
The particularly unique thing about this book is the environmental aspect. It is quite clear from the beginning that conservation of Ireland's nature will play a big role in the story. And it's beautiful. A wonderful way to demonstrate the power of the land, and its importance to us. And, in a roundabout way, the importance of us to nature. I like that a lot.
One more cool factor: Melling isn't afraid to sprinkle Irish Gaelic liberally into the narrative. And a glossary is always provided in each book. Now I want to learn Gaelic...

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

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."

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was actually a 1.5 but I did not have the heart to round it back to a one no matter how bad it was. I was hoping to acquire a new understanding of Irish folklore while reading this book but nothing ever made sense! I was seriously disappointed with this one. It was just a little more horrible that Hunter's Moon. The writing is saddening. I was almost to the point of leaving it halfway. However, I wanted to find out if the end would make much more sense. Turns out, the end is even more painful than its prior pages. This book has a one for probably reaching out more to younger readers. I would recommend this to children ages 8-12 or less for they will not notice the grim truth of the writing style as quickly as some of the older readers have. In addition, another zero point five for TRYING to make sense of the whole matter but failing inevitably. I hope I will not read this book for my pleasure ever again :(

[Ameena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my God, this book was beautiful. My expectations were low after reading the Summer King, but this book was...oh, it was wonderful. So much drama, so much...I just can't describe it. I loved it. The end was so beautiful, I had to flee the living room to my bedroom so I could weep in peace. Not that the ending was sad, just...so, so beautiful. I wasn't expecting much because of the Summer King, and plus I had the memory of the Hunter's Moon's awesomness, but this one is my new favourite Faerie Chronicles. I wish the rater had, like, ten stars, not just five...five doesn't even BEGIN to express the power of this book properly! I recommend highly this to everyone who loves a beautiful story, full of drama and love (the family kind, not the rotten shallow other kinds) magic, fantasy and beauty. And the best part is, you don't even have to read the other two books to have read this one. It's just...wonderful. One of my new faves.

[Lisa (Bookworm Lisa) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this was my favorite of the series so far.. there is one book after this one. It's next on my list.

Dana is the daughter of Gabriel and Edane. Edane disappeared when Dana was three years old, leaving her to be raised by her musicain father. They are struggling financially and Gabe has the opportunity to accept a job in Canada, which means they will have to move from Ireland.

Dana is approached by the fey and given a task to wake King Lugh and save fairy from the evil that is approaching and trying to destroy both worlds.

I really liked that this book focussed on humanity, and how we as humans have been ravaging the Earth, through our misinformation, greed, land grabbing, etc, and it is we, as in humans, who need to fix the problem.


Great read, highly recommend the book.

[Maren · Rating 5 out of 5]

12 year old Dana lives in Ireland with her single father, but not for long. He has just informed her that they will be moving to Canada. This news is devastating to Dana who has always hoped that her long lost mother would come searching for her. Just when she thinks all hope is lost a messenger from faerie searches Dana out to seek her help in reviving the faerie king who is in a deep sleep. On her journey Dana encounters several citizens of faerie who both help and hinder her on her way. As she learns more about her quest, Dana also learns more about herself.

I enjoyed this book because I found myself really rooting for the young protagonist. I don't mind a romantic sub-plot on a book, but I found that the lack of one for this book was actually refreshing. The focus could remain on Dana's journey. There was not any serious content in this book. It is very child-friendly.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it very much, though I'm not surprised I really do love OR Melling's writing and his world of Faerie. I love how he blends the "real world" with the world of Faerie and how he keeps the same sense through all of these novels. I enjoyed seeing Honor again and watching her battle her life in the mortal realm that she left with the life she has come to accept in Faerie. I especially loe that these novels center in Ireland, a place with such a rich magical history. The characters and the dillemas are so believable (considering) and are situations that in a way it is easy to sympathize with. This serious really is a must read for any fantasy lover.

[Michael (Mai) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't really enjoy this book. The main reason is the author's writing style and motivations. Her writing style felt really drawn out because of all the lists. Why is it necessary to list every single item of food at a banquet? These lists are frequent and just go on and on.

What do I mean by motivations? It seemed heavily steeped in "hippiness," meaning "we must save the earth" is a prevalent theme. That would be ok but it was just so frequent that it seemed like it was being rammed down my throat. With the threat of forests being cut down and constant preachiness it seemed more like "Ferngully" than an awesome piece of literature. I also thought it was really strange that the main character, a 12-year-old, was a vegetarian.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than The Summer King, although now I see why that entry in the series was important. I definitely liked seeing more of the different types of fairies and how their society works. I also really liked the inter-connectedness of the previous two books, how they are clearly setting up for a finale. But I was very glad there was no romance as there was in the previous two books, since I felt that took away from the story. Beautiful descriptions of Ireland, as usual. The time-jumping actually made sense this time, and was much more enjoyable. The loose ends leading into the next book were promising, but this book is enjoyable on its own.

[Kit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than Hunter's Moon, this is the story of twelve-year-old Dana, who's sent on a mission to help save Faerie. She's only doing it because she knows she'll get a wish granted, and she wants to find her mother who left her and her father when she was a baby.

Dana is an appealing character, brave and smart while still being a believable preteen. You can feel how nervous her loving dad is at being on the verge of raising a teenage girl by himself. All the mythical characters Dana meets on her way are amazing, there's a cameo from one of the other Chronicles of Faerie books, and the ending is absolutely perfect. I loved this book!