A Time of Adversity

by Jim McFarlane, James MacFarlane

The drama begins when the siblings, Morag and David Seton, witness the murder of the parents by a renegade named Black Angus MacGougall. David, in trying to rescue his mother from rape, is beaten and tossed into the river, believed dead. But David survives and is rescued by a hermit called Peter of the River. This leads to David meeting the Chief of Clan MacNab, and after the discovery of a secret treasure room, is placed in the hands of the mysterious Knights Templar, where he is condemned as a galley slave, but eventually wins freedom in the Holy Land. Morag is taken prisoner by Black Angus and is eventually sold to the Vikings, who, because of her developed mystical powers, view her as a Priestess, and as such she battles the Bishop of Orkney, and is able to save the son of the Jarl of Orkney from a related poisoner. Brother and sister are briefly united, only to be separated again as the saga continues.

Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Setons are a family of crofters in the highlands of Scotland. The family is set upon by a group of vagabonds that have been allowed to go free. The parents are murdered, the son is left for dead and the daughter taken by the criminals for their use. Set in the time of King Edward Plantagenet and William Wallace the lives of David Seton and Morag Seton take many surprising turns. This book is more fiction than historical fact but is a fun and fast moving story all the same. I thoroughly enjoyed it and now will start book 2. Amazing a baker from Grand Bend could write a series like this but the book is well researched and I've loved every page of it.

[Andrew Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, neither of the main characters can catch a break at all. They're simultaneously fantastic and tragic characters. The wanton use of rape as a main way of breaking the main characters is a bit much, but otherwise it takes you on a whirlwind tour of plot points centered around 1288 Scotland. It was a surprising amount of fun!