Through Pleated Light: Confessions and Translations

by Liam Heneghan

438 pages, Paperback

Published November 5, 2024

About the author

Liam Heneghan is an ecosystem ecologist working at DePaul University, where he is a professor of Environmental Science and Studies and co-director of DePaul University’s Institute for Nature and Culture. His research has included studies on the impact of acid rain on soil foodwebs in Europe, and inter-biome comparisons of decomposition and nutrient dynamics in forested ecosystems in North America and the tropics. Over the past two decades, Heneghan and his students have been working on restoration issues in midwestern ecosystems. Heneghan is also a graduate student in philosophy and an occasional poet. His interests in writing about children's literature started when his kids left home.

Reviews

[Kenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful intersection of Celtic myth and legend, nature writing, fantasy, and historical anthropology. I especially loved the times the author gave us the perspective of the dawn, a tree, and giants who are a sort of sentient rock formation. I also thought the book did a fantastic job of extending the myths of St. Patrick, Finn, and the sidhe while also bringing the modern reader into the story through academic references and time travel "through pleated light." Through the book, I felt like I became a part of many shifting identities, across species and across time. Quite a magical book.

[Katrinka]

Great story—I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment. And trust me: read the opening blurbs, which show you're in for a treat.

[Jess Vogt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is really excellent. Thoroughly entertaining. Excellent world building. Echos of the writing styles of several other authors that I personally love: history retelling a la Umberto Eco, landscape descriptions as good as Rick Bass, fantastical elements a la Paulo Coehlo, and some of the chapters writing style reminds me of Orhan Pamuk. Can’t wait to see book two in this series…because with that ending, it had better be a series! (Ps, I know nothing of Irish folklore and I bet this would be even better if one did but didn’t suffer at all from a completely lack of knowledge of this sort.)

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and absorbing tale of Irish folklore. A tale of the faeries and rock giants inhabiting the Sidhelands and their intimate connections (through “pleated light”) with the human-inhabited Otherlands is woven from translations of ancient manuscripts. A powerful debut novel.