Third in the "Descendants of Merlin" series, the second that I've read, again receiving the ebook as part of Librarything's Early Reviewers.

Times have progressed and England is ruled by the Catholic Mary and then the Protestant Elizabeth. There is a risk of both civil war and war with France (and Spain) as the Catholic and Protestant faiths do battle over much of Europe. Political alliances, and dictates from the Church in Rome keeps everything fluid and unstable.

Griffin and Donovan, identical twins brought up in the tradition of the Pendragon take different paths in life and are separated for many years through distrust.

Once again the stability of Britain is at stake and it takes both brothers to join forces against the Demon of Chaos, who is trying to break free from his prison in order to wreak havoc upon the world.

Not quite as strong as the first book but still s reasonable and enjoyable read ( )

In this third installment of Irene Radford's series, the descendants of Merlin are a pair of male twins, possibly because the inheritance laws had changed to male-only lines of primogeniture in Elizabethan times. So there is a lot of movement from one part of England, Scotland, and France to another that would have been denied a female of the time (though Roanna does somehow manage to traverse these lands, but usually in disguise as a man). And the number of characters in this book is much reduced from those in her previous book, making the action much more clear.

In the time prior to Elizabeth's ascendance to the throne, her half-sister Mary is sickly, Mary's husband has brought the Inquisition to England, and the Catholic church holds sway. In northern England, near the Scottish border, twins Donovan and Griffin wrestle with their consciences (Griffin is a Catholic priest who has inherited the Kirkenwood magic) and frustrations (Donovan inherits the title and lands but no magic). All of this is against the backdrop of religious and royal conflicts, as well as Griffin's studies in France before becoming a spy of the Bishop.

Great historic research, good plotlines, characters who are believable and wrestle with their inner questioning. Oh, and the descendant of Nimue? Smart and resourceful and malevolent and cunning. And also all too human. ( )

A disappointing, uncomfortable genre/subject blend.

A fan of most things to do with the Arthuriad, in respect of that I found the book somewhat disappointing. The characters felt too fussy to me, and it took until I was a long way into the book to actually manage to put that aside and start to enjoy the story for what it was. Mind you, thereby hangs the story’s main problem as I also felt that, for a long way into the book, it remained unclear just what the narrative was trying to be.

Whilst I am aware that there are many successful blend of historical and fantasy novels, it felt as though there was something either lacking or forced in this particular blend that rendered it ineffective for most of the time. It was only toward the last part of the book, when historical aspect of the book settled into the background, as a setting rather than as part of the action, (as it had been when the focus was on the political intrigue of Queen Elizabeth, and Mary Queen of Scots courts), that the book became more enjoyable to read.

The journey of, and questioning of, what constitutes faith and the difference between faith and religion was, in my opinion, the most interesting aspect of the book, and is as pertinent now, if not more so, than the time in which the action of the book is set. Does it truly matter what we call god? Even in this however, I felt that at times the point was belaboured, and the impact thereby somewhat lessened.

The overall impression of the book, although I enjoyed it well enough, was that it was perhaps overly long, and could have been a story that was more tightly held together. It tried to fit in way too much, in too many genre styles. ( )

For such a large book, this was a surprisingly swift and enjoyable read. I enjoy historical fantasy, and I found this book to be an adequate example of it. Despite the fact that it is part of a series, it didn't take long to get into the story and the characters. It did feel at times that I was missing references, but it didn't impede my ability to follow and enjoy the story. I haven't sought out the other books in the series, but I feel that I would probably like them. ( )

I had a hard time getting this book into the Kindle app on my iTouch. Things didn't improve when I read the book. I found it hard to get "into" the story. Griffin was too too devout; his brother was throughly obnoxious and Roanna was just too evil. Everything was painted with a really broad brush.

I have a hard time understanding how a magician of Griffin's lineage could walk away and become a Catholic priest, and then, seemingly just as easily take up his magic when it suits his needs.

The mixture of historical fiction and fantasy just didn't work for me. I've read reviews of this book that were very favorable, and I can understand how the authors could feel that way. I didn't.