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arthurbdd's review
3.0
Magnificently dark and haunting, though some of Walton's inventions strain suspension of disbelief - not because they are too fantastic (this is a world where fantastic things happen all the time), but because it requires entire cultures to be utter fools who can't figure out cause and effect. It is on firmer ground when it is dealing with the existing source material as a result. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2022/07/09/repairing-the-tapestry-of-the-mabinogion/
murmuration19's review against another edition
4.0
I'm getting more used to Walton's writing style, which is more like Tolkien than say Robert Jordan or George R.R. Martin. So I enjoyed this one more. What I am not getting used to is all the mistakes I'm finding in the text. This is seriously a huge embarrassment for anyone who worked on this edition at Overlook Press. On the inside flap of the dust jacket, the current title was "The Children of Llyre" and everywhere else, "The Children of Llyr." That is only one of MANY examples. Ouch.
poirotketchup's review
5.0
A haunting apocalyptic retelling of the Second Branch of the Mabinogi. Walton is true to the tale as written in the medieval books that survive, but also draws on contemporary nuclear fears and the images developed by Arthurian writers and by Eliot. Perhaps more than any of Walton's adaptations, Children of Llyr makes it clear how these ancient tales and their progeny continue to shape the mind of the Anglo-Celtic world and diaspora.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
3.0
It's an odd experience reading a book when you're frustrated by so many of the characters. I read this, largely enjoying it, but all the time, at the back of my mind, I was thinking "Just kill the bad seed already before he screws it up for all of you!" Do they? No, but everyone else seems to be fair game for violent death. Does it all turn to custard? Yes, of course! A little bit of good judgement could have saved everyone a lot of trouble, is all I'm saying. I mean honestly - did none of them see it coming? Yeah, I know it's a story based on a mythology and so the author's somewhat limited in where she can go, but even so.
I can see the book's very competently written, but it didn't grab me enough to rush out and find the rest of the series, though I'm sure I'll get to them eventually.
I can see the book's very competently written, but it didn't grab me enough to rush out and find the rest of the series, though I'm sure I'll get to them eventually.
jmeston's review
4.0
Great, I'm going to read all four. This one is full of plotting for crowns, betrayal and warring.
kaisermatthias's review
5.0
In a time long past, a time that perhaps was actually just some weeks ago, the history of the world was collected as stories. These stories were entrusted to the Bards, who would tell everyone the great origin stories of the people, and weave in elements of warning about what may come to pass if wisdom is abandoned.
Evangeline Walton is a Bard, and while it is centuries too late to use this tale as a warning for the culture, she has masterfully woven in the knowing of how the ancient Welsh society would eventually give way first to Vikings, and then to Christianity. All while telling a great origin story with all the flourish of an oral telling.
Evangeline Walton is a Bard, and while it is centuries too late to use this tale as a warning for the culture, she has masterfully woven in the knowing of how the ancient Welsh society would eventually give way first to Vikings, and then to Christianity. All while telling a great origin story with all the flourish of an oral telling.
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