Heir to Sevenwaters

I was a big fan of Juliet Marillier's Sevenwaters trilogy, so when I saw that she had added a fourth book, Heir to Sevenwaters, I was very curious. The write-up sounded good, I had a gift certificate from Amazon waiting to be used, so I got the book.

I've read most of Marillier's books, and for the most part have really enjoyed them (the exception being The Dark Mirror, book one of the Bridei Chronicles, which I couldn't finish because it was so boring), so I had certain expectations. The main one was that this book would no doubt contain Marillier's typical heroine & romantic plot: pretty girl of approximately 15 years of age with plenty of practical talent and skill, good daughter in every way imaginable, involved in some monumental quest/adventure in which she meets a troubled/marginalized/tortured hottie, whom she falls in love with after a short period of time and knows this is the only man for her despite her age and his monumental issues; they have super sex, get married, remain blissfully happy for ever, and have beautiful, perfect children, who then usually go on to repeat their mother's pattern.

So, in that sense, I was not disappointed with Heir to Sevenwaters, because that's exactly what happened. The narrator and heroine, Clodagh, daughter of Sean of Sevenwaters, an excellent, capable daughter in every respect, runs the household as her mother, Aisling, endures a difficult pregnancy past the time when women back then could safely give birth (she's probably just under 40). When Aisling gives birth to a son - Clodagh is one of 6 girls so far - there is much to celebrate, until the baby gets abducted on Clodagh's watch and an otherworldly creature is left in its place. Clodagh then embarks on a mission to the Otherworld accompanied by a tortured warrior on the run named Cathal.

While the Clodagh-Cathal romance runs well within Marillier's typical romantic parameters (oh, these two wait till they get married to have their super sex, though, so...they show some restraint), the meat of the story is pretty good and there is plenty of action to keep this book interesting and engaging. Marillier's strengths always lie in her ability to produce a kick-ass plot, and in this regard, she doesn't disappoint. She also leaves enough of an opening at the end for further sequels.

Some of the reviews on Library Thing were not all that positive, and the negative reviews complained of this book being predictable. I can understand that because this book was totally predictable. Marillier is the queen of the romantic happy ending. I expected nothing less.

That being said...Despite the plot, action, cool characters in the Otherworld, yeah, I did find myself wishing Marillier would step outside her usual formula for once. I would have made this book far more intriguing.

Also, the title was a little mystifying...This book isn't about the heir to Sevenwaters at all; in fact, the succession issues touched upon in the story are very minor in the end, even though the abduction of Clodagh's new baby brother is the big inciting incident. I think this book could have been more appropriately titled.

So, not a bad addition to the Sevenwaters series, but this does not come anywhere near the excellence of the first book, Daughter of the Forest.