Friday Fun!
I can think of nothing that is more fun than sharing a new book with my friends.
I'm delighted to host my Dear Friend and Award Winning Author Darby Karchut and her latest novel for MG/Tween readers,
HOUND AT THE GATE: Book Three of the Adventures of Finn MacCullen.
Great Cover. Makes me wonder what these characters are up to.
Blurb:
"Autumn: the season of endings. And beginnings.
Especially for one young
apprentice.
At the annual Festival of
the Hunt, thirteen-year-old apprentice goblin hunter Finn MacCullen and his
master, Gideon Lir, join other Tuatha De Danaan to honor their people’s
heritage. But Finn soon realizes that there are some who denounce his right to
attend due to his half-human bloodline.
While he struggles to keep
his place by his master’s side, he finds himself embroiled in a decades-old
grudge between Gideon and another Knight, bewildered (and beguiled) by a female
apprentice with a temper as explosive as his own, and battling a pack of goblins
determined to wipe out the entire camp in a surprise attack.
It’s going to take some
fancy knife work, the help of a female Knight with a lethal bow, and one old
pick up truck to defeat the goblins and prove to his people that his blood runs
true-blue Tuatha De Danaan."
Links:
Excerpt:
“Finnegan MacCullen.” Gideon pointed at the ground by
his feet. “Now.”
Fuming, Finn planted his feet and refused to move.
Gideon lifted an eyebrow in warning.
You better get
over there, Finn warned himself, recalling what had happened just three
weeks ago when he had stubbornly refused to obey a direct order during a hunt.
A hard cuff on the head, thirty push-ups, and a five-minute lecture delivered
in such a deep brogue Finn could barely understand half the words—that had been
his reward. Relenting before the other eyebrow went up, he dragged himself
over. He winced when his master reached out and grabbed him by the scruff of
the neck.
“Tara Butler is not only a fellow apprentice, but
also a girl and a guest, is she not?” Gideon said in a tone that made Finn
gulp.
“Yes, sir.”
“Then treat her
as such.” The Knight gave him a rough shake with each word.
“Yes, sir,” Finn gasped. He rubbed the back of his
neck when Gideon let go. At the unspoken command from his master, he walked
over to where O’Shea and Tara stood, the girl now as red-faced as Finn.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to look her
square in the eye. When you offer up an
apology, lad, do so manfully. “Tara Butler, I’m sorry I was rude.”
“You should be. Ow!” She winced
when her master pinched her arm. “Yeah, I’m sorry, too,” she replied, clearly
not sorry at all.
Hoping to salvage what he could, Finn plowed along.
“And I really don’t think you’re a girl.”
“What?”
“No. Wait. What I meant
to say is that I don’t think you’re a real
girl.” Finn groaned silently when the words left his mouth.
“What the heck is that
supposed to mean?”
Behind him, he could hear Gideon coughing, trying to
smother a laugh. Standing behind her apprentice, O’Shea was holding her hand
over her mouth.
Feeling like possibly the biggest fool in the entire
history of all known and unknown universes, Finn prayed for a pack of Amandán
to burst into camp and kill him. Right then.
No such luck.
“Are you trying to say you don’t think I’m a girly girl?”
Finn nodded in relief. “Exactly.” And now I’m going to shut up before I say
anything more stupid. If that’s possible, he thought. Which I doubt.
“Oh. Well, okay then.”
“And, on that note, we are out of here,” O’Shea said.
“Come on, Tara, before you and Finn start
throwing punches.” The Knight nudged her apprentice toward the path, but then
lingered a moment. “Gideon. It’s good to see you again.”
“The pleasure is mine, Kel.”
“And I’m glad you’re back.”
“As am I.”
Finn blew out a long breath as they walked away. Sheesh. And Gideon says I have a hair-trigger temper?
Shaking his head in disbelief, he started to say
something when he noticed Gideon still watching O’Shea until she disappeared
behind a stand of trees. His master continued to stare at the spot, as if
remembering something. A faint smile curled one corner of his mouth.
Finn blinked. He
likes her. The realization made him suddenly aware of something he
knew-but-didn’t-know. Or didn’t want
to know, for some reason.
That his master was more than just his master. That
Gideon was a person. With likes and dislikes. With faults and strengths.
That Gideon was a man. And just like his master, one
day Finn would be a man, too.
###
I love Finn. He keeps life exciting. And Gideon is learning a lot about raising a boy.
My Review:
Have you ever read a book that you just don’t want
it to end? A book where the characters are so real to you that you hurt when
they hurt and laugh when they laugh?
Award winning author Darby Karchut writes that kind
of book. From her Griffin Series to her Finn MacCullen series, Ms. Karchut’s
characters take you along on their adventures, their dangers, their tender
moments, and their funny moments. In the author’s latest novel, THE HOUND AT
THE GATE: Book Three of The Adventures of Finn MacCullen series, for tween/mg
readers, you’ll feel like you’re with Knight Gideon Lir and his apprentice,
Finn MacCullen, as they attend the Festival of the Hunt. You’ll face the Amandans,
Goblins that you don’t want to meet on a dark night, or in bright daylight for
that matter, with Finn and Gideon as they fight to save their lives and the
lives of the other knights.
Finn may be half Fey and half Mortal, but he’s also
a boy. Put him together with Lochlan, another apprentice in training to be a
knight. Add a girl knight in training and you have typical thirteen-year-olds
with tempers. Like most teens they often make bad choices along with good ones.
I love the kids because they’re so human, well, in their behavior, anyway, if
you overlook their amazing skills with bows and arrows and knives.
THE HOUND AT THE GATE is a story of dashing knights
and evil goblins. Most of all, it’s a story of fatherly love between a man who
loves a boy as though he were his birth son. It’s the story of a boy that
cannot imagine his life without his knight. There is a bond between Finn and
Gideon that’s as strong as or stronger than a flesh and blood father and son.
Ms. Karchut’s books keep getting better and better.
I wonder what Finn and Gideon will be up to in the next novel in the series.
The author gives us a sneak peek of the fourth book due out in 2016. She also
includes a page of notes with information on the Scáthach, as well as a page
explaining the different words and phrases used in the story. This series would
make a great addition to public libraries and school classrooms and libraries
for discussion of Celtic mythology and of the true meaning of friendship and
family.
My review is from an ARC that I was fortunate to
receive.
###
About the Author:
Darby Karchut is an award-winning author, dreamer, and compulsive dawn greeter. Her books include the
Griffin Rising series
, the
Adventures of Finn MacCullen series, and writing as Darby Kaye,
The Stag Lord and its sequel,
Unholy Blue.
A member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and Pikes Peak Writers, Darby has been known to run in blizzards and bike in lightning storms. When not dodging death by Colorado, she writes urban fantasy for tweens, teens, and adults.
Follow her on
Facebook
Happy Reading!
