Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

Anna Elliott continues her tale of Trystan and Isolde in Dark Moon of Avalon, the second in her trilogy (the first was Twilight of Avalon). As the Saxons continue to invade Britain, the new king, Madoc, looks to make alliances that may help him hold on to his land and protect his people. But with everyone looking out for themselves and their own interests it’s hard to know who can be trusted and for how long.


Isolde is once again a pawn in men’s games as she looks for a solution to the problem of how to save Britain. She keeps herself busy healing the sick and injured and making use of whatever limited ability her gift of sight decides to give her. But she is tortured by memories – of her first husband Constantine (Arthur’s heir), of her father, Mordred, and of Marche, the man she was forced to marry after Constantine’s death. But mostly, it is memories of Trystan that taunt her and play with her emotions.

As Isolde comes up with a plan, Trystan arrives just in time to help her and the two set off on a perilous journey to meet with Cedric of Wessex in the hopes of making a friend out of the enemy’s enemy. But there are those that don’t want to see the plan succeed and Isolde and Trystan must battle the forces against them – as well as their feelings for each other.

As with Twilight of Avalon, it took awhile for me to get into the story and for it to really get going. Early on not a lot happens and Isolde’s continual musings on her past, the present and her future almost made me stop reading it - almost. What kept me going was Elliott’s beautiful style of writing and the hope that something eventually would start happening. It did. And then, I didn’t want to put the book down.

That Trystan and Isolde love each other is clear. What is less clear is their sometimes muddled reasons for not letting the other person know how they feel. This leads to a number of instances where the pair is on the verge of expressing their true feelings but for one reason or another, they don’t follow through. By the time the “do or die” moment comes, I really wanted to just knock their heads together and scream “you love each other – admit it!”

Trystan and Isolde do not make their journey alone and Elliott creates some interesting secondary characters to help flesh out the story. Hereric, the mute who has a heart of gold and Fidach, a former slave who owes Trystan his life and who is more honorable than he lets on.

The third book, Sunrise of Avalon is scheduled for release in 2011 and I'm looking forward to it!.



Reality check:  "You do what you must and live with it after. So do we all." Isolde to a servant girl she is trying to help.




In case the FTC asks: I won an ARC from the author.