I've read the first 4 books of this series (once again having made the mistake of buying all of an available series without reading more than a few pages of the first one, sigh), and have chosen to review the first book in hopes of heading off readers with the same literary aversions I have.

First of all - this is an Andre Norton Witch World without the space connection. So, no originality here. Second, the dialect is remarkably irritating, and is such that you cannot help but feel every character, from highest to lowest, is at the same level of abysmal ingnorance and entirely uneducated. It is possible for a capable writer to convey a Scots "feel" without torturing us with her version of the dialect. Third, there is no pronunciation glossary, which I feel is the minimum one should be given when an author insists on basing virtually all personal names and titles on Gaelic, which hardly uses the letter combinations we are used to in English to convey specific sounds. One assumes the author wanted more people than the very few who read any Gaelic to read her books. I personally find it difficult to enjoy reading words I do not know how to pronounce, and it is the height of authorian hubris to think one's readers are going to study a difficult language just to read one's scribblings. A definitions-only glossary is finally provided in book 4; unfortunately, this seems to contain only those words easy to figure out from the context and not those like "donbeag," which from the context seems to be some kind of flying or gliding rodent - a flying squirrel or a bat? Who knows - Forsyth sees no need to share that information.

Now, to the most aggravating facet of these books - the characters. I am torn here, because the author has talent and develops her characters from book to book, showing some growth in some of them. Unfortunately, her characers are so largely obnoxious and annoying that it is difficult to wish anything but the worst to happen to them all, especially the impetuous, self-involved, and brainless main character, Isabeau. Her continuing selfish, impulsive IDIOCY set my teeth on edge and had me grinding them by the time I reached the end of book 4. Nothing that happened to that unspeakable MORON taught her anything, and frankly, I soon got to the point of writing alternate (and satisfyingly bloody) endings to all of her adventures, and really, if I'm going to be driven to THAT extreme, I might as well write my own books.

The author also spends way too much time explaining why each side of any antagonism is justified, and hey, that's not the kind of sententious moralizing I come to fantasy to read. Talk all you want, lady, that Fairgean witch and her foul child should have been fileted, not protected by the traitorous Isabeau.

On the plus side, Forsyth is one of the very few fantasy writers out there who creates compelling older characters, depicting them as people of power not just old dotards or hindrances in the path of their young heroes or heroines. This plus is not enough to redeem this series from its failings, however.

My close friend and her father highly recommended this series to me, and I'll be honest, I'd never read a 6 book series in my life. Two words: I'M HOOKED! Kate Forsyth paints a vivid picture, the characters are multi-faceted and fascinating, and there are plenty of plot twists to keep us up late reading....just ONE MORE CHAPTER!

To be fair, there are long battle passages that slowed me down a bit but no more so than any LOTR installment. However, character relationships and active storylines more than make up for it. Before you know it, you'll be on Book 5 and wishing you weren't so close to the end of the series.

Not to worry! After you've finished The Fathomless Caves you can go right into The Tower of Ravens (book 1 of Rhiannon's Ride) which takes place 25 years later, and incorporates most characters from the previous 6 books. There are 3 books in the Rhiannon series, (we can only wish for more!) and you will love them just as much. Just similar enough to be comfortable, and different enough to keep you constantly turning those pages. Settle in and Enjoy!

I've read thousand of fantasy novels, but this series is definitely one to avoid. The author has fallen in love with a handful of old English words and she uses them ad nauseum. I think I've read the word ken about 3000 times and there isn't a Ken character in the book. If you love the words ken, laird, och, ye, and bairn then by all means buy this series. Kate Forsyth uses them liberally even though they went out of use centuries ago. The multiple characters have as much depth as a pancake. I'm not sure who we're supposed to be rooting for here. You can almost read the first and last chapter of each book and just skip everything in between. Nothing happens that you'll need to know for the next book. I've been rooting for the adversaries in this whole series. If they could wipe out all these characters maybe the new cast would be more interesting.

I search for books like this that will feed my desire for sci fi/ fantasy. I found it entertaining and it kept my interest through the entire book. It wasn't one I sat and read from cover to cover at first setting; but I did hear it call me back to continue the story. Have ordered #2 in the series and if it is as good as the first will have a reading list to take me to the end of Spring!

I'm Irish. "In fael finn" is Gaelic for white wolf. I shortened it to "infael" for my nickname. I truly enjoy stories with a strong Celtic angle. This series is truly awesome!

True, one of the heroines may not be that smart at first, but she learns. We all were dumb when we were kids, but we learned from our experiences, didn't we?

A good Irish story has some strong tragedy in it, and this series has its share of tragedy.

Kate does a good job of opening up her world and showing us what's in it.

I'm currently waiting for book 3 of Rhiannon's Ride.