Solid original story. Compelling characters and magic system. An interesting reflection on modern religion. Strongly recommended!
Duilleog is the first book in "A New Druids Series" by Canadian author, Donald D. Allan. The book engages you from the very first few pages, and I found I could not put it down. Character development is excellent, and the author takes his time in describing the people, their world and their actions, painting a most excellent picture in the minds eye. You can almost smell the smoke from the campfires, the freshness of the air and palpably feel the good and the evil encountered. Tackling a story about the Druids, about whom very little is truly known, is a challenge, and the author meets this head on, introducing us to a most fascinating world. If there are any faults to be found it is perhaps falling into the trap of treating the predominant religions in relatively crude stereotypes: the "autocratic, hierarchical traditional Church, complete with evil, scheming prelates; and the friendly, welcoming, science-based religion of the "Word." The author quickly developed complex and engaging personalities in the characters, and a similar treatment of the these institutions in the world of Duilleog would make for a more expansive and engaging tale. This is Mr. Allan's first book, and the first book of a trilogy, and he may yet have surprises in store for us. I, for one, eagerly await the rest of his books.
by Darlene Blakely [excerpt]
Lieutenant-Commander Donald Allan lives two lives, one of which is pure fantasy.
An information warfare specialist in the Royal Canadian Navy by day and an award-winning self-published fantasy novelist by night, LCdr Allan is a self-affirmed “large geek and sometime nerd.”
“That’s a good thing today, thankfully!” he says.
LCdr Allan’s first book, Duilleog, which is Celtic for leaf, recently won a Gold Medal in the Fantasy/Other World category in Dan Poynter’s Global eBook Awards.
“I was nominated and then unexpectedly I won Gold for my category,” he says. “I am my own worst critic. People tell me ‘I love your novels’ and internally I am wincing, thinking ‘how did they miss this or that?’ It’s still sinking in. I’m not used to bragging, but I'm starting a little! So it felt good. It affirmed that I am indeed an author; an honest to goodness real author.”
In fact, LCdr Allan is currently writing the third book in what he calls the “New Druids” series and already has plans for a fourth. All the books have Celtic titles (along with Duilleog there is Craobh [branch], Stoc [stalk] and Freamhaigh [root]), which is a natural fit for him since he grew up in a Scottish household.
