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The Skull of the World: Witches of Eileanan #5 Kindle Edition

by Kate Forsyth (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 162 ratings
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In the land of Eileanan, the Pact of Peace has not meant the end of unrest. Isault and Lachlan must continue to deal with their military position in Tirsoilleir—where a spy has compromised their tactical secrets, leaving them at a tremendous loss.

Isabeau the witch longs to rejoin her sister and her home in these uncertain times, but she must first complete one last task for her teachers. To find her true purpose in life, she must reach the Skull of the World and listen to the silent words of the White Gods. Few survive. But those who do are changed forever.

Now, when she does return home, she does so with an extraordinary gift. But when Margrit of Arran decides to take advantage of Lachlan’s absence by kidnapping his son and heir to the throne, Isabeau must learn to use her gifts in the face of evil—and overcome her enemy once and for all.
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  1. Book 5 of 6
    Witches of Eileanan
  2. Print length
    394 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Ace
  6. Publication date
    February 1, 2002
  7. File size
    1054 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kate Forsyth was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1966, and wanted to be a writer from the time she first learned to read. She has worked as a journalist and magazine editor, and is an internationally published poet. To help support herself while writing full time, she works as a freelance journalist. Ms. Forsyth has a doctorate of creative arts in fairy-tale studies, and is also an accredited performance storyteller with the Australian Storytelling Guild. She lives in Sydney with her best friend, who also happens to be her husband, and her children.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00D6KTOB2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ace; Reprint edition (February 1, 2002)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 1, 2002
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1054 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 394 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 162 ratings

About the author

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Kate Forsyth

Kate Forsyth

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Dr Kate Forsyth is an award-winning author, poet, and storyteller. Her most recent novel is 'The Crimson Thread', a reimagining of ‘The Minotaur in the Labyrinth’ myth set in Crete during the Nazi invasion and occupation of World War II.

Other historical novels include 'The Blue Rose', set during the French Revolution and the first British embassy to Imperial China; 'Beauty in Thorns', a reimagining of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ told in the voices of four women of the Pre-Raphaelite circle of artists and poets; 'The Wild Girl', the story of the forbidden romance behind the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales which was named Most Memorable Love Story of 2013; and 'Bitter Greens', a retelling of ‘Rapunzel’ which won the 2015 American Library Association award for Best Historical Fiction.

Kate’s non-fiction books include 'Searching for Charlotte: The Fascinating Story of Australia’s First Children’s Author', co-written by her sister Belinda Murrell, with the assistance of the Nancy Keesing Fellowship. It was longlisted for the 2021 Readings Non-Fiction Prize. Her collection of essays, 'The Rebirth of Rapunzel', won the William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism in 2017.

Books for children include the Long-Lost Fairy-Tales collection, illustrated by Lorena Carrington. The first in the series, 'Vasilisa the Wise & Other Tales of Brave Young Women', won a silver medal in the 2018 US Readers Favorite Book awards. Other titles in the series are 'The Buried Moon & Other Tales of Bright Young Women'; 'Snow White, Rose Red & Other Tales of Kind Young Women'; and 'The Gardener’s Son & the Golden Bird & Other Tales of Gentle Young Men'.

Kate has a Doctorate of Creative Arts in fairy tale studies, and is also an accredited master storyteller with the Australian Guild of Storytellers. She has taught writing retreats in Australia, Fiji, Greece, and the United Kingdom.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
162 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

B. M. Tobias
5.0 out of 5 stars I will feel a great loss when she writes her final book
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2017
Verified Purchase
What a storyteller! Kate Forsyth has me absolutely hooked from beginning to end. I will feel a great loss when she writes her final book.
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Michael C. Ackerman
4.0 out of 5 stars Transfigurations Galore!
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2008
Verified Purchase
Isabeau the fiery red head is back! Still an apprentice of the Khan'cohban, she must prove herself by attaining her new name at the Skull of the World. And as if the name of the place she must journey to weren't scary enough, when Isabeau asks how she will earn her new name, she is told that she must be eaten, digested, and spit back out. When she asks whether they mean that literally or metaphorically, she is only given a cryptic riddle.

Unlike the previous book in the series (which had a very slow start), this story is jam packed with action right from the word go. Just when you think it's going to let up, there is yet another thrilling scene! And yet, it is not overdone. The writing is still as good as ever, the scene descriptions vivid and realistic, the characters true to form. We even get to meet Isabeau's cousin, who is a member of Isabeau's rival tribe. She ends up challenging Isabeau to a fight and we are then treated to a display of just how good a fighter Isabeau is even against a scarred warrior, tried and true with three scars. It's a good thing she wasn't fighting a scared warrior, as that would not have been such a challenge!

Part of the way through the book, I wondered why it had been named "The Skull of the World." Her quest to attain her new name in this wicked place seemed more like something of a subplot, i.e, I would have thought that the completion of this quest would have been the book's ending. Even so, this journey was interesting. While on it, Isabeau has several near death encounters and she also discovers that she has the ability to transform into a variety of animals. This shape shifting ability ends up saving her life on numerous occasions and is a vital gift that helps her later on. The discovery of this ability was the most important part of the book, so maybe the book's title would have been more appropriate if it had had something to do with her transfiguration.

After the completion of her quest to the Skull of the World, Isabeau journeys down the Faerie road (a way of high speed travel) to meet up with some of her friends in Lucescere. Arriving there, Meghan asks Isabeau to shape shift that she may bare witness. Isabeau complies, only to find that this is a higher magic that can potentially give her sorcery sickness if used too frequently. Her bout of sorcery sickness causes her to sleep for three weeks straight and she nearly dies.

The crux of the story takes place when Iseult's and Elfrida's sons are kidnapped by Margrit and Isabeau is blamed for it by a cunning spy within her midst. Isabeau narrowly escapes being arrested and then ventures to Margrit's stronghold to attempt to rescue the twins.

This book really had me turning the pages. The drama was high and the action nonstop. In the author's note at the end of this book Forsyth makes an apology for turning this trilogy into a six book series and promises to wrap it up in book six, but I was fine with it being this long. (One must bare in mind though, I am an avid fan of Robert Jordan, a man renowned for God awful long books and a series without end!) If you are looking for a good series that actually DOES have an end, look no further!
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rs
5.0 out of 5 stars Great scifi fantasy book!
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2018
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If you enjoy the magical world, I would recommend this book.
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Betty
5.0 out of 5 stars Love this story
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2014
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Best book of the series. Love the story and the characters. They really catch your imagination and heart. Will make you laugh and cry.
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Jill Fenimore
5.0 out of 5 stars great read
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2015
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I've thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has continued the story of the witches entertainingly. Can't wait for more stories from this author
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PepperVL
4.0 out of 5 stars A Decent Follow-up
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2005
After my experience with book four and, in particular, the author's note in the back of book four, I was a little concerned about this book. While I was anxious to find out about what Isabeau was doing during the events in The Forbidden Land, I was concerned that this book, like its predecessor, leaving me wondering still what some of the others were doing.

I was pleased to discover that wasn't the case.

The book flowed smoothly, covering Isabeau's actions during the time period of The Forbidden Land in the first part, and then returning to the familiar style of the first three books. It flipped smoothly between the military campaign and the intrigue at the palace, allowing the reader to focus on all of the pertinent things.

The main problem that I had with this book was that, after Isabeau's adventure on the Skull of the World, this book felt a lot like the third book in the series. While the enemy that was being fought was different and the reason behind Isabeau's sudden departure was to retrieve children rather than take them away, the big details were almost the same. Yes, they were in a different part of the land and issues that they had to face were different, but it was much of the same.

Still, I found it to be an enjoyable read, if not something completely new and unexpected.

The thing that I most enjoyed about this book was Isabeau's time on the Spine of the World and her journey to the Skull of the World. The glimpses that I got into the culture of the Khan'cohbans were delightful as it was vastly different from any of the other cultures in the book. I had enjoyed the few glimpses I had gotten in previous books, but this went into much more detail and I really enjoyed reading about them.

Isabeau's journey was also wonderful to read. It was a good mix of magic and realism and I particularly enjoyed her finding her new power. That was simply fun.

As with the other books in the series, the characterization and world building is strong in The Skull of the World. The complexity of the different species of Faeries on this world is delightful and I like how Forsyth mixes familiar with unfamiliar to populate the world she created.

Again, I wished for a map, but the story was engaging enough that the lack of one didn't detract from my enjoyment too much.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed the other books in this series.
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BC
5.0 out of 5 stars Witches of Eileanan
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2013
Verified Purchase
I needed this volume to have the complete set of Kate Forsyth series. I cannot wait to read this series. Am currently reading Jack Whtyte.
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Dorene Schwarz
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2016
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Very neat story line and environment, well developed characters - a must read for fantasy lovers.
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Top reviews from other countries

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izzy
5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant. can't put it down
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2015
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brilliant .can't put it down!!
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Angua
5.0 out of 5 stars Es wird noch einmal spannend
Reviewed in Germany on February 25, 2004
Verified Purchase
Der vorletzte Teil des magischen Schlüssels ist für mich der bisher beste. Eine rundum spannende Geschichte, die den Leser viel Neues über die Protagonisten erfahren lässt - allen voran Isabeau. Die rothaarige Hexe begibt sich endlich auf ihre Namens-Quest, um im Stamm der Khan'cohban den Status eines vollwertigen Mitgliedes zu erringen. Und auf dieser gefährlichen Reise entdeckt sie nicht nur ihren Namen, sondern erfährt auch mehr über ihr Hexentalent. Die junge Hexe wirkt auf mich reifer und entschlossener als in den Vorgängerbänden, wenn auch ein wenig zu ehrgeizig und sehr auf ihr Hexentum konzentriert.
Vor allem die innere Zerrissenheit Isabeaus, ihre Ängste, Zweifel und Schuldgefühle treten im achten Band der Reihe klar zutage. Charakterlich gewinnt der Leser sicherlich hier den besten Einblick in die Figur.
Obwohl Isabeau im Mittelpunkt der Geschichte steht, kehrt der Leser auch zu den lieb gewonnen Personen in ihrer Umgebung zurück. Aber Die Höhle der tausend Könige ist nicht nur eine "Was-wurde-aus..."-Erzählung, sondern bringt die Geschichte auch wirklich vorwärts. In einem parallelen Handlungsfaden erfährt der Leser beispielsweise mehr über die Fairge, die im Abschlussband sicherlich noch eine große Rolle spielen werden.
Alles in allem war dieser Band für mich ein wirkliches Lesevergnügen und die Seiten flogen nur so dahin. Grund dafür ist sicherlich die Tatsache, dass hier eine solide, gut erzählte Basis für einen furiosen Abschluss der Reihe um die Hexen von Eileanan geschaffen wurde und das interessante neue Talent von Isabeau, das der Geschichte einen neuen Reiz verleiht.
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