The Druid (The Dawning of Muirwood Book 1)

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The question of who's really the good guys & who's really the bad guys is a fun bit of mystery - though admittedly there's also some stereotyped characters that did make me roll my eyes. One thing Wheeler tends to do in all his books is use epigraphs at the start of his chapters to open a second window of action. In “The Hunted,” readers learn about the journey another character at Muirwood Abbey, even though our main trio never sets foot there. July 11, 2022: Fairly standard epic fantasy world building but some fun and unexpected twists and turns. I’m liking this better than I thought I would, several other books I’m reading but I’m leaving those on the shelf to focus on this. As someone who is not religious, it's a testament to the story that my heart still feels happy that the Aldermaston reconnected with the Medium. Watching that mini character arc through the interludes was one of the best parts of the story.

All I can say is that Mr. Wheeler has done it again. He has created a storyline that not only held my interest, but that grabbed me and did not let go. He made me feel INVESTED in the characters and the storyline. But, honestly, I already expected that. I enjoyed Eilean's character, she's intelligent and resourceful, and she really cares about the people around her, however, there was just something about her that felt off. There's a point where she is supposed to become really firm in her resolve to carry out the Medium's will but she never feels very firm at all, in anything. I hope that this will change in later books, as one of the things I've loved about Wheeler's characters is that he's made some impressive female characters who are strong leaders. Eilean fell a bit short from what I remember of the heroines in the other books in this series. Capt. Hoel is a very cookie-cutter type of character. He has a rare form of magic from the Medium, which of course means he hates it and wants to end the Druids. While I honestly did not expect him to have such strong magic, I honestly feel like I should have seen it coming given his attitude so it's a bit of a plot twist. In the end, though what is really going to keep me reading this prequel series is that Hoel and Eilean are going to crash into each other at some point and I am really interested in seeing how this plays out. July 9, 2022: Started reading The Druid – Wheeler’s 2022 publication – a part of his Muirwood series – OK, good world building, good character development, nothing special but I like his writing, a good solid 3 star book. I can not wait to see what happens between these new MC's. Unfortunately, I know what eventually happens in this story (remember, this IS a prequel), but that does not take away from what I want to know about these characters that I have come to know and have become invested in.The main character is a young woman who is a servant at an abbey that is responsible to attend to a druid who is under house arrest. The main character is somewhat interesting, but not engaging or compelling. Besides the druid character who is featured prominently in the story, the other side characters service the story but are not fully fleshed developed. The book takes us on twists and turns as the three seek to fulfill the Druid Mordaunt’s wishes. We meet new characters, see relationships grow and, by the end, are sent on yet another journey, setting us up for the third book, “The Betrayed,” due out in February. Mordaunt's priceless secret: the hiding place of an ancient tome that reveals the existence of other worlds and the magic between them. Mordaunt knows how potent its words are and how dangerous they could be in the wrong hands. But can Eilean win him over? All she must do is gain Mordaunt's confidence and trust and persuade the apostate to divulge his secret to her. But as she learns more from Mordaunt, Eilean's loyalties begin to fray. And the risks are greater than she imagined.

In a sense as her learning increases & her understanding of her world grows, she correspondingly develops in power - with a little help from her friends, so to speak. Jeff’s real breakthrough came after taking a writing seminar with none other than Terry Brooks, the man who inspired Jeff all those years ago when he would stay up all night reading in middle school. After giving Jeff some tough yet honest criticism of his work, Terry encouraged him to keep on writing and told him a Steven King quote that says “the first million words are practice for becoming an author”.

This read like a not super traditional trad gorl fantasy... but written by a man. I was honestly impressed by how Wheeler managed to write a female protagonist that felt authentic and true. Not one of those women who serve the male gaze. Her growth is very obvious by the end, if compared to where her character started at the beginning. That's not to say she's always doing what we as the reader would agree with. But the growth! Anyway anyway, I like the new characters although Eilean seems flatter than some of the others. I love Mordaunt and Nostradamus provides an interesting interlude character. The threads are already being laid for the time in the future when women and wretcheds aren't allowed to learn. It would be interesting to read all of these chronologically again at some point.