The Fathomless Caves

by Kate Forsyth

Book Overview

In Eileanan, victory has finally been won, and those of faery kind--from the mighty dragons to the mysterious nyx--have sworn their friendship and aid. Only the sea-dwelling Fairgean have refused to sign the Pact of Peace. Driven by ancient hatreds, they have devoted themselves to destroying all who dwell upon the land. Troubled by the darkness that may lie ahead, Lachlan agrees to release his beloved Iseult from the sacred oath that binds them together...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451459024
• ISBN13: 9780451459022
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.3" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Loved it!!!!

THis book is GREAT i absoulutely LOVED IT. I couldn't put it down. I lost sleep. OMG it is SO good!!!!!!

Witches of Eileanan is a must read!

I love this series. I bought the first book while looking for something to read while I waited for Harry Potter. This isn't just a "while-you-wait" book, this is awesome book in it's own right. Throughout the series the good-people turn into bad-people and vice-versa. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. The ending of this series is wonderful, better than most series I've read. This is real fantasy. Anyone who reads fantasy should read this series.

Awesome books, awesome writer.

A while back, after I had just finnished this book, I e-mailed Kate Forsyth, not really expecting anything in return. I thought to myself, those books are REALLY good. She'll never have time to read all her fanmail, much less write back. Whoa was I surprised. The email I got was not a two word reply but two paragraphs about what I had asked! Not only are the books fantastic, but the Author was super- nice!Well, as nice as she was, the books she wrote were even better. From beginning to end, they are captivating. The hardships of war and peace, trust and denial, are all played out fully in these colorful works. Thank you Kate Forsyth for a fabulous read. It doesn't get much better than that!

Great ending to a great series

Book six, The Fathomless Caves, is a great ending to the Witches of Eileanan series. Though I can see points at which the author could branch off to write other books, there is definately a satifsying closure for the main characters and action. Leading up to the final trial, which is a no holds barred, battle to the death that stretches everyone to their limits, there is a test of the royal marriage, Iseult's return to the Spine of the World, a confrontation between Lachlan and Isabeau regarding his behavior toward her, Maya's capture by the Righ, and Isabeau's confronting of her personal demons and her feelings regarding Dide the Jugglar.The main focus of the action here is the war with the Fairgean, the sea people who are sworn enemies of the humans. Obviously, they are bad creatures, because they keep coming up onto the human's land and killing everyone, even children, raping women, taking slaves, all that bad war stuff. But Forsyth does the same thing in characterizing the Fairgean as a people that she does with her individual characters. She shows them as a product of their experiences, most specifically, their experiences with the humans over the last few hundred years. The humans come to be seen as less than virtuous, less than completely in the right, and the Fairgean become not quite the mindless villains they may have seemed. One wonders if, with hundreds of years of history of war and attempted genocide, these people could ever find a way to coexist. And whereas a few books ago we might not have been upset had the humans managed to wipe out the Fairgean completely, now that we have met a few and are seeing them as a people, that no longer seems a viable option for a good ending. Or is it? The struggle between these two peoples becomes something like a good romance novel. You know both sides have their flaws, and everything's against them, but you really want them to work it out, no matter how much it hurts.Well, you throw that in with all the individual conclusions, and the amazing action of the finale, and it makes for a great ending.I have enjoyed this series immensely. It's great to read strong female characters, especially when those characters are actually women, and not just more guys in drag with girlie names. The characterization is brilliant, with characters who continue to grow, from the first pages to the last, who make mistakes, who fall into peril, but who, while ever-changing, mangage to hold on to a sense of self that made you fall for them in the first place. The imagery is lovely, and varied, and the use of Celtic and Wiccan lore highly enjoyable. If you're coming to read this review not having read any other the other books, I would suggest you look up The Witches of Eileanan, because you deserve to enjoy this from the very beginning. It will be worth getting here the long way.

Good ending

If you've followed the series this far, like I have, you'll love the final book. Being in Australia, I've read this book a while ago, and the things I can remeber are all spoilers, and I hate it when ppl do that. So, I'll say this was a good ending and an absolutely fantastic series in general. One thing that particularly impressed me (and this is true for the other 5 books as well) is the amount of respect given to the different cultures/races. As Harriet has said above, the Fairgean are given legitimate reasons for wanting war. This is no goodies/baddies book; you feel for both sides.