The Copper Crown and The Throne of Scone - one story.

What a muddle!

Okay, first things first. These covers are just gorgeous. Thomas Canty isn't given any credit in the actual books, but it's his artwork. (And he even sells signed prints of the images.)

I fully expected to love these. I got a whole bunch of the books of the 'Keltiad' in advance of reading any of them. I don't think I'll be reading all of them.

Fine, the premise is a bit absurd: In the 27th century, a probe ship from Earth discovers an interstellar Empire, Keltia, made up of the descendants of Celts who fled persecution by Christians back in the 5th century, and, aided by the denizens of Atlantis, went out to space.

If it was done well, I could run with it. I love both space opera and fantasy; Celtic and pagan mythology is always full of good opportunities for stories. But it's not done well. The author doesn't pull it off.

The minor problem is that a complex situation with a great number of characters is set up, and the writing just doesn't do it justice. I usually love twisty conflicts and court politics, but here, as I said earlier, it just feels muddled.
The worst problem is not the complexity, however, it's the way that events seem to progress independent of any kind of logic stemming from characterization. People love and hate each other, turn traitor, change their minds, are loyal, etc - seemingly for no reason. One of the main characters (Sarah O'Reilly) is supposed to be a mature, competent naval officer. However, through both books she's written as if she's a star-struck, ditzy 10-year-old with a celebrity crush on Keltia's queen, Aeron. (And why would Earth military officers be impressed at all by foreign royalty? And why would Earth people instantly want to get involved in someone else's war?)

Another thing that bothered me: the use of the phrase "Any road" on practically every other page. I know this is British slang equivalent to "anyways," and maybe the author thought it made her characters sound more Celtic? But it was used in places where no such interjection was necessary, and no single phrase should ever be used with the frequency that this one is in these books.

In addition, the story seriously suffers due to the author completely failing to think things through logically. The people of Keltia have psi powers - but hardly ever use them, for no given reason. They and their enemies both have advanced technology including hyperspace ships - but don't use technological weapons. There's also magic - but with the exception of one past incident, the ramifications and potentials of that are not explored.
When everything happens due to the author's "cause I said so," as opposed to because that would be the logical thing to happen in a theoretical scenario, things just get boring.

I also owned the prequel to these, 'The Silver Branch,' but I've decided not to read it.

( )

This book was bought for me as a gift, by someone who correctly guessed that I'd be interested in a book whose premise is "Celts in space".

Unfortunately, I was never able to get past a bizarre editorial decision. Apparently, in America, "Celt" is pronounced like "Selt". And the author was aware that in the Celtic nations, and languages, it has a hard "C", and she felt it was *very important* that readers pronounced things the same way she wanted them pronounced. What's an author to do? Well, the obvious thing to do is include a note at the front of the book explaining this minor point of pronunciation and then carry on.

Or, you could carefully explain the pronunciation difference, and that to enable American readers to cope with this without (presumably) exploding, you have misspelled every single instance of the word "Celt" and its derivatives, which appear constantly throughout this book of Celtic peoples in the Celtic realm of Celtia speaking Celtic languages, with a K. Thus neatly patronising Americans and driving me up the wall in one smooth move (yes, she really does say that it's for the sake of the Americans, that's not me).

I tried, I really did. I wanted to enjoy this story. But I got about five pages in, and the misspelling was constantly in my face, and it was impossible to focus on anything else. I had to stop because it really was annoying me. It might be really good; I have no way of knowing.

If she ever releases an edition that's spelled correctly I'll consider it again. ( )

I love the entire Keltiad series, more than I can say. It's one of my eternal go-to series of books to pick up when life is too much. Beautifully written, fully developed characters, plot, subplots, a rich and real world — everything a fantasy reader could ask for. ( )

Adored it. Must read this series again, I've only read it a few times, so a few more are definately in order. ( )

Interesting and not at al as twee as I thought it could be. ( )