Bending the Boyne by J.S. Dunn

Today's reading selection is brought to you by the great nation of Ireland - land of leprechauns, four leaf clovers and Guiness.  Although Bending the Boyne features none of these, mostly because it is set in 2200 BCE Ireland. 

We open on a quiet, peaceful tribe along the Boyne river in Eastern Ireland.  The Starwatchers, as the tribe is called, are highly skilled in just what their name implies.  They study the skies day and night, taking meticulous notes by way of intricate stone carvings.  They have also built large earthen mounds to aid in their starwatching and equinox and solstice celebrations - mounds I was unaware actually existed until I did a brief Google search:


People built this 4200 years ago!

The Starwatchers have gone about their business, presumably for centuries, virtually unmolested and isolated on their small portion of the small island.  Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, the Bronze Age is in full swing.  Foreigners have arrived and are searching for copper and gold stores on Ireland and they don't really give a fig about the Starwatchers and their peaceful way of life.  Typical alpha male bullies, the Intruders set up shop along the Boyne striping the land and stealing the Starwatchers crops and livestock.

When a tragic and violent event occurs, Boann, a headstrong daughter of a Starwatcher elder, sacrifices her safety, security and way of life by offering to marry the Intruders' leader and, by extension, broker peace between the two tribes.

Meanwhile, her childhood friend, Cian, has also infiltrated the Intruder tribe mostly for adventure and excitement that life on the Boyne can't provide him.  He begins a great Forrest-Gump-like journey throughout Northern Europe and discovers there is much more to the world than he ever imagined.

Apparently, the characters and events in Bending the Boyne are all based on old Irish mythology and folklore.  Truthfully, I was unaware Ireland had mythology and folklore outside said leprechauns so the subject matter intrigued me.  Dunn has taken this mythology, fleshed the stories out, and set them in a very real geographic location (see photo above) during a very real historical period (the Bronze Age).  Dunn has included a helpful appendix providing pronunciations (for example Cian is pronounced kee uhn not cee ann as I had begun saying it in my head while reading), origins, and a brief account of the character's original depiction in folklore.

I found Bending the Boyne to be quite original.  I, personally, have never read any novel set in the Bronze Age containing Irish mythological characters.  And I found it to be quite unexpectedly educational.  Dunn paints a strong picture of European culture during the Bronze Age and provides ample background on how bronze is created and why it was so valuable at the time.

The book does get a little slow in the middle.  More characters are added, all with complicated names.  I kept the appendix bookmarked and had to refer back to it frequently.  And the story jumps around a bit, from the Starwatcher village, to the Intruder camp, to Cian's travels.  Perhaps the undertaking was a little more ambitious than one book could handle.

For this, I give Bending the Boyne three and a half bows.  Interesting and unique subject matter, but perhaps a little dense and disjointed.

Until next time, fellow book nerds, happy reading and happy 4th of July!

*In accordance with FTC guidelines, I must disclose that I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for a review posted here on my blog.