Synopses & Reviews
The beautiful maiden Jewel is the center of her parent's joy. She is the embodiment of their true love and she has grown up surrounded by peace and love in abundance.
Jewel's world cruelly shatters when her parents are suddenly killed and she and her uncle Eoin are forced to flee. Leaving the only home she has ever known, Jewel learns that her parents, caught in a tangle of a tragic prophecy, had hidden in the marshland for years to protect the secret knowledge that Jewel is the last of the line of the Janus Jaravhor, the dreaded sorcerer of Strang. That she might be the one person in the world who could unlock the mysterious Dome that is told to hold all of Janus's secrets. And that King Maolmordha now knows of her existence and will stop at nothing to find her.
Pain and loss follow and Jewel must make her way alone. Rescued by a traveling band of Weathermasters, exalted magicians who control the heavens for the rich and powerful, she is taken to High Darioneth and is accepted into this tightly knit community.
Not just accepted, but loved, for one of the young weathermasters beheld her and his heart was lost.
Jewel is left with the promise of true love and a powerful secret. But which path will she choose--and who will suffer if she makes the wrong choice?
An interactive CD-ROM of the world of Tir will be included in the hardcover edition of The Well of Tears, which will allow the reader to enter into Dart-Thornton's creation and and experience all the wonders of this mystical and magical land.
Review
"With influences ranging from Celtic and Norse folk tales to Shakespearean tragedy, Dart-Thornton has crafted an impressive start to an epic journey down the corridors of myth and legend....readers looking for an intense and old-fashioned magical world will eagerly anticipate the next step in the journey."--
Romantic Times BookClub Magazine on
The Iron Tree, Book One in The Crowthistle Chronicles
"The world of Tir is an intriguing place, so filled with spooks and apparitions that it is hard to believe any land is left for mere humans to live on....Cecilia Dart-Thornton has created a uniquely beautiful world in The Iron Tree...."--Sci-Fi.com on The Iron Tree, Book One in The Crowthistle Chronicles
"...Dart-Thornton conjures up her world of Tir and its rituals and beliefs in the luminous yet hard-edged manner of Jack Vance or Mary Gentle."--The Washington Post on The Iron Tree, Book One in The Crowthistle Chronicles
"With scenes as vivid as any Technicolor extravaganza, The Iron Tree will capture readers' imaginations."--Starlog on The Iron Tree, Book One in The Crowthistle Chronicles
Review
"Dart-Thornton has crafted an impressive start to an epic journey down the corridors of myth and legend"--
Romantic Times BookClub Magazine on
The Iron Tree"Dart-Thornton conjures up her world or Tir and its rituals and beliefs in the luminous yet hard-edged manner of Jack Vance or Mary Gentle."--The Washington Post on The Iron Tree
"Dart-Thornton creates a cast of memorable characters, who reside in a vividly described world deeply rooted in British faerie lore. It is not only an action-packed adventure but also a hero's journey."--VOYA on The Well of Tears
"A tale of love won and lost, of fate and free will, of prophecy and peril."--Library Journal on The Well of Tears
Review
"A tale of love won and lost, of fate and free will, of prophecy and peril." Library Journal
Review
"[The Well of Tears] is not only an action-packed adventure but also a hero's journey."
VOYA
Synopsis
The second novel in Dart-Thornton's Crowthistle Chronicles, The Well of Tears takes up the next generation of characters introduced in The Iron Tree. Jewel, the daughter of Lilith and Jarred, ventures out to discover the secret of her father's birth and how the fates conspired to bring about her parent's deaths.
About the Author
Cecilia Dart-Thornton's interests include playing music, oil painting, graphic design, photography, and clay sculpture. She lives in Australia.