Dark Winds Rising: A Novel

When I read the first in this series, Between Two Fires, I was instantly hit with a ton of ‘never have I ever” – an historic written in first person, a tale based in medieval Wales, and the action packed events, laden with a magical almost mystic feel. Perfectly ready to join Branwen’s journey again, we pick up in 597, just seven years after the first. In this story, unlike the first, there is a solid romance thread in the background, as Branwen obviously loves her husband Artagan and their young son. But even as Branwen has managed to survive so far, foiling attempts on her life and position as various factions, tribes and overlords seek to gain and retain power. Adding to her worries, Branwen is now pregnant with her second child and her fears of surviving childbirth are again weighing on her mind. And then, the story quickly becomes an adventure full of action, strife and political intrigue as the Pictish Queen Sab, along with a return of the Saxons, infighting within the various families of Wales and yet another assassin keep her hands full and danger ever-present. Again, Noce presents a character with that definite girl power ‘bring it on’ sense of competence and toughness, although here I do think he downplayed to almost stereotypic the men’s roles to a “Hit things then think” level. What gets lost to some degree is the lack of more modern conventional sort of beliefs that women of that age, despite still being property in many marriages, were far more apt to be leaders and even revered for their battle skills and fearless opposition to foes, a concept that is present within this book, but the scales are very strongly tilted to the girl power side. Celtic lore is laden with women who led and guided their people - Queen Aethelburgh, Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd, Boudica, Scathach, Aife – and these were truly some kick-ass women – without the need to downplay the very real lives and bravery of the men around them. But, I digress. Noce’s story here is one that is engaging, if occasionally problematic, full of atmosphere, action and danger: with many moments when it seemed that all possibility of Branwen’s survival or continued ability to fight on for what she feels is best for her people. And make no mistake, while her journey may have started as one of self-determination, it has clearly been a journey for her people and her belief that self-rule and an identity as Welsh. Carrying along in the story, those unfamiliar with many of the machinations of the time are moments that bring the Arthurian legends to mind, while written in a new way that is solely engaging and intriguing tale. I received an eArc title of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.