Bright Spear Trilogy

A Gothic Scottish Fairy Tale (H. L. Macfarlane's Fairy Tale World)

By: H. L. Macfarlane

Narrated by: Alexander Bevan

Delve into the twisted, magical world of H. L. Macfarlane’s Bright Spear trilogy, now compiled into an omnibus edition for the first time!

Set in regency-era Scotland along the beautiful shore of Loch Lomond, Prince of Foxes is based on the Scots tale of Gold Tree and Silver Tree, with Lord of Horses moving down to the dark streets of London and based on the tale of The Kelpie’s Bride. King of Forever, the final story in the trilogy, is set in the faerie realm itself and is based on the tale of Tam Lin and the myth of Hades and Persephone. Fall in love with the series listeners have described as delightful, compelling, and enchanting.

Inside this edition:

• Prince of Foxes: Bewitched by dreams of a cursed faerie prince, Sorcha seeks out a kelpie to use its powers to save him, flee from a loveless arranged marriage and protect the area she lives in. But, the kelpie - as well as her fiancé - have other, darker ideas.
• Lord of Horses: Sorcha and the kelpie team up and head to London to deal with an impending threat to their home, whilst Lachlan deals with problems from the Unseelie realm.
• King of Forever: Lachlan and the kelpie must work together to save Sorcha from the clutches of the Unseelie king before she belongs to him forevermore.

©2020 Macfarlane Lantern Publishing (P)2022 Macfarlane Lantern Publishing

bright spear triology

The story was overall good. I enjoyed the twist in it. It didn't keep me that engaged. It was hard to concentrate/ listen to the book the whole time.

Fairy Trilogy

I was really interested in this series, from reading the cover and reviews. Overall, it was ok, but did not really keep me engaged. Book 1 was the best. I liked the characters, and the premise of the story line. I reviewed the audiobook, so the experience may been different with the written book. The narration was good, but did not feel like it was not the best match for the work. Book 3 felt a bit rushed, and would have benefited from being flushed out further. I received a complimentary copy of the audiobook from the author via Story Origin and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Not bad at all

3.5 stars - The narrator's voice for the female characters wasn't it, and I'm not opposed to male narrators performing female voices and vice versa. I couldn't wrap my head around those. There was also background noise that was heard throughothroughout the performance.

The story itself was not all bad. Book one had me hooked! Book two lost me with the back track in character development of the FMC. Sorcha is entitled, selfish and immature. She takes no one else's feelings into consideration or the fact that she is causing unneccesary drama. Instead the MMCs continually blame themselves and I'm still trying to figure out why. She continues throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her way, which lead her to rash decisions that endanger herself and those around her.

How many times should it take before someone finally decides hey, maybe I listen to ALL of these warnings I'm being given? I don't know because Sorcha had a light bulb moment after evrrything was said and done. Book 2 honestly had me questioning who in their right mind would want to stay with someone that kept doing the exact opposite of what was necessary to survive? Book 3 felt rushed.

I hope subsequent books show growth and development for the FMC. She seems to be the only one that has absolutely no common sense.

I received a complimentary copy of the audiobook from the author via Story Origin and am voluntarily leaving a review.

amazing trilogy

This trilogy was amazing. I loved that they had it available as a set rather than individuals. I loved the twists and dramatic storyline. The chemistry with the characters was exciting.

I thought the narration was well done.

I received an advanced copy of the book and am voluntarily leaving a review

Faeries, foxes, and kelpies? Sign me up.

"But Lachlan had known humans and fairies alike to be scared of that which they most desired, just as often as he'd seen them terrified of monsters."

"Magic is magic, and humans always want what they cannot have."

This story had more depth than I originally expected, although I'm not entirely sure what I expected. I thoroughly enjoyed this foray into Scottish folklore and the pleasure of getting the entire trilogy at once. Faeries, foxes, and kelpies? Sign me up. Alexander Bevan's narration of this story was fantastic. It added depth and feeling to the story that I felt I would have missed had I read it on my own. I feel as if I have really been to the Seely and Unseely courts, and as if I've swam in the lochs.

I enjoyed Prince of Foxes most of all, but I hung on through all three stories as I really wanted to know how it ended for Sorcha, Murdoch, and Lachlan! I only wished Sorcha had been made to truly make a choice between the love interests, but I know that's something I couldn't have given the nature of gothic fairy tales. I also felt that I was missing more depth and character development for Sorcha - by the end, the fight for her love seemed to make less sense. I wish we'd been given more than her mismatched eyes and pretty voice to make it clear.

There were several moments that caught me so much by surprise for their ridiculously fantastical and unexpected nature, but that made the story all that more exciting. All that being said, I was riveted throughout and really enjoyed getting to learn more about Scottish mythology.

*I received a free arc of this audiobook trilogy from StoryOrigin in exchange for my review! I am so grateful!*