Faery in Shadow

Infobox Book
name = Faery in Shadow
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = "Faery in Shadow" U.S. paperback cover
author = C. J. Cherryh
illustrator =
cover_artist = David A. Cherry
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Del Rey Books
release_date = July 31, 1994
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0-345-37279-4
preceded_by = The Brothers
followed_by =

"Faery in Shadow" is a fantasy novel by science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh. The book is based in part on Celtic Mythology and features such creatures as the fey race of the Sídhe, including pooka. The book was first published as a Science Fiction Book Club edition in 1993, with a mainstream release by Ballantine Books under its Del Rey Books imprint in 1994. It was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 1994.

The novel is a sequel to Cherryh's novella "The Brothers", which was first published in her 1986 collection of short fiction "Visible Light".

The novel's setting is suffused with magical forces and supernatural beings, marking it as an example of the High Fantasy literary subgenre. Cherryh also borrows elements from Horror Fiction for the book.

The realm of Faery

C. J. Cherryh's Faery is an alternate plane of existence where the Sidhe live, separate from, but still connected to, the mortal realm of humans. Long ago the Sidhe lived alongside man, tolerant of his indiscretions, but with time, as man's abuse of Nature increased and his respect for the Sidhe diminished, the Sidhe began withdrawing to Faery.

The Sidhe are generally free to "step" in and out of Faery at will, but only a select few mortals have that privilege (or misfortune), and then normally under the control of a fey. In the novel, Caith speaks of "silver gates" at the entrance to Faery. While the Sidhe abhor iron, they do work with silver.

Broadly there are two types of Sidhe, the "bright" Sidhe, which include the Fair Folk, or Daoine, and the "dark" Sidhe, including pooka and others. The dark Sidhe are often old creatures that have been corrupted by evil and then won back by the bright Sidhe, and are normally bound to the bright ones by bargains and geas.

Contrary to the popular notion that all fairies are good, the Sidhe are "practical" and will do whatever is necessary to achieve their goals, even at the expense of mortals. They speak in riddles and are forever striking bargains, which they stick to the letter. The dark Sidhe in particular are mischievous and enjoy playing tricks on humans. When it suits them, the Sidhe can take complete control of mortals. They can heal them, put them to sleep, touch their dreams and steal time from them.

Plot summary

:"For the prelude to this story, see The Brothers."Caith, condemned by the Sidhe for committing patricide, wanders aimlessly along the river Guagach, accompanied and tormented by Dubhain, a mischievous pooka. Their journey takes them to Gleann Fiain where a beast from the river chases Caith up a hill to an isolated cottage. The occupants, twins Ceannann and Firinne, let Caith and Dubhain in and allow them to spend the night. Unbeknown to Caith, the birth of the twins 21 years ago set in motion a sequence of events that damned Gleann Fiain and cast a shadow over Faery.

The twins were born to Fianna, queen of Gleann Fiain in Dun Glas. But unbeknown to her husband, Ceannann mac Ceannann, she had sought help from a wise-women, Moragacht, who had struck a bargain with her, promising her twins if she lay down with a selkie and let Moragacht take one of the twins when they were born. Fianna agreed to the bargain, but when twins arrived (a human and a selkie), she confessed her secret to her husband, who turned Moragacht away when she came to claim one of the twins. From that day onwards, grief and misery struck the family. Ceannann and Fianna were forced to vacate Dun Glas and flee with the twins to an abandoned fortress. But the loch beast, under Moragacht's control, found them there and killed them all, except the twins, now aged 14, who escaped to the cottage. The witch then seized control of Dun Glas from where she damned all of Gleann Fiain.

But the wards that protected the cottage from Moragacht fall when Caith and Dubhain arrive. Riders from Dun Glas come and capture the twins. Caith and Dubhain (as a horse) give chase, but as they approach the riders, Dubhain is overcome by the witch's magic and falls into the loch, abandoning Caith. Caith and the twins are taken to Dun Glas where they are locked in cells bordering the loch. Delirious from his ordeal, Caith lapses into a "dream" where he enters the loch to find Dubhain duelling with the loch beast. He draws Dubhain back to his cell, who in turn calls Nuallan from Faery, the bright Sidhe controlling their destiny. Nuallan gives Caith a silver key to unlock the iron cells and so lifts a spell enabling Nuallan to cast Caith, Dubhain and the twins out of Dun Glas. Moragacht allows her prisoners to escape because with her magic she now holds Nuallan, a bigger catch and her means to controlling Faery.

The twins lead Caith and Dubhain to the ruins of the fortress, their former home. There they make a fire from the remains of a staircase, but out of the smoke a ghost appears that transports Caith back to the night of the fall of the fortress and into the body of Padraic, chief of Ceannann mac Ceannann's household. There he relives the last few hours of the family. As Padraic is killed by the beast, his ghost returns Caith to the present, and Firinne retrieves one of the burning timbers from the fire as a keepsake.

The twins then set off for the sea to search for their selkie father, with Caith and Dubhain following. Caith finds the selkie first, a whale floundering on the beach. But when the selkie shapeshifts to a man, he is killed by one of Moragacht's pursuing riders. In the ensuing confusion, Caith accidentally kills Ceannann. Firinne is devastated by the loss of her twin brother and gives Caith her keepsake from the fortress. Then she reveals her selkie birth and changes into a whale and heads out to sea.

Freed of the twins, Caith rides Dubhain back to Dun Glas to free Nuallan. Once again Dubhain is weakened by the witch's spells and Caith has to enter the keep on his own. He sees Nuallan helpless in his cell, but Nuallan asks him to unlock it with the silver key, after which Nuallan flees the keep, leaving Caith to fend for himself. Moragacht, furious at the loss of the Sidhe, prepares to deal with Caith, but he throws the charred piece of wood Firinne gave him into the fireplace which releases Padraic, the ghost from the fortress. In an act of revenge, it begins destroying Dun Glas and all in it. With the witch's spell now diminishing, Dubhain rescues Caith from the keep, while in the loch a whale from the sea turns on the beast. The shadow over Faery lifts and Caith and Dubhain resume their travels.

Main characters

Humans

*Caith mac Sliabhin – the protagonist
*Ceannann – Firinne's twin brother
*Ceannann mac Ceannann – former king of Dun Glas, Ceannann and Firinne's human father
*Fianna – former queen of Dun Glas, Ceannann and Firinne's mother

idhe

*Nuallan – of the Fair Folk, or Daoine
*Dubhain – a pooka
*Firinne – a selkie, Ceannann's twin sister
*selkie of Corrigh – Ceannann and Firinne's selkie father

Other

*Moragacht – a witch, queen of Dun Glas

Draiocht and geas

Draiocht (sorcery) and geas (obligation) are the two forces that drive "Faery in Shadow". Caith is bound by geas to the Sidhe for committing patricide and is obliged to serve them. Dubhain, already serving the bright Sidhe, is also bound to Caith by geas because of his own past indiscretions. Thus Caith and Dubhain, like inseparable twins, have their destinies ruled by the bright Sidhe.

Geassi binds the draiocht of the worlds and the bright Sidhe keep the draiocht in balance. But Moragacht the witch defies the Sidhe by waking the ancient earth gods and practising stone magic, which disturbs Faery and its delicate balances. But to work magic requires giving something to the powers from where the magic comes, and the greater the magic, the greater the gift must be. Moragacht draws her magic from the earth powers, the banished gods, but her real desire is to control Faery, and Nuallan is her gift in exchange for this sorcery. However, the exchange cannot happen until Nuallan consents, until he accepts and worships the stone gods.

Moragacht wears Nuallan down with her dark magic, but Caith and Dubhain rescue him, each for their own reasons and in spite of the grief he has caused them. Caith recognises and is frightened by these old and hungry gods the witch is courting, and Dubhain, a dark creature himself, feels the temptation of these dark powers trying to claim him back.

References

*C. J. Cherryh. "Faery in Shadow". Legend Books 1993. ISBN 0-09-926721-7.

External links

* [http://www.cherryh.com/www/faeryfaq.htm C. J. Cherryh homepage] . "Faery in Shadow FAQ".