Kathryn Berryman

Kathryn Berryman’s debut novel Erinland is a time travel fantasy that will have appeal for teens through to adults.

Two teenagers, Amy and Richard, are transported back to 9th century Ireland and find themselves on different sides of a war. Amy has to adjust to life with the local population, whereas Richard becomes involved with the invading Northmen. Both teens face a culture shock (of course) and the reader begin to witness their characters begin to transform as they rise to the challenges presented to them. It will be interesting to see how Berryman develops them in the rest of the series.

Erinland utilises multiple POV, but unlike some novels this never becomes confusing.

Berryman has created an interesting and well thought out mix of Christian and pagan mythologies in writing Erinland and has clearly done an immense amount of research into what life may have been like during this time. Her writing makes it very easy to visualise her world and its inhabitants.

Several passages deliver intricate descriptions and the level of detail in them will interest many readers. Though I found these sections interesting and informative, I felt that they slowed the pacing of the story, particularly when they were delivered in large segments of dialogue. For this reason it turned out that, whilst I enjoyed Erinland, it was not really the story for me.

However, Erinland may be just the thing for you.

Three Stars… (mer)