Cover Image: The Druid

The Druid

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Member Reviews

This was an enjoyable read! It was interesting watching Eileen as her character grew and she began questioning things as she grew closer to her captor/mentor. The book was overall quite fun, but not quite as engaging as I would've liked.

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I really enjoyed the book! The characters are fascinating, especially Eilean who is relatable. This book is why I love fantasy so much. Thank you Jeff Wheeler, 47North, and NetGalley for the ARC.

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A new series from the extraordinary Jeff Wheeler, set in the Muirwood universe: The Dawning of Muirwood!
In the first book in the series, The Druid, we read the story of Eilean, a young woman abandoned at Tintern Abbey and raised as a servant of the abbey.
As is customary in the works of Mr. Wheeler, in this book we find easily recognizable characters and facts based on true history (the Aldermaston Utheros, to cite just one example), as well as old acquaintances: Maderos,, aka Myrddin, Sir Owain, King Andrew and of course, new friends, like the protagonist Eilean, Hoel, Aldermaston Gilifil among others...
An absorbing story that adds a lot of detail to the Muirwood universe without having to reread the entire series, highly recommended for all fans of Jeff Wheeler, Muirwood and Kingfountain.
I loved every paragraph! An excellent story. The author has outdone himself with this series.
I loved this book and thank the author, 47 North, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
The opinion I have expressed above is based solely on what I think and feel about this book.

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This book is amazing. It starts exploring some of the history of one of Jeff Wheelers most beloved works. The characters are deep and well developed. The book keeps the reader enthralled and leaves the reader excited for the next book.

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Author Wheeler is new to me, though he has been prolific. He has authored several series, but this is my first read of any of his work. The world-building is good and the protagonist is likable. There was some action to move the tale along, but it felt slow to me.

I wanted to like this story more, but three and a half stars is all I could give it. There wasn’t a lot here that moved me emotionally, neither through excitement nor anger nor fear for the character’s predicaments. The book was slightly better than average overall, and since it is a prequel to quite a few of the author’s other books, I’m inclined to give the second book a try. My thanks to 47North via NetGalley.

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This was my first book by this author but it won’t be the last! It can now see why he is so popular.

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It's the start of a new series and, even if it's entertaining, I found it lacked excitement and it didn't always kept my attention.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

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As a recently introduced reader to Jeff Wheeler's books, I was curious about the world of Muirwood many years previously but kept putting off reading them in favor of other series. Then, I received an ARC to Wheeler's "Grave Kingdom" series. I had requested the ARC thinking it would be a good introduction to Wheeler's writing style since all the novels were set in a completely separate "novelverse" from Muirwood. It was pretty much all over from there.

Wheeler's writing was so impressive and memorable I couldn't help myself and requested ARCs of his "First Argentines" series. Now, there is always a preferred way to read an authors collected works and many arguments on publishing order versus cannon timelines. Jeff Wheeler even provided a guided list for those sticklers on his website. While I usually prefer to be one of those sticklers, when it comes to ARCs for interesting stories, I just can't help myself.

So here I am, jumping straight into Muirwood without any precursor. And I'm not disappointed I am reading it this way. Even if some plot lines are now obvious for later novels, the story was worth not waiting until I read six other novels.

The Druid is all about Eilean, a wretched on Tintern Abbey who is a pawn in a power struggle she doesn't even understand. This is an overtly religious novel of early Christian politics. Luther versus Rome equals Aldermastons versus Druids. I appreciated the overt nature of the allegories since I truly believe it needs to be in the spotlight a little bit more right now.

Okay. Back to Eilean. She is the pet wretched of the aldermaston of her abbey. She has been perfectly raised as a submissive kitchen girl. In fact, her greatest ambition in life is to become a lady's maid after her 18th birthday when she will be booted unceremoniously from the very abbey that is her only known home.

When she is shipped off to the brand new abbey building grounds to spy on a captured druid, she spends the time pining for the preppy boy who never noticed her until he was separated from all his friends. Some emo songs could easily be the soundtrack for this novel. Eilean mostly drove me nuts. Until meeting Mordaunt. The whole story flips on end then.

The overall package of the novel is mediocre. There is nothing groundbreaking, the writing is a paced slow at points and rushed at others, the characters are marginally developed. BUT. This is a guaranteed good read. It will keep your interest. It will be enjoyable to take a break from the hustle and bustle. And it can even make you think about things bigger than yourself. Easily a 4 star novel. I look forward to the rest of the series for sure.

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I was given a free copy of The Druid by Jeff Wheeler (author), 47North (publisher) and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. The Druid is the first book in the the Dawning of Muirwood Series. The Druid was published on May 1, 2022.

The only other books that I have read by Mr. Wheeler is the First Argentines series.

This review will be spoiler free.

I would characterize The Druid as a combination of High Fantasy with Young Adult or New Adult.

The setting of the story in what appears to be in an abbey in medieval European and in a forest.

The magic system is fairly straight-forward. Magic spells are cast when the spell wielder correctly pronounces the activation words.

The main character is a young woman who is a servant at an abbey that is responsible to attend to a druid who is under house arrest. The main character is somewhat interesting, but not engaging or compelling. Besides the druid character who is featured prominently in the story, the other side characters service the story but are not fully fleshed developed.

The other series that I have read from Mr. Wheeler is the First Argentines series that I enjoyed because of a compelling main character. I thought some of the minor characters were interesting but lack depth. The story had potential, but lacked complexity, and was fairly straight forward without any swerves or curves. The primary issue I had with the series was that there was more telling than showing.

The same issues that I had with the First Argentines series is what I have with The Druid, but The Druid is less engaging that the First Argenties series. The story lacked depth, complexity, or subtext. It had more telling than showing and I was taken out of the story on more than one occasion.

I rate The Druid 2.5 stars.

I would like to thank Mr. Wheeler, 47 North, and Net Galley for the free E-ARC

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I received a free copy via netgalley in exchange foran honest review. I really struggled with the way they spoke in the book. I felt as annoyed as the druid did. I didn't hate it overall but It wasn't a 5 star for me. The magic system was pretty cool.

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AH! The Druid, what can I say besides absolutely "Brilliant"
Since The Druid is a prequel before the Abby it doesn't matter that one hasn't read the prior books in the Muirwood series. However that being said, there will be things along the way that will have one wondering, Hmmm! What does that mean? But that is the fun in it. Because of that will automatically want to make you want to dive head long into the rest of the series ( Very sneaky Mr. Wheeler)
There's just enough splash of Christianity, history and magic, that leaves you refreshed. Wheelers word-building is just right and he totally lives up to his name as one of the greats as a Fantasy author.
I absolutely fell in love with the characters and the ending did exactly what it was supposed to do.
left you wanting MORE!
EXCELLENT!

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Eilean is a wretched - an orphan child raised by the church, in a world ruled by the Aldermaston and the magic he commands. We follow our main character as she comes into her own and learns that not everything in her world is as it seems - not even herself.

While this is a pretty standard coming of age fantasy in many ways, the writing was enjoyable and we get to see quite a bit of development with the characters throughout the story. I do think this is definitely young adult versus adult fantasy - perhaps in later novels it might stretch to new adult, but I imagine it wouldn't go much further than that.

Overall though, I would definitely pick up the next one for a quick fantasy read with strong undertones of religious zeal and the questioning of a strongly engrained belief system. I enjoyed the fact that the characters had both positive and negative aspects, and I look forward to seeing where their choices take them.

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This is the first book I've read by this author, and I will now go and find the rest of his books to read! It is a first in series that really gets it's hooks into you and leaves you wanting more. The next book can't come soon enough!!
Mordaunt the druid, is a prisoner who is cunning and clever, he has hidden something everyone wants. Eilean a "wretched" is tasked with winning over Mordant and getting him to tell her where it is. Everything isn't as cut and dry as she believed, and maybe those whom she is loyal to aren't what they seem. Will Eilean manage to do what is tasked of her?
Thanks to 47North and NetGalley for the ARC.

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Entertaining but slow. That is the best way I could describe this first book in the new Jeff Wheeler series. From the start I was interested in the novel, like All Wheelers' stories it included tons of intrigue. However, I felt like at times, especially early, things labored. The story itself wasn't necessarily that long, and I feel like there could have been sections cut without losing the essence of the book. Now, those sections may play larger roles in the coming books so I may need to bite my tongue. I did feel like things picked up in the second half, with lots of excitement and fast paced reading towards the end. The book ended on a high note, keeping the interest at an all time high and building anticipation for the next chapter in the series. Excited to see how this ties into the other series and the larger world of Jeff Wheeler.

Thank you to Jeff Wheeler, NetGalley, and 47 North for providing me with an advanced reading copy.

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The Druid
By: Jeff Wheeler

I was surprised by how much I liked this book. The magic world revolves around Christian beliefs but was interesting and refreshing.
Eilean grows a lot throughout the book but I was aggravated by the end because there is no warning that the book is ending. I thought the book was a fun read and I read it in only 2 sittings.
Even though this didn’t have any smut in it, I was entertained by character banter and magic.

Description:

Eilean is a foundling girl, raised in an abbey and destined to be no more than a servant. But when she is chosen to travel to the site of a new abbey under construction to look after a mysterious prisoner, her fate starts down a new path. The captive, a druid named Mordaunt, is in possession of a powerful secret that could unlock the gate between worlds—and Eilean is about to learn more than she bargained for.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys YA Fantasy. I received a free copy on NetGalley but I saw that it’s also available on Kindle Unlimited. I haven’t read any of this authors other books before but this one was good enough that I might give more of his stuff a try.

Rating: 4/5
Smut: 0/5

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In my opinion this didn’t Peakmy interest , I love his Grave Kingdom series immensely.
I DNF’d this book 20% in.

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I like the idea and description of this book, it is unique. But the plot is self heavy with religion tone make me got mixed feeling. Personally I need extra detail from world building since this is my first book from the author.
Additional unique voice, depth from the characters will make them standout and memorable. I will love extra character journey to become better version of their self.

Thanks Netgalley for providing me copy.

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