BOOK REVIEW | THE PACT | J. E. HANNAFORD

 Hello Folks!

Today I am taking a look at J. E. Hannaford's sequel to The Skin.

ABOUT THE BOOK

‘How, can you let things fade so far? I had a reason. I had cause, I was limited. You – you hide in your lakes playing games. This world crumbles, the last refuge north of the Everstorm is Mynyw and you have let it fall into jeopardy.’

The new King of Terrania may no longer hunt for Old Ones, but the world is far from safe. As the crew of Black Hind continues to search out the Old Ones and return them to their rightful homelands, the reach of a dead consort haunts the new king from beyond the grave.

In distant Mynyw a loyal guardian discovers the unravelling of an ancient pact. As Black Hind sails into his territory, he has a decision to make. Can he overcome his prejudice and ask for help from the strangers before the last refuge falls?

 

The Pact by J.E. Hannaford's follow up to the highly enjoyable The Skin.

At the end of the first book, J.E. Hannaford promised to open up the story that she had set up in the first book, and with the Pact she surely delivers.

The Pact revolves around the crew of The Black Hind as they attempt to keep the mysterious item that they receive at the end of The Skin safe as it could have ramifications. However, things are not as they seem. King Arnad enlists the crew of Barge to find out about a mysterious queen that seems to be amassing an army and could possibly be a threat to King Arnad's new reign.

In addition to that, a new character Maddox is introduced. Maddoc is a guardian of The Pact, which is an agreement between the different Fae folk and the humans.

We soon learn that there is a problem. The Pact is failing. Something is causing the agreement to fail. This could have a catastrophic effect on the remainder of the world.

The Pact surprised me. I really enjoyed The Skin and it was a good introduction to The Selkie and the world she inhabits. We learn more about the Selkie, including her real name, and whilst she still parades around under her other guises of Georgie and Lady Gina, her actual character develops as we learn more about her. Not only that, there is plenty of character development in the other characters too.

With the introduction of Maddox, we learn more about the magical creatures that inhabit the world.

I really enjoyed the inclusion of both Arthurian myth and Welsh Folklore in this book which massively enriches the story. I loved reading about Coblynaus and the Tylwyth Teg.

Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed The Skin and thought it was excellent, = The Pact improves on the original story with the inclusion of the various elements of folklore and magical creatures.