Dragonclaw
core novel 1997 The Witches of Eileanan
Record
| First published | 1997 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.03 (7,503 ratings, collected 2026-10-11) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780451456892 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
In the Celtic land of Eileanan, witches and magic have been outlawed for sixteen years, since the Day of Reckoning, when the witches were killed and their great towers of learning destroyed, and anyone caught practising witchcraft is put to death. In a hidden valley in the mountains the apprentice witch Isabeau has been raised by her ancient mentor, Meghan of the Beasts, Key-Bearer of the scattered Coven, and Isabeau's coming of age brings an end to their hiding: she is sent out on a perilous errand across a land hunted by the Red Guards, in the service of a quest to restore magic to Eileanan and to depose the wicked queen who has bewitched its ruler. The first of six books, a story of magic creatures, dragons and witchcraft, shortlisted for the Aurealis Award for best fantasy novel.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Witches of Eileanan
- Series: The Witches of Eileanan core; position 1 of 6 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Kate Forsyth
Awards (verified)
- Aurealis Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 1997: nominated; Shortlisted, per the publisher's description of the sequel.
Notes
- Published in Australia as Dragonclaw (1997); in the United States as The Witches of Eileanan (Roc, 1998), the ISBN recorded.
- From the series record (The Witches of Eileanan): Kate Forsyth's six-book Celtic epic fantasy (Pan Macmillan Australia, 1997-2002; Roc in the United States, where the first volume is titled The Witches of Eileanan): a land where witchcraft has been outlawed since the Day of Reckoning, the apprentice witch Isabeau and her ancient mentor Meghan of the Beasts, and the struggle to restore the Coven and the lost Lodestar.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The Witches of Eileanan: position 1 of 6: next The Pool of Two Moons (1998)
- Internal chronology, within The Witches of Eileanan: position 1 of 9: next The Tower of Ravens (2004)
Sources
- FantasticFiction
- Publisher description (Roc)
- BookWyrm (edition record)
- Publisher description (Voyager)
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