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The howling wind sends painful shivers across Brennus’s skin as he watches his home pillaged, his family murdered. Now, there is only one thing on his mind: Revenge.

Gorgeous rolling hills and towering sea cliffs on the Isle of Skye serve as home to Brennus and his family. Warrior’s blood runs through their veins, yet they settle for the predictable domesticity of farm life.

But not even such beauty is safe from the ugliness of grief and loss.

When the Hillmen murder his entire clan, Brennus is left no other choice but to live up to his family’s legacy and seek retribution. Otherwise, his soul will never rest.

Now, he must survive endless hordes of invaders and magic-wielding sidhe, aided by only a band of shifty mercenaries and an ancient bronze sword.

Failure means death. Victory brings glory.

Will he succeed?

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Set in 200 B.C. on the Isle of Skye, Hag of the Hills is a historical fantasy novel where we follow the journey of Brennus. Brennus is pushed from his comfortable life as a farmer to being the avenger of his slaughtered clan. 

When numberless enemies known simple as the Hillmen start to roll over his homeland Brennus must find a way to survive while also finding a way to avenge his fallen clan. With the help of an eclectic mix of mercenaries, an ancient bronze sword, and the criptic promise of a hag, Brennus must find a way to overcome the endless hillmen and take back his homeland. 

For me this book started as a little bit of a slow read, but as it went on I got hooked on all of the Celtic lore and history that the book presents. I think this is really helped by the fact that the author is a published Viking archeologist and is also a doctoral candidate specializing in the Viking age and Celtic iron age. This knowledge really shines through in the book, and you get to step back to the Isle of Skye for a Celtic adventure. 

The historical component of this book mixed with Celtic mythology comes to life to make for a unique reading experience and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. I also like that the group of mercenaries he encounters all come from different parts of the known world and all have unique weapons and fighting styles. We get a good idea of what is happening in the rest of the world through these characters. 

Now while there was plenty of things that I liked about the book there were a few things that I wasn’t as crazy about. The pacing of the book felt a little slow to me and I often felt like I had read a lot of pages without much happening in the story. Also, the women in the book were a bit one dimensional. While this is the case, when we consider that the pov of the story is from the perspective of a male teenager in 200 B.C. its probably not unrealistic that that is how the main character would perceive them. 

Overall, I did enjoy reading through the story and I’m interested to see where the story goes in the next book. Definitely a book for those who have a love for Celtic mythology and history.