Drawing from the ancient Celtic tale of Taliesin and Ceridwen, Fisher crafts a complex and frightening story of family love and jealousy... The novel plays out in a terrifying race against time and primordial evil to free Chloe from the grip of a malevolent force of her own making. While steeped in early myth and fantasy, this is an exploration of the responsibility of familes to speak honestly to one another. The venerable tale meshes with Rob and Chloe's interactions, and readers unfamiliar with the old story will nevertheless be swept up in the mystery and dark magic. .a challenging read but one that is ultimately very satisfying.
School Library review, USA
..the Unworld is both a manifestation of Chloe's comatose brain synapses and a very real kingdom of tales wwhere she is held captive. Most of the narrative sticks to Rob's third person viewpoint, but brief flashes of Chloe's thoughts add brilliant potency. Chloe ventures deeper and deeper from caer to caer, all brimming with symbols from her real relationship with Rob, which it turns out- was wrought with pain. The portrayal is delicate and poetic, the journey frightening, with suspense that builds as young, bitter Chloe decides whether or not to return to life.
Kirkus Review, USA Feb 06
Following her bent for the atmospheric and mythological, Fisher fuels Darkhenge with themes and patterns taken from Welsh legend cycle the Mabinogion... Vetch tells Rob that Chloe has gone to Annwn, a place between life and death. Rob can reach her by passing through the henge, but first he must get past Clare- and, as Vetch points out, he must also confront his own rivalry with Chloe.. Fisher focuses on immediate events with painstaking attention, laying out the bigger picture only slowly, leaving the intrigued reader to fill in details and connections. She blurs together the unseen movements of the subconscious with the psychological underpinnings of myth, evoking myth's ties to pagan nature and creating a dark, enigmatic mis-en-scène filled with vividly concrete natural imagery. A complex fantasy that resonates with strangeness, mysticism, and magic.
Horn Book Magazine, USA.
