Thank you to Head of Zeus publishing and NetGalley for the advanced review copy. My opinions are my own and my review is unbiased.

Dreams of Fire is a wonderful tale of dreams and prophecies; of the awakening prophetic power of Rónnat, a descendant of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and one of the secondary characters from Lawless’s main novels in the Gael Song series.

Rónnat is the older sister of Fódla, who is one of the two female main characters in the Gael Song trilogy. Here we see the strength of her bond with her sister in early womanhood and Fódla’s introduction to Tomas and the rest of the Descendants. This story helps to explain why Rónnat lives where she does in the first novel of the series and answers a few other questions from the main series too.

Dreams of Fire is full of atmospheric threads of Irish folklore and mythology set amidst a backdrop of medieval history, with witches and druids pitting themselves against the murderous fire-wielding Fomorians who want nothing more than to wipe the Descendants off the face of the earth. The fight between the two sides in this novella is exciting and the losses are tragic. Rónnat has had a vision and must transform so she can fly with all haste to the aid of their father in battle. Her transformation ensures that the reader gets a bird’s eye view of the battle:

“He ran forward and threw a huge bolt of fire at the trees, aiming for the crows perched on the branches. The fire enveloped the branches, burning hot. I watched, helpless, as the debris and ash blew in the wind, the crows turned to smouldering embers along with the wood. The branches and roots of the neighbouring trees suddenly shuddered. The ground shifted again, and the trees pulled themselves out of the soil, roots heaving them forward so that their branches could swing at the Fomorians. The roots of the first yew tree weaved around the feet of the Fomorian who had killed the witches, pulling him into the ground. He disappeared from sight, his screams fading. A thick branch slammed to the ground, crushing another Fomorian as he ran underneath.”

The tragedy of individual loss that follows is described with such poignant pain-filled prose that it took my breath away. Rónnat’s vision of the ancestors arriving to claim the bodies of the fallen was beautifully moving:

“I could see our ancestors moving from within the light. One of them was Mother, wearing her silk dress and fur cloak. She kneeled beside Father and touched his face. He woke up, smiling. Without wasting another moment, he jumped onto his feet. Laughing. Throwing his arms around her and holding her in the air. Others came forward. A man who looked just like my father, save for shorter hair and a thinner nose. Grandfather, I thought, though I had never met him. Father hugged him too and together they disappeared into the light.”

The author’s Irish lilt comes through in her writing and the resultant prose is often quite poetic as a result.

Dreams of Fire is a truly gripping story that will work well as an introduction to the series for new readers but equally can be read after the other books to help fill in information about the fabulous characters of the main novels. I highly recommend it to fans of folklore, mythology and stories with intriguing strong female characters. More soon please, Shauna!

I really enjoyed this novella set before the start of The Gael Song series.
The series blends Irish mythology and history in 10th/11th century Ireland where mythical races continue a long-standing secret war as the country sees Viking invasions, battles and political turmoil.

This novella primarily follows Rónnat a Descendants of the Tuatha Dé Danann and provides more backstory for her and her sister Fódla, one of the main characters in the series.

Although it's short, it was immediately immersive, quickly establishing the world and characters.
The story is engaging and compelling, and really gives a nice glimpse of the dynamics present in the rest of the series.

You definitely do not need to have read the other books before this, but if you have, this provides some nice additional information and maybe a few hints of what else is to come.

I love this series and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys myth retellings or historical fantasies

Review also on Goodreads.
4.5*

What a wonderful novella and an excellent way to spend a few hours!

You can definitely enjoy this even if you have yet to read The Children of Gods and Fighting Men. If you have read the main books, as I have (they're excellent), then Dreams of Fire provides a brilliant insight into Ronnat's personality, Tomas and his motivations, and other characters, while also filling in questions you may have about the history of the Descendants of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Fomorians.

This novella although short, managed to tell a thrilling story that hooked me from page one. Strong female protagonists, great action scenes with awesome magic and a strong emotional impact. What's more important is that the world and it's story are so addictive that I imediately ordered book one in the series.
I really can't find anything negative to say about this and as a bonus I think it will appeal equally to both fantasy and historical fiction readers.

This prequel novella follows Ronnat and delves into the long festering war between the two magical groups in 10th century Ireland. I enjoyed the novella quite a bit, it answered a fair amount of questions about the backstory of this world. I do think it's better as an introduction than as a continuation, because I knew what would happen and basically how it would happen already, but there are a few unraveled details that make it worthwhile anyways.

This prequel novella follows Ronnat and delves into the long festering war between the two magical groups in 10th century Ireland. I enjoyed the novella quite a bit, it answered a fair amount of questions about the backstory of this world. I do think it's better as an introduction than as a continuation, because I knew what would happen and basically how it would happen already, but there are a few unraveled details that make it worthwhile anyways.

I absolutely adore Shauna Lawless’ beautifully written take on Irish history and it was great to be back in the Gael Song world, and learn more about Rónnat. She’s a bit of a mysterious character in the main books and I really enjoyed getting more of her backstory prior to The Children of Gods and Fighting Men. It’s always a treat when an author takes to the novella to give a prequel to flesh out their characters a bit more. Needless to say, I can’t wait to be back with my favourite characters in the upcoming The Land of the Living and the Dead!

I’’m obsessed with Shauna Lawless and this series. I loved The Children of Gods and Fighting Men and immediately requested this arc and I’m glad I did. Ronnat is such an interesting character and I am exciting to see more of her story and background. It was a lot of fun seeing all the familiar characters before everything that happens in the main series. Ronnat is such an interesting character and I loved see her deal either her nee found gifts and seing her POV of other characters. Overall it’s a super fun quick back story that I’m obsessed with.

Thanks to Head of Zeus Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

The Gael Song series has become one of my favorite historical fantasy series I have read recently. Dreams of Fire is a prequel novella that lets us see some events that are talked about in the first two books of the series and features several of our main characters. The great thing about this novella is that you DO NOT have to have read the first two books to thoroughly read and enjoy this story. This is also a perfect introduction to the series, and you can then move right into the first book and feel right at home!! As with the full-length novels, Shauna sets the scene so well that you are immersed in the world so easily. Ronnat, Fodla and their father journey to Fennit Island for the Gathering and we get to meet many of the characters that are a central part of the main series. I loved getting this peak into how the events that are the center of the main story are set in motion here and this glimpse is fantastic and full of everything that makes the series so special. Characters that you immediately care about, wonderful pacing full of action and of course it's full of wonderful Irish mythology and history. If you have read this series, you will absolutely want to add this to the collection and if you have been wondering about starting it, this is the perfect entrance to what is a marvelous world!!

DREAMS OF FIRE is a prequel novella that explores an important but little seen character from the main series.

This novella is almost entirely from the perspective of Rónnat. It was really exciting to hear from her; she's such a key figure in the series, her presence felt in so many actions, but she's not around much and not heard from. This novella really opens up the puzzle box of the character, showing formative events that make her the character we meet in CHILDREN OF GODS AND FIGHTING MEN.

While the focus is largely Rónnat, there are two chapters with Ethlinn, Gormflaith's mother. She's another crucial but enigmatic figure. We get to hear her thoughts, the event that leads her to have the mindset of marry, breed, move on that she tries to impress on her daughter. It was also interesting to see her through the eyes of her uncle, the man trying to keep their house alive.

The story ends with some teasers for the major events that are going to happen in the finale. It is certainly intriguing and only makes me more excited for THE LAND OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD!

Yet another fever-dream reading experience, courtesy of Shauna! Couldn't put this one down for a second. Thankfully we're all spoiled by her prodigious writing schedule.

Like any great novella, this enhances the core story with precious contextual information that adds weight to the decisions of characters we've already met elsewhere. It brings me a lot of joy to have these extra tidbits to focus the lens through which I've viewed things.

I can still remember coming across her first book, The Children of Gods and Fighting Men on Reddit 8/9 months before its release, and hoping it would finally scratch that itch, and now only a few years later there's still so much to look forward to, more novellas, a conclusion to this initial trilogy, the promise of more in the future. A wonderful time to be alive.

My thanks to Shauna as always, she made sure I was able to read this ahead of time, and what a privilege it has been. Go raibh míle maith agat!

As someone who hasn’t read the 2 books in this series, this prequel was phenomenal. It has made me absolutely need to read the series asap. It’s such a well built novella that makes you need more

4.5 stars, rounded up.

This is excellently written and immersive, with fascinating characters, but it does suffer a little from novella syndrome - the plot is given very little room to breathe, and the character development happens a bit too quickly. If it had been fifty pages longer, it would have been perfect