The Last of the High Kings: Book summary and reviews of The Last of the High Kings by Kate Thompson

The Last of the High Kings Summary

Traveling to the land of eternal youth was the only way J.J. Liddy could stop time from leaking from his world to T'ir na n'Og. But fifteen years after returning from the land of the faeries, J.J. wonders if that long-ago visit is responsible for the strange things now happening to those around him.

Why does his daughter Jenny roam barefoot through the wilds, when she should be in school? When did the mysterious white goat begin to patrol the hillside? What is the secret project that J.J.'s son Donal is attempting? And who is the ghost guarding the stone beacon at the top of the mountain—and why has Jenny befriended him?

Finding answers to these questions will take J.J. and his family on the most important and dangerous journey of their lives. If they fail, it will undo all the good that J.J. accomplished fifteen years ago. But if they succeed, they will defeat the forces that are gathering to destroy all of mankind, and finally secure the future of the last of the high kings.

The Last of the High Kings Reviews

"Starred Review. Though much of the story is told from the point of view of adults, it's two children, Jenny and a younger brother, who, in a beautifully executed denouement, see through the Irish mist to do the right thing." - Publishers Weekly.

"The diversity of protagonists diffuses the narrative, resulting in an unexpectedly bland return to the Liddy clan; nevertheless, expect high demand from readers of the first. Ages10-14." - Kirkus Reviews.

"Thompson evokes a windswept sense of place and there is a misty poetry in her language." - The Guardian (UK).

"This well-plotted tale combines Irish folklore, magic, music, and humor to weave a delightful story with a fey but admirable heroine. Fans of The New Policeman will relish it all." - KLIATT.

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Kate Thompson Author Biography

Kate Thompson was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, in 1956, the youngest of three children. After she left school she worked with racehorses for several years, in England and in the USA before going to college to study law. She left after a year and went traveling to India. On a second visit to India she began volunteering at an orphanage in Maharashtra, then spent time in Santiniketan, the college that was set up by India’s great poet, Rabindranath Tagore. Between the two visits to India she moved to Ireland, and has lived there since 1981.

Thompson didn’t start writing seriously until the late eighties. she joined the North Clare Writers’ Workshop, which met every week in Ennistymon Library, and was soon producing poems and short stories on a regular...

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