Immortality can be over rated, if in order to have it, you must endure the rapes of a Hag. Such is the life, if it can be called that for Riain Cree, prince of Chale. It is he who is named so in The Prince Of The Wind when in fleeing the Hag, he enters a temple on the wind. He finds haven there, but not for long. So how did he end up in such a kind of hell? What must he have done to deserve such punishment? Would you believe, nothing?

The prologue ofPrince Of The Wind opens with a desperate chase that ends in capture. Hopelessness begins the story before the first chapter. It opens with a young man, barely more than a child, being treated roughly until he is found to be the youngest child of the royal clan of Cree. The Cree are a fearful group that no one wants war with. Quickly, he is to be healed of a terrible fever. So one would think his problems, and bitter tale, has ended before it even began. Alas however, this lad has far more on his plate, all for simply being the beautiful child of a strong clan.

Charlotte Boyett-Compo does indeed know the tales and the landscape of beloved Ireland. One can feel the mist, the touch, and the cold of that place, as well as the magic that linger from the past. It was in centuries past this tale is imagined. The characters are many and fully fleshed out. Scenes are written deftly and vividly. Cultures and morals, beliefs and strangeness all seem a part of this story.

So, why a rating of seven, and not higher? Because for all its depth and richness, there lacks enough story to carry it all through. It reads like half a dozen other stories want to careen off from the main one. The characters are crying out for their own place and rightfully so. A whole slew of books could be branched off from this one alone. I only wished, that the one story she was trying to tell was not so disjointed. Charlotte Boyett-Compo can write, and Prince Of The Winds shows bold strokes. I only wished she had perhaps had some of the other characters made lesser of in this book and brought more vividly in another, or at least in a more supportive role than stars in their own rights. Many questions were left unanswered. Why is the Cree clan so desirous to be evil? What was it of the past that Riain Cree, prince of Chale was never told of them? Who are all these gods and what do they have to do with humans?

Yes, the book stays with me, and I so wish there had been many more pages for I would have liked to have stayed in that land a longer time. Perhaps Ms. Boyett-Compo will be sweet, and can be persuaded to re-visit the land a few more times, to bring back tales for us to live. Long live Prince Of The Wind

Reviewed by: Nancy Louise
© April 2007