When the Shadow Came to Danaan Wood continues the story from The Talisman Matrix and The Children of Lir, which began the Temporal Fugue and the Space Between cycle with the discovery of the first talismans in an antique store on the earth-like world Terranova, leading to the discovery of the worlds of the Talisman Matrix and the realization by a varied group of Terranovan and local characters that the world of Caoilte Dhu faces the threat of alien invasion. In the new novel, the impending invasions from Midhir and the trans-universe become reality. Sometimes aided . . . sometimes opposed . . . often manipulated by gods and goddesses of the Tuatha de Danaan and other mysterious forces, the principal characters struggle to alert Caoilte Dhu to the danger and marshal the world’s forces to meet the invasion of “The Fairest World” by the Firbolg dragon-soldiers of Midhir and the alien cythraul demons of the transuniverse. The Terranovans J.T. Crowe, Lisa Aubrey and Gonzalez Smith have now become key figures in the struggle, learning more about their own personal powers and destinies. Crowe plays the role of the stormcrow, the ultimate action-junkie, seeking action and danger on all three worlds and multiple timelines. Lisa Aubrey finds that she has become a powerful cailleach, a witch and servant of the Goddess, who is moving toward an remarkable destiny. Gonzales Smith, former bartender and Vietnam veteran, has apprenticed to the legendary wizard Markand of Seabright and learns of his own unique destiny as “The Man Between.” Meanwhile, the young prince Conor Cullen Mac Lir has become the avatar of the war god Mananan Mac Lir and has seized back the throne of Gallatin. Mananan, “Ruaidhrí,” who has been in the background of Conor’s consciousness, draws nearer and nearer to manifesting fully in the world of Caoilte Dhu with full powers as the restored King of Gallatin fights to gather his forces and allies to counter the Midhir invasion. In the distant city of Sligo, in the heart of the Gaeltacht, the bard Finn of the Long Road, one-time leader of the Greenworld Fellowship, turns out to be far more than just a simple disreputable wandering bard with a taste for the dark ale of Caoilte Dhu’s many taverns. He will play a role that determines the final destiny of the Talisman Worlds.

All of these characters come together in two great battles which take place separated by incalculable distances of time and space, but which determine the fate of individuals and worlds in a final dramatic crescendo.

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