The Keltiad is a body of fantasy works written by Patricia Kennealy-Morrison

Patricia Kennealy-Morrison

Patricia Kennealy-Morrison is an American author and journalist. Her published works include rock criticism, a memoir, and a series of science fiction/fantasy and murder mystery novels...

. Currently there are eight novels in the series.

The books are set in a star system far from our own, where various Celt

Celt

The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....

ic peoples emigrated after the rise of Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 and the purge of the Old Religion

Celtic polytheism

Celtic polytheism, commonly known as Celtic paganism, refers to the religious beliefs and practices adhered to by the Iron Age peoples of Western Europe now known as the Celts, roughly between 500 BCE and 500 CE, spanning the La Tène period and the Roman era, and in the case of the Insular Celts...

 that followed. The novels and short stories are based upon traditional Celtic legends and mythology

Celtic mythology

Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...

, woven into a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

/fantasy universe and updated for a futuristic culture.

At least ten other titles were planned, but when publisher HarperCollins

HarperCollins

HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...

 decided to drop the series, despite much fan support and outcry, Kennealy-Morrison was forced to curtail it.
The author has recently made known her plans to continue the series with at least one more title, The Beltane Queen, to be published through Lulu.com and, depending on reader response, possibly several more.

The Copper Crown

The Copper Crown introduces us to the interstellar kingdom of Keltia, founded in Earth year 452 by Celts from Earth. As the book opens, in Earth year 3512, Aeron Aoibhell is Ard-rian (High Queen) of Keltia, and finds herself in a particularly unenviable position. Earth has finally discovered its faraway and long-sundered kinfolk, but any possible alliance/treaty with the Terran Federacy could result in war with Keltia’s fiercest rivals, the Fomorians

Fomorians

In Irish mythology, the Fomoire are a semi-divine race said to have inhabited Ireland in ancient times. They may have once been believed to be the beings who preceded the gods, similar to the Greek Titans. It has been suggested that they represent the gods of chaos and wild nature, as opposed to...

 and the Cabiri Empire. Facing these ethical dilemmas proves challenging. (Published as Patricia Kennealy; hardcover 1984; paperback 1986)

The Throne of Scone

The Throne of Scone continues directly on from the action of The Copper Crown. Aeron finds some unlikely friends and allies on her quest for the long-lost Thirteen Treasures of Keltia, and for the Once and Future King himself, Arthur of Arvon. As in The Copper Crown, Aeron is once again faced with the challenge of liberating her kingdom and her people without giving in to the call of unlawful magic. (Patricia Kennealy; hc 1986; pb 1987)

The Silver Branch

The Silver Branch, the prequel to The Copper Crown, begins with Aeron’s father, King Fionnbarr, whose accidental love-affair affects both Keltia and Fomor, and continues with Aeron as she grows up: her education as a Fian

Fianna

Fianna were small, semi-independent warrior bands in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology, most notably in the stories of the Fenian Cycle, where they are led by Fionn mac Cumhaill....

 (warrior) and a Ban-draoi

Druid

A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....

 (female druid); the personal and political challenges she must face before the arrival of the Terrans in Keltia; how she came by her great skills as warrior and sorceress; her strong friendship with Morwen Douglass, along with her love affairs with both Roderick Douglas (Morwen's elder brother) and Gwydion, Prince of Gwynedd; and why a mostly one-sided love/hate relationship with Arianiera (Gwydion's twin sister) ultimately causes Keltia's downfall. It also reveals why she fears her own powers, and why Bres, King of Fomor follows an obsessive compulsion to revenge himself for an act committed over 30 years prior. (Patricia Kennealy; hc 1988; pb 1989)

The Tales of Arthur

This trilogy is told in the first person. "The greatest bard of all time," Taliesin Glyndour, narrates.

The Hawk's Gray Feather

In The Hawk’s Gray Feather Taliesin recounts his youth on the planet Gwynedd, and the beginnings of his lifelong friendship with Arthur of Arvon, destined to be the greatest king in both Keltic (and later Earth) history (at least until his descendant Aeron comes along 1500 years later). At this time, right around the present-day in Earthtime, the throne of Keltia has been usurped by the evil wizard known as the Marbh-Draoi, and all Kelts suffer under his rule. All hope is not lost, however, as the rebellion known as the Counterinsurgency fights to put the true monarch back on the Throne of Scone. (Patricia Kennealy; (hc 1990; pb 1991)

The Oak Above the Kings

The Oak above the Kings continues from the previous book, telling how the rightful ruler is restored, but now other threats rear their heads, including a few enemies of the most dangerous sort - those reared out of heart’s blood. Taliesin and Arthur have both married by now, and their choices of mate are fateful for Keltia as well for them personally. (Published as Patricia Kennealy-Morrison; hc 1994; pb 1995)

The Hedge of Mist

The Hedge of Mist concludes the Arthurian trilogy with a unique Grail quest and an epic battle to reclaim the soul of Keltia. Marguessan, Arthur’s evil sister, attempts to seize the Throne of Scone, while Morgan Magistra, her twin, wife of Taliesin and the mightiest sorceress Keltia will ever see, struggles to restore the balance of Darkness and Light. (Patricia Kennealy-Morrison; hc 1996; pb 1997)

The Tale of Athyn

Blackmantle is the story of Athyn who, by prowess in battle and the acclamation of the people, rose from humble origins to be High Queen of Keltia. It is a tale of how will and love can transcend the bonds of death itself. When her husband and king, the legendary bard Morric Douglas, is torn from her by deception and slain by treachery, Athyn rides out, first to seek vengeance from those who betrayed Morric to his death, and then, with the assistance of the Sidhe

Sídhe

The aos sí are a supernatural race in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology are comparable to the fairies or elves. They are said to live underground in the fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans...

 lord Allyn, on to the Otherworld of Annwn to try to wrest her beloved back to her side from Arawn himself, the god

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

who is lord of death and fate. As in the tales of Aeron, there is the central question of whether having the ability to change fate means it is an acceptable action to attempt, and what the penalties for such karmic upheavals may be. (Patricia Kennealy-Morrison; hc 1997; pb 1998)

The Tale of Brendan

The Deer’s Cry is the story of the founding of Keltia. In fifth-century Ireland, Brendan Aoibhell is the son of a Sidhe princess and a mortal chieftain. When his heritage, his religion and his culture are all threatened by the onset of the “New Religion”, Christianity, brought to his homeland by the fanatic missionary monk Padraic, he and those like him seek shelter in a faraway home that only one among them, the last survivor of Atlantis, has seen before - a home among the stars, which will be known as Keltia. (Patricia Kennealy-Morrison; hc 1998; pb 1999)

Errata

The author's legal name is "Patricia Kennealy Morrison". As a rock critic and editor, in the beginning of her career, she published under her birth name, "Patricia Kennely", and later as "Patricia Kennealy". Since 1994 her books have been published as "Patricia Kennealy-Morrison", with the hyphen.

External links

• Mrs Morrison's Hotel - Patricia Kennealy-Morrison's official blog
• Patricia Kennealy Morrison - The author's official MySpace page
• Interview with Patricia Kennealy in Taliesin's Successors: Interviews with Authors of Modern Arthurian Literature
• Author's Dragon*Con biography, with some Keltiad background