Finn the Half-Great

Forgot to mention,  I have an MA in the History of Children's Literature from Roehampton Institute London UK and I was a Carnegie/Greenaway judge in 1993.  I am  Canadian born.  Also have an MA in Librarianship from University college London and I teach Children's literature at RRC online for the Library Technician program.

Finn the Half-Great is more the reworking of a myth than a fantasy. The story of Finn McCool is based on a legendary Irish hero, a giant and a warrior. The hero is the only offspring of an incongruous marriage between an immortal giant and Muirne, daughter of one of the old gods’ of Ireland. Finn never met his parents, but the author informs the reader of his special lineage in the first chapter. We learn that his father, Cuhail, was a hero and his mother was a descendent of the Tuatha De Danann, Celtic gods. Unfortunately, unless your reader is Irish or uses Caldwell’s online glossary, many details and meanings would remain unknown. However, as books on mythology, such as Riordan’s Olympiad series, are currently popular, this book should do well. The narrative follows Finn’s life story, from his mother’s death in childbirth to adulthood, when he is accidentally given the gift of knowledge by tasting a special salmon. Afterwards, Finn sets off to find his birthright—the Great Hall of Tara. Along the way he acquires companions—a giant named Goll and an elf named Aillen—and together they built the Causeway, a known landmark even today. Then he and his companions find the Frost Giant, Ymir, and Finn defeats him by using an enchanted sword. When his adventures are over, McCool returns home, settles down, and marries his sweetheart, Oonagh.

After years of pleasant marital bliss, Cuhullin, a huge and fierce giant with an ugly temper comes to fight Finn. Oonagh outwits Cuhullin using a cunning yet humorous plan involving food. However, Finn defeats Cuhullin the next time he is challenged.

The characters are two-dimensional and stereotypical, appropriate to those found in traditional folk tales, and many of them are quite comical. The use of an omniscient narrator and the Irish lilt in the storyteller’s voice might be odd unless the reader understands the Irish way of speaking.

Finn the Half-Great looks like a library book. The green colour of the binding and the shamrock are typically Celtic, but the illustration on the cover is missing an important character. Oonagh is missing and her courage at the hands of McCool’s enemies is every bit as heroic and brave as the men, dragons, and giants that are pictured.

The different adventures take the forms of quest, a literary form that readers of legends and fantasy are familiar with and enjoy. However, the book would have reached a greater audience if it had been printed in paperback.

Beautifully written with an excellent vocabulary, the story will regale interested readers ages eight and up with dragons, Cyclops, banshees, and tall and half-tall giants who are “Immortal until proven otherwise.”

Recommended.