Guest Post: Darby Karchut, author of Finn Finnegan

Y'all! I'm so excited about today's guest in Alli's World! Darby Karchut, the author of Finn Finnegan, is here today to school us in the history and legend in which Finn's story is based. When I enjoy a story, I know I like to find out as much as possible about that world. If you are anything like me you will enjoy today's post! 

(See my review of Finn Finnegan by clicking here.)

~Darby's Post~

The Celts of Colorado

Hi everyone! *waves from Colorado* Thanks so much for letting me visit today and talk about the mythology behind my story. Since my undergraduate degree is in anthropology, this kind of stuff sends my geek meter through the ceiling.

Finn (not Finnegan) MacCullen, and his master, Gideon Lir, are based on the legend of the Tuatha De Danaan (tua day dhanna), a semi-immortal race of beings who were one of the earliest inhabitants of Ireland. In some accounts, they were gifted with warrior-like abilities and considered themselves descendents of the war goddess, Danu. According to the legend, they had invaded Ireland in the late Neolithic era and wrestled it from the Fir Bolg, an even earlier race. Sadly, they were, in turn, displaced by the Bronze Age humans. I took that long ago diaspora and moved my version of the Tuatha De Danaan to modern day Colorado, and gave them a new enemy to battle: the goblins known as the Amandán (AH-mon-dan).

The Amandán were Irish and Scottish figures which were said to reside in fairy mounds. They were feared because it was believed their touch, called the fairy stroke or poc sidhe (poke she) caused paralysis or death.

Besides wielding some wicked cool bronze weapons, Finn and Gideon also have an additional weapon: the Song of the Tuatha De Danaan. This chant gives them heightened abilities, such as being able to run faster, jump higher, and take a blow that would level most humans. The Song is actually based on the famous ‘Song of Amergin’, an early Celtic poem. 

The wildly popular band, Emerald Rose, had written a variation of the ‘Song of Amergin’ for their 2002 album, Celtic Crescent. One of my editors, Trish Wooldridge, introduced me to this band and their version of the Song entitled ‘Fire in the Head.’ Trish worked her magic and before I knew it, Emerald Rose gave Spencer Hill Press permission to use ‘Fire in the Head’ as the pseudo-theme song for Finn Finnegan. If you want to listen to the song, go here. 

Thanks again, everyone, for letting me indulge in this bit of Celtic scholarship. There’s more in my author notes in the back of Finn Finnegan if you are interested. And, please, ask me questions and I’ll try to answer them. I do not pretend to be an expert in Celtic mythology, just a humble neophyte.

Darby Karchut is the award-winning author of GRIFFIN RISING and GRIFFIN'S FIRE (Twilight Times Books), and FINN FINNEGAN (Spencer Hill Press, March 2013) and GIDEON'S SPEAR (Spencer Hill Press, February 2014)

Find out more about Darby!

Website

Blog

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Review: Finn Finnegan

Happy Book Birthday Finn Finnegan!!

• Title: Finn Finnegan
• Series: The Adventures of Finn MacCullen
• Author:Darby Karchut
• Reading Level: Middle Grade
• Genre: Urban Fantasy
• Source: ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
• Fave Quote(s):

~"...Words are powerful magic."~

~"'Tis often that a person's mouth breaks his nose.'"~

More on Finn Finnegan on Goodreads.

I first became interested in Finn Finnegan when saw it on Spencer Hill Press's website or Facebook page and Finn was being compared to Percy Jackson. Well, I'm a Percy fan, so I knew I'd want to read Finn. And I'm certainly glad I did! This book has action, humor, tragedy, everything a good book should have!

To begin, Finn Finnegan could not have come out at a better time. While there is no mention of St. Patrick's day in the book, Finn is certainly Irish. The whole time I was reading it, I just kept thinking about the perfect timing of this book. In fact, I painted my nails to go with the "luck of the Irish" theme!

See, I have plaid tips & a little shamrock on my ring finger! :)

(Design inspiration: Cute Polish on You Tube.)

Along those same lines, I thought it was cool how the author wrote Gideon (Finn's mentor) and Mac Roth's (Gideon's friend and fellow warrior) dialogue in Irish Brogue. That seemed to lend a greater level authenticity to the story.

I really liked how the author used Finn and Gideon's journaling to give us insights on the characters' inner thoughts. I found that this method helped keep the story progressing while also allowing us glimpses of what was going on inside the characters' head.

I got a strong impression from Finn. He is a flawed character and admittedly has a bad temper and he likes to be creative with rules. But he seems like he is really a good kid. He wants to be a great, strong De Danaan (warrior) to honor his father and to make Gideon proud. He is willing to stick up for his friends even if it puts himself in danger. And he is fairly tender-hearted when it came to someone he didn't care for very much personally. He has all the makings of a fine hero. 

And Finn's mentor Gideon Lir is the perfect adult counterpart to Finn. Gideon is strict but not without cause. He truly cares about Finn and offers Finn the close parental relationship he's been missing. Also, Gideon is flipping hilarious and a kick butt warrior. 

I give Finn Finnegan 4 out of 5 stars. It's an action packed good read. I literally laughed out loud at some scenes and shed a few tears at others. If a book can elicit that kind of emotion, then I think it's pretty awesome! 

If you are fan of Percy Jackson or Jack Templar (see my review here) I think you'll really enjoy Finn too!

Teaser Tuesday (March 5)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of 

Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

'"Oh, 'tis not dead." Giedeon bent over and picked up the weapon. He held it between thumb and finger to rinse it off in the diminishing rainfall, the cloudburst as quick to leave as to arrive."

From the middle grade urban fantasy, Finn Finnegan, by Darby Karchut

More info about Finn

 on Goodreads

Book Trailer Thursday: Finn Finnegan

The next book in my "to be read" stack is Finn Finnegan by Darby Karchut. I haven't started it yet but it looks like it will be a good read. This is a middle grades YA and I'm looking forward to fighting some monsters with Finn! To help get me in the mind set for Finn Finnegan today I have the book trailer! Hope you all enjoy and add this one to your TBR stack too!

Goodreads Info

Title: Finn Finnegan

Author: Darby Karchut

ISBN: 978-1937053321

Expected publication: March 12th 2013 by Spencer Hill Press