From the yellowing mane of a horse and the deep roots of mugwort's silver lace is born a boy who can sing like Sun, who can restore the boundless colors beyond bondage. But to do that, he has to kill the Mountain. And there the journey begins and ends...
An ancient people discover the brutality of peace in this Fantasy Book of the Year (Independent Press) rooted within the Celtic fringes of Ancient Ireland. A subversive retelling of the Cath Mag Tuired, or The Second Battle of Moytura, the Irish battle-saga between the Tuatha Dé Dannan and the Fomorians, The Plain of Pillars has been called "a mastery of mythology" (Independent Review) and "a form of resistance against colonization and cultural extinction" (Kirkus Reviews) that "weaves a vibrant tapestry of hope, resilience, and magik" (Literary Titan).
Griffith's triumphant version of this Irish myth heightens the latent Insular Celtic oral texture in the original manuscript and its tension with colonialism and language, transmitting a story that can be located in the heart of every reader inside theme-veins of kinship with a dying world, hope in the one-eyed face of genocidal hate, and the promise that stories have power enough to shape the clay of man and Earth Mother both.
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"A captivating retelling of Celtic mythology... a form of resistance against colonization and cultural extinction...Griffith keeps this folkloric tale alive and vibrant." - Kirkus Reviews
"The prose itself is a triumph, a stunning reinterpretation of Celtic mythology." - Literary Titan
"Griffith's wonderful work, The Plain of Pillars, transports the reader into ancient Ireland, and proves to me that we are all indeed related." - Taylor Keen, author of Rediscovering Turtle Island.
"If we're going to build new systems, we need old myths told in new ways and Griffith's outstanding book, The Plain of Pillars, offers us a grand, beautiful, enchanting story. A beautiful book in all ways." - Manda Scott, author of Any Human Power.
"Griffith demonstrates a mastery of genre fiction and mythology, employing narrative techniques that are both lyrically impressive and philosophically engaging." - Independent Book Review
About the Author :
Daniel Firth Griffith, or D. Firth Griffith is a markâko and remembering seanchaí, a participant citizen of Earth Mother, and a father, horse-friend, sacred butcher and leather tanner, and award-winning indie author of many books on kincentric ecology, mythology, fantasy, horror, and language. Firth's books have received numerous honors, including Independent Publisher's Fantasy Book of the Year, the Nautilus Best Small Press Books of the Year, and Winner of the National Indie Excellence Award in Nature Writing. When he is not writing or dreaming with the long-ago peoples, he is tanning leathers, leading sacred harvest ceremonies, hand-hewing log cabins, and running unshod with his three wildlings and wonderful wife.
Review :
'The Plain of Pillars retells Celtic myths and revitalizes ancient folkloric traditions, weav[ing] a powerful critique ... of colonization, apathy, and individualism. Griffith demonstrates a mastery of genre fiction and mythology, employing narrative techniques that are both lyrically impressive and philosophically engaging.'
- Independent Book Review
'A captivating retelling of Celtic mythology that will resonate with modern readers...with compelling characters, intriguing dialogue, and evocative descriptions, Griffith keeps this folkloric tale alive and vibrant...the novel itself feels like a form of resistance against colonization and cultural extinction.'
- Kirkus Reviews
'As the old system crumbles, the new will be built out of the stories we tell ourselves and each other about ourselves, each other and our place on this animate earth as conscious nodes in the web of life. If we're going to build new systems, we need old myths told in new ways and Griffith's outstanding book, The Plain of Pillars, offers us a grand, beautiful, enchanting story, winding back and forth through plains of ideas and being: new-being and old-being, being as a part of becoming, being something greater than we imagine until it's upon us. This is a beautiful book in all ways, and an essential step in our exploration of who we could be if we really cared about transformation.'
- Manda Scott, author of Any Human Power and host of the Accidental Gods podcast
'Griffith's wonderful work, The Plain of Pillars, transports the reader into ancient Ireland, a misty dream like world through the genesis story of a people who come from the stars, an ancient, Irish story that is strikingly like other ancient narratives that proves to me that we are all indeed related.'
- Taylor Keen, author of Rediscovering Turtle Island.
'Shivers across the body, palpitations of emotion, struck by thoughts of awe, captivated by words-this book is felt! Weaving from a space before time, The Plain of Pillars is a poetic blueprint for reverence and morality. A great gift for a world in need.'
- Dane Scott, indigenous Māori storyteller, Taonga Pūoro musician, and filmmaker.
'An extraordinary book, The Plain of Pillars is potent and activating-a stirring, a remembering of ancient bones. Its timing is without a doubt divine.'
- Chelita Kahutianui-o-te-Rangi Zainey, indigenous Māori storyteller and healer, mokopuna of the Waitaha.
'The prose itself is a triumph, a stunning reinterpretation of Celtic mythology. The lyrical tone lends a dreamlike quality...beautifully blending the mythical and the emotional. Griffith bridges antiquity and the present, weaving a vibrant tapestry of hope, resilience, and magic...[with] thematic undercurrents infusing the story with urgency and depth, creating a tale as reflective as it is captivating. The Plain of Pillars will leave you with a sense of wonder and a renewed appreciation for the delicate, eternal balance between creation and destruction.'
- LITERARY TITAN
'Griffith weaves an epic, dreamlike mythopoesis-a powerful, deeply inspired, animist folktale for our imperiled times.'
- Maren Morgan, Death in The Garden.
'Written in stunningly beautiful, descriptive prose, The Plain of Pillars uses ancient myth to illuminate modern day issues.'
- Janet Roberts, author of What Lies We Keep.
