Conor Archer, the young man imbued with fantastical powers is back in “Skellig,” Msgr. Eric Barr’s sequel to his earlier book “Roan.”

 

Released in March, just as the COVID crisis was closing bookstores and other retail outlets, publishing in e-book and  paperback formats made the launch easier on fans who wanted copies right away. 

 

Categorized as science fiction, fantasy and urban fantasy, the book opens with a prologue set on a “glorious All Saint’s Day, a beautiful autumnal morning after such a night of horror.” 

 

The night of horror was where we left Conor, after a battle as dramatic and deadly as anything in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series.

 

Although we don’t see Conor in the opening prologue, we see the legacy of the Halloween night battle on Conor’s friend Jace and the others left behind in southwest Wisconsin.

 

Conor, however, was Ireland-bound and as the first chapter opens, we find his new story beginning much as did his first tale. The scene is an Irish pub where two women watch as what appears to be a dreadful comet heads right towards them.

 

Conor soon turns up in a conventional way, via jet to Shannon airport, and heads into the Irish countryside to explore his past and encounter his future.

 

— By Sharon Boehlefeld, features editor