Book Review: The Destruction of the Inn

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Destruction of the Inn    
Randy Lee Eickhoff
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   Historical   Poetry   Ethnic
Forge, Mar 2002, $13.95, 238 pp.

Conaire Mor’s mother is an elf princess who marries the king of Erin. The altruistic monarch permits his stepson to foster with three sons of loyal warriors. The foursome become quite tight as friends pulling pranks and capers until the monarch dies. Conaire is named king over his three friends.

His former buddies resent the anointing of Conaire and abuse the power of being associated with him by ravaging the country. Though he knows he should put them to death, Conaire is averse to harming his childhood friends. Out of control their petty jealousy forces a reluctant Conaire to banish them to Scotland for the good of his subjects. However, the trio joins other looters to continue to plunder Erin with their goal to destroy their former pal.

Though well done in performing the difficult task of "translating" an epic poem written during medieval times in "Old Irish" into English, the tale loses some of its imagery and lyrics. Still Randy Lee Eickhoff captures the essence of this insightful poem that focuses on the varying perspectives providing a full look at the same event. Different eyes paint relatively different panoramas. This is a strong transliteration, but it fails to match the easy flow of Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf rendition, making THE DESTRUCTION OF THE INN more for fans of Irish historical poetry.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner