A young boy Quen is tasked by his mother to journey into the great forest Thual, to save the Ten Villages from the domination of the pitiless Mollag.

I re-read this book after decades. Kelleher's fantasy worlds stand up, because the protagonists make choices that aren't always the best ones, and deal with the consequences. This story particularly is about changing one's frame of mind. Although the Forest of Thual is vast and the merciless Mollag are always hunting Quen, through several trying episodes (I had forgotten some details such as the Alan Garner -like Tunnel of Black Water, a squirmy and uncomfortable underground section), his journey is as much an inner one. He learns the nature of the forest, atones for killing within it and eventually achieves his goal of meeting the Wise Ones. That meeting leads to further choices and a powerful -- too powerful -- acquisition of the Eye of Desire. ( )