Firebrand by Gillian Philip

I've just finished reading Firebrand and loved it so much I am going right out and buying the sequel, Bloodstone. This is definitely a YA title, it's sexy, violent and exciting and full of characters and places that you would long to meet and see for real.
The main character is a flawed hero, Seth. He is an angry, arrogant teenager who also happens to be a Sithe, an immortal (well very, very long lived if death by sword dosen't get him) who lives the other side of the Veil which separates our human world from the Sithe world. Seth is the bastard son of a Sithe nobleman and is rejected and unloved by both his mother and father. Seth only begins to find love when he is sent to live with his father and meets his older half-brother Conal. Seth and Conal become inseparable friends and when Conal is exiled by the mad Sithe Queen, Kate NicNiven, Seth follows him through the Veil and into desperate adventure.
Seth and Conal come through the Veil into sixteenth century Scotland; a time of great poverty, illiteracy and witch-burnings. They become unwittingly caught up in the drama and intolerance being played out around them and their story is one of desperate struggle for survival.
This is really good stuff, folks! The historical detailing is fantastic. I loved the world of the Sithe too, where women and men are truly equal and the mindset is very modern, and yet the sense of this being fairyland, with castles, swordfights, the mad Queen, magic, telepathy etc, is never lost.
What I liked about this book is that it is honest. Yes, this is a fantasy, yet the characters and their responses to situations feels very true. And Gillian Philip dosen't flinch from writing the hard stuff, the hero is sometimes a stupid arrogant idiot, life is sometimes about pain, misunderstandings, bad decisions. Along with that honesty about the difficulty of growing up is an honesty about the joys of life and love, the book celebrates the pleasures of life too.
Most of all, this is one of those fantasy novels that takes you into a world that you don't want to leave. And that is the highest praise any book can ask for. If you love fantasy I think you'll love Firebrand.