Genre:
Magical Realism/Fantasy/Coming of Age/Adventure
Description:
While
gathering food in the desert, M’rain, a young maiden, stops to rest
in the mouth of a cave. She is captured and held by a mad man who has
enslaved a small band to mine black rock.
Glick, a
magical lizard guardian of the caves, charges M’rain with rescuing
all those held in the labyrinth of caves and restoring them to their
home village. But M’rain only wants to go home. Part way through
her quest she meets P’puck, a young man who is immediately smitten
with M’rain. But she is not interested, nor is she free to decide
her future until she completes her quest.
M’rain
must navigate the treacherous caves and face her own fears to save
the prisoners as well as herself.
Author:
“Yvonne
Hertzberger is a native of the Netherlands who immigrated to Canada
in 1950. She is an avid student of human behaviour, which gives her
the insights she uses to develop the characters in her writing.
Hertzberger came to writing late in life, hence the self-proclaimed
label 'late bloomer'. She began writing at the 'old' age of 56.
Her first
Old World Fantasy novel Back
From Chaos: Book One of Earth's Pendulum
was published in 2009. The second volume Through
Kestrel's Eyes is available
and the third and final volume The
Dreamt Child is now published.
Hertzberger has contributions in Indies
Unlimited: 2012 Flash Fiction Anthology
and Indies Unlimited: Tutorials
and Tools for Prospering in a Digital World.
She is a contributing author to Indies Unlimited.”
Please
check out her website for more information on Ms. Hertzberger or
follow her on Facebook.
Appraisal:
I found the
characters to be well-developed and Ms. Hertzberger’s fantasy world
is described so aptly, I had no problem immersing myself into the
scenes. K’kor was a desperately evil man who sought greatness by
using and abusing others. He ruled a small group with a heavy hand
and used their fear against them. Glick, the guardian spirit of the
labyrinth of caves, was everything I expected him to be. He was
illusive and cryptic in his communication with the main character
M’rain, which caused her to seek answers within herself. M’rain
had a strong personality; she was opinionated and let her
expectations be known when she communicated with P’puck and the
elders of his tribe.
I have some
mixed feelings about this story. There was no great conflict or
obstacles for M’rain to overcome, except for those that were within
herself. Normally I would have no issue with that, but the story did
not live up to the build-up of the dangers of the labyrinth. Glick
guided and protected her during her physical quest through the caves.
He also provided food substances and water throughout her travels.
Despite the lack of challenge, the story moved along at a decent
pace.
My
problem with this story doesn’t arrive until M’rain and P’puck
finally make it through the cave to M’rain’s tribe. It is time
for M’rain to go through her woman’s rite of passage. I do think
the details of this rite of passage were too graphic, and this is
where I felt like M’rain’s character did not ring true. If the
details had not been provided, it would have been easier to accept
her nonchalant behavior after the rite. Perhaps
if Ms. Hertzberger had set up the rite of passage better it wouldn't
have seemed so shocking to me, or to others who may be sensitive to
situations like this. Did M'rain know what to expect? Had she
discussed this rite of passage with her mother or older sister? Even
if she had recalled rumors from those who had gone before her, I
think I would have felt better about it. She had been so strict with
P’puck about not having any physical contact with her. Why would
she find it so easy to allow these elder women of the tribe to
violate her the way they did? She had to stand up to the elder men of
her tribe to even seek council with them because she was a woman. But
she didn’t stand up to the women? I can’t imagine this strong,
young woman who fought so hard to be heard as an equal, with both
tribes, just accept this treatment without some rebellion. So, I have
some issues about the way this part of the story was told.
I also ran
into some editing or proofing issues that I had trouble getting past.
One was the overuse of the words she/he had had, which would have
read better as she’d had or he’d had. Here are a couple of
examples:
She had
told him to bring his spear and had had him fashion one for her as
well.
If she
had had any doubts about her earlier decision the choice had now been
taken from her.
Then there
is this convoluted sentence:
He
pressed the bone blade, not noticing the how chipped its edge was,
reverently to his chest. Which
would have read better as: He pressed the bone blade reverently to
his chest, not noticing how chipped its edge was. OR Not noticing how
chipped its edge was, he pressed the bone blade reverently to his
chest.
In my
opinion another round of proofing or copy editing would serve this
book well, and I’ve had to deduct a star because of that.
That being
said, the book is not without merit and I finished it quickly. I
enjoy stories about early civilizations with strong characters.
Learning their myths and legends while adding magical realism adds to
the wonder of it all. If you are entertained by these type of stories
you might enjoy this one as well.
FYI:
One scene,
the woman’s rite of passage I mentioned above, may be offensive to
some readers. Ms. Hertzberger uses Canadian spellings.
Format/Typo
Issues:
I found a
few too many proofing misses for my comfort.
Rating:
*** Three Stars
Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Approximate
word count: 75-80,000 words
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