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by Michele Fry, Scholar's Blog
Star Dancer
by Beth Webb
Beth Webb's Star Dancer is the first book in a quartet of novels set during the Iron Age of Britain. The Goddess
has warned the druids of a coming evil, but she has promised that an untimely shower of stars will mark the birth of the
one who can stem its tide. Now the druids wait for the prophesied boy, who is their only hope. One night the stars dance
across the sky as a child is born, but the child is not the long-awaited boy; instead raven-haired, green-eyed Tegen is born
and she is the Star Dancer.
Tegen is the daughter of Clesek the silversmith and his wife Nessa. She grows up with her foster brother, Griff, who is a
"moon face" and who learns to help his father at his trade, but is regarded by most villagers as an idiot. The village is
protected by the eldest of the local druids, Witton, and he tests Tegen with fire at her birth, but won't accept she is the
prophesied Star Dancer. Tegen grows up untaught but possessing an innate skill for the dancing magic of a Star Dancer. She
heals her father after he is burned by silver, but Nessa is terrified that Tegen's talents will attract the attention of
evil spirits and is angry at what she does, even though she saves her father's life.
Shortly after saving Clesek's life, Tegen realises that Witton is ill and needs her healing skills. She is afraid of going
to help him, since he has already slapped her once, at a big festival, for dancing, so she borrows Griff's clothes and goes
to help Witton, hoping her disguise will protect her from both Witton and Derowen, the local Wise Woman who hates Tegen. She
succeeds in healing Witton without revealing her true identity, but Witton finds himself acknowledging Tegen's true identity
on the night Nessa takes Tegen to him for her true name after she starts her first period. Witton senses that the Star
Dancer is approaching and calls out an acknowledgement of the Star Dancer, only to find it is Tegen who is walking through
his door. Having freely acknowledged her, he must accept her as the Star Dancer, and so her teaching as a druid begins.
However, some of the other druids in the surrounding villages are reluctant to accept Tegen is the Star Dancer, and one,
Gorgans, who is a spirit from the Otherworld (Tir-na-nog) in human form, gathers several druids to him and tries to gain
power for himself, wanting to replace Witton once the old druid dies. After Witton's death Gorgans insists on testing
Tegen, with the proviso that if she fails the test, she will be killed. When Tegen passes his tests, he conspires with
Derowen to have both Tegen and Griff killed by the villagers in response to Tegen supposedly setting a demon loose from the
Otherworld, a demon Derowen raises. Tegen, who is still only 15, is forced to deal with the demon or see the villagers,
including her parents and foster brother, killed by it. Can the Star Dancer succeed in averting the great evil that is
threatening her people ? You'll have to read the book to find out.
Hood
by Stephen R. Lawhead
The Norman conquest of England is more or less complete, but for one young Welshman, the battle is only just beginning. When
the father of Bran ap Brychan is murdered by Norman soldiers, he rides to London to seek justice from King William the
Red. The journey is long and hard, and the suffering of the British people whom he sees on the way fuels his anger. When
Bran's demands are dismissed by the King's Cardinal and he is told he will have to buy back his father's Welsh kingdom,
Bran has no choice but to return home. But an even worse fate awaits him there, when Bran and his 3 companions are arrested
by the detested Normans and one companion is murdered. Bran is taken to Count de Braose and offers to ransom himself, but
before he can do so, he is tracked into the forest and attacked whilst trying to flee for his life. He is very badly
injured and believed to be dead, but appearances can be deceiving as the Normans will find out...And who is the Raven King?
A creature of myth and magic born of the darkest shadows in the forest? Or a living being?
I confess this book took me nearly three days to read because Lawhead's characters did not interest me until I was nearly
half-way through the book—which is rather depressing, especially from a long-established author. I also struggled for
some time with my annoyance at the fact that Lawhead has seen fit to relocate the Robin Hood legend to Wales; he explains
his reasoning in a note at the back of the book and, whilst I can see where his argument is coming from, I was still annoyed
that an English legend had been appropriated to the Welsh when they've lots of legends of their own. And I'm not even a
patriot or a nationalist—it's just that Robin Hood has always been English as far as I've been taught since childhood.
In fact, what Lawhead has done was interesting once I was able to sympathise with the characters, and I will read the
sequels to this book—but I still struggled with both Lawhead's premise and with the less-than-charming main characters!
If I was to give this book a points rating (which I never do as a rule), I'd have to say 6 out of 10. He could have done much
better.
Gifts
by Ursula Le Guin
Ursula Le Guin's Gifts is the first book in a new fantasy series which looks to be as gripping and page-turning as
the Earthsea series has been. Orrec is the son of the Brantor of Caspromant; Gry is the daughter of the Brantors of Barre
and Rodd. They are both sympathetic characters—and very believable. I really felt for both Gry, in her dislike of
calling animals to be killed by hunters, and for Orrec, when he is trying to discover how to control his gift. Despite the
gifts that many of the Uplanders possess, there is a great deal of poverty and hardship in the communities. Gry and Orrec
are expected to marry in ways that will keep strong their families' blood, and therefore the gifts, which are passed down
father to son, mother to daughter. It takes some time for Orrec to develop his gift, which is the gift of unmaking, but when he
does, he discovers that it is uncontrollable. He encourages his father to place a blindfold over his eyes, so terrified
is he that he'll kill someone he loves. Even when his mother tells him that he can never hurt her, he refuses to lift it
until she is dying. Gry's gift is also very strong, but she hates it when she's expected to use it to call animals to the
slaughter.
The major theme of this book is moral choices. Both the gift of calling animals to oneself and the gift of unmaking are
terrible gifts. But they are also things that help the family. Calling the animals brings food to the table. Being able to
terrify the enemy with the thought that they can be unmade protects the family. Do Orrec and Gry have the right not to use
their gifts to help their families? But, equally, does each family really have the right to force them to do things that they
hate because it will help the greater good? And who decides what is the greater good? And how does anyone know that the
gift has to be used in the way everyone expects? Have time and need warped the gifts?
The minor theme of Gifts is the strong bond between these two young people. From childhood onwards, they have
understood and loved each other. But they are not supposed to marry each other. Gry's mother and Orrec's father each want
their child to marry someone else who will strengthen the blood and the gift in each family. This bond is what gives them the
strength to be different.
This is a thoughtful and well-told tale, filled equally with wonder and sorrow. It's also a very fast read, but something
of it will remain with the reader for many days afterwards.
Voices
by Ursula Le Guin
Ursula Le Guin's Voices is the sequel to Gifts.
In the year in which seventeen-year-old Memer was born, a foreign army overthrew her city's elected government, declaring the
written word demonic, and destroying every book it could find. Memer is what is commonly known as a "siege-brat," her mother
was raped by one of the invading Ald soldiers and she was born as a consequence of the rape. Her mother died some years
later, and her home town is still "a broken city of ruins, hunger, and fear"; Memer dreams of taking revenge one day.
When
the story opens, the possession of books is still an offence punishable by death, and Memer and her crippled mentor, the
Waylord (who was tortured by the Alds), are the protectors of a hidden library and the intermediaries of an oracle hidden
deep within the library. At the invitation of the head of the occupying forces, Orrec Caspro, the poet and storyteller, and
his wife Gry Barre, the caller of animals (whom we met in Gifts and who are several years older now) visit the city of
Ansul. Their arrival and, in particular, Orrec's storytelling and poetry recitations combine to start bringing about the end
of the occupation by the book-hating Alds. Memer's extended family is also brought into renewed prominence, and Memer
discovers that she, like her mother before her, is the Reader of the Oracle.
This book is filled with some thought-provoking parallels to our own world and is a surprisingly political tale which
cleverly shows some of the pragmatic reasons why a war might end, such as growing personal connections between an occupying
army and the local populace, the dimming of religious fervour within an invading nation, the expense of maintaining a
distant garrison, changes in leadership both in the local garrison and the distant homeland, and the recognition by two
parties of shared economic goals which are better served by co-operation than by oppression. Whilst Le Guin's prose is as
simple and unadorned as ever, her narrative voice and storytelling power make even the smallest moments ring with truth,
and even with beauty.
Star Dancer, by Beth Webb. Macmillan Children's Books, 2006. ISBN: 1-4050-9175-4.
Hood, by Stephen R. Lawhead. WestBow Press, 2006. ISBN: 1-5955-4085-7.
Gifts, by Ursula Le Guin. Harcourt Paperbacks, 2006. ISBN: 0-1520-5124-4.
Voices, by Ursula Le Guin. Harcourt Children's Books, 2006. ISBN: 0-1520-5678-5.
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