The Whale Rider

The Whale Rider

Witi Ihimaera

My first introduction to this book was actually by watching the movie of the same title. The movie makes me weep, where no other movie has. The book is also deeply moving, and it shows that the film-makers were paying attention to what they had adapted.

Set in modern day, the book centers around a young Maori girl, the latest in an unbroken line of chiefs, until this point, all male. The girl's great-grandfather resents her, and spurns her fierce love for him, searching instead for a boy to impart his wisdom to. The book culminates in a whale stranding, actually, two whale strandings, one mundane and another otherworldly. The second is a memory-whale, an ancestral being, a creature of spirit and being who comes to shore to reconnect with the memory of an ancient friend, the girl's chieftain ancestor.

The story is told from the perspective of the girl's uncle, member of a mostly harmless local biker gang (the girl actually becomes something of their mascot, though the movie leaves out the bikers entirely). Through the uncle's eyes, we see the signs and omens that the grandfather ignores out of stubbornness. We also travel with the girl's uncle to Australia and Papua New Guinea, where we gain insight into the prejudice that builds walls between indigenous populations and the descendants of settlers. In both the book and the movie, the great-grandmother is a powerhouse, a woman larger than life who constantly threatens to divorce her husband (and you really can't blame her).

The movie mostly keeps faithful to the book, though the great-grandfather plays a much larger role in the movie, the themes are held true. It's an enchanting story, exploring the mythologies and mindset of a culture all but cast aside in the tide of western expansion. You grow to love all the characters in this book, and it's an excellent read.

-Very Tasty.

The Wolving Time

The Wolving Time

Patrick Jennings

I am not embarrassed to say that I'm reviewing another children's book, because sometimes you find little gems like this book. As I'm a sucker for all things werewolf, I snapped this one up right quick. The proprietor of my local bookstore is beginning to sense a theme, as this is not the first werewolf story she's seen me with.

The story itself centers around a shepherd boy, living in France in the late 1500's. His mother and father are both werewolves, though he himself has not reached the age where he will decide whether he wants to live as a werewolf or not. He strikes up an unlikely friendship with a runaway, the servant girl of the local priest. The priest is a cruel man, imprisoning innocent people, forcing them to confess to crimes of witchcraft and pacts with the devil before burning them at the stake in the town square. The boy learns that his family is beset by rumors that they too, are witches. Things come to a head and they must flee the village, though friends are reunited and safety seems all but assured just over the mountains.

What most impressed me about this book was the depth of research the author has done. One is introduced to aspects of life as a sixteenth century shepherd without having facts thrown at you. Jennings also gives a good insight into the mindset of the time, the insular view of the villagers, the institution of the church as a tool of fear and control.

Though better logic tells me that salvation cannot be around the corner for this family, I want them to win. You feel for the characters, and the book leaves you hopeful. It is a children's book, but it's a story about so many things, family, friendship, trust, and growing up.

-A Tasty Little Bite

Beasts

Beasts
John Crowley

I opened this battered little book expecting to find a romance with a sci-fi/fantasy twist. At least, that's the impression given from reading the blurb on the back, or taking a look at the cover. I was pleasantly surprised to find this was not the case at all.

The story takes place in a vaguely defined near future, in a United States held very loosely together after a civil war fractured the country. We jump from character to character, seemingly without rhyme or reason, until we reach the point where all of these people (and what a varied term 'people' becomes in this book) rally around the main character, Painter.

Painter is a leo, one of a race of genetically engineered hybrids of man and lion, who finds himself at the center of a political movement he wants no part in. Renyard, a one of a kind fox-hybrid, is a political councilor as crafty and cunning as either fox or man could ever dream to be. Sten, the boy who would be America's king, finds a cause in aiding Painter. The cast of characters is even more varied and supprising than I've room for here.

My only complaint about this novel is that the landscape is too ill-defined. At times, I felt a little lost, when even a simple map would have clarified much. I'm left puzzling over the political landscape when I could be considering the plot or the amazing cast of characters. However, I did enjoy this book quite a bit, and couldn't put it down.

-Surprisingly quite tasty