Saturday, September 10, 2011

Noontide Owls - a fantasy

Ahead of the launch of my friend, Irene Black's novel next week, I thought I'd include my review, which is quite genuine and not influenced by friendship:

Noontide Owls

The story begins when the Conquerors, the brutal occupiers of Shoogmunimera, formerly and latterly known as Ambamar, leave the country, having plundered its riches and reduced it to a barren land. Originally united in adversity, the various tribes whose home it is soon begin to split apart, each trying to get the best of what remains. Within these tribes, brave individuals struggle to reunite the warring factions. This story runs concurrently with tales which describe how each of the tribes had originally found their way to Ambamar.

Irene Black is skilled in the art of description, and in her two earlier novels, she uses this to great effect to capture the character of the Indian subcontinent, which is featured in both previous books. I am not normally a reader of fantasy books, but I read Noontide Owls, having read these other two books, and I was not disappointed.

In fact, this genre has allowed Irene Black to give full rein to her imagination, without the restriction of a factual background. As such, a fantasy world has been created with ordinary and extraordinary mythical creatures inhabiting it. The book is enhanced by a number of black and white drawings illustrating some of the chapters.

With appealing main characters, Maara and the brave Trumpeters, Arolan and Elin, Noontide Owls is an intelligent and beautifully written allegory for adults and a fantastic adventure for young readers. I strongly recommend it.

These are my granddaughter’s comments, as told to me:

‘I enjoyed reading Noontide Owls, and I would read it again. It was really fantastical and adventurous. My favourite characters were the two trumpeters because they were such fun to read about. As far as the ending was concerned, I liked the way it was resolved.’

Asked if she found it difficult, 10 year old Eve said, ‘It was the perfect age for me, but I do read books for people older than my age.’

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