Children of the Shaman: A Journey through Ice and Time (Mir: Shamanworld) - Softcover

Rydill, Jessica

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1519416059 ISBN 13: 9781519416056

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015

Synopsis

Review Haunting and elegant, this is a masterful first novel. An enchanting story blessed with genuine magic (David Gemmell) A very accomplished debut (Starburst) A vividly imagined world (LOCUS) an absorbing read (STARBURST) New revised edition An ancient power returns. A world is trapped in time and snow. The only hope: a young outcast. In the remote interior of Lefranu someone - or something - has been killing railway workers. Driving a tunnel under the forest, they have started to die, horribly. Yuda Vasilyevich, a shaman, is sent to investigate. Yuda brings with him the teenage children he deserted when they were small: spikey Annat, a shaman like her father, and bookish Malchik, who has not forgotten his father’s mistreatment of their mother. When Malchik is drawn into the underworld, Yuda and Annat set out to find him; so begins a perilous journey into a world of ice, with danger ahead and an implacable enemy behind them. Only they can solve the mystery and defeat the power of the Cold One.

About this title

About the Author:

Jessica Rydill writes fantasy and collects Asian Ball Jointed Dolls, or BJD. At an average height of twenty inches tall, they take up a lot of room and can unnerve visitors. Many of the dolls are based on characters from her books. Jessica's novels are a cross-genre mash-up; they embrace fantasy with mediaeval warlords, and steampunk adventure with lightning-wielding shamans. Magic is used to solve daily problems, with unexpected results, and a myriad of underworlds and other dimensions are only a short step away. Visit Jessica's web-site at www.shamansland.com to learn more about Mir, the shamanworld.

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* Annat and Malchik are Wanderer children. Raised in their aunt's sheltered home among the Doxoi, a Christian-like people who hate and fear Wanderers, they are now to spend six months traveling with their father, the powerful shaman Yuda, to the frozen northlands, where a tunnel is underway beneath the Forest of Ademar to the unknown regions beyond. Yuda's stated mission is one of healing, but secretly he is to investigate a series of murders that threatens the tunnel's completion. Annat has inherited shamanic talent that she is excited about expanding with her father's help, but the scholarly Malchik prefers reading about adventure to living it. Within a day of arrival with their father, however, the children are thrown into a world of pure evil, wild magic, and interdimensional shamanic travel. The world of this wonderful story is a blend of familiar elements: languages are satisfyingly almost French and almost Slavic; religions are akin to Judaism and Christianity. Spirited, fiercely individualistic Yuda is the most fascinating character. Relationships are complex and realistic. Answers aren't easy, and endings aren't tritely happy, though the promise of light and redemption lies shrouded by the tale's heady dark mystery. Garnishing this refreshing fantasy is Rydill's writing, which holds a slightly foreign tone appropriate to the setting yet remains relaxed and easy. A red-letter debut! Paula Luedtke
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About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1519416059
• ISBN 13: 9781519416056
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 280