Sarah by Marek Halter

Sarah (Book One of the Canaan Trilogy)

Rating: * * * *

Sarah’s story begins in the cradle of civilization: the Sumerian city-state of Ur, a land of desert heat, towering gardens, and immense wealth. The daughter of a powerful lord, Sarah balks at the marriage her father has planned for her. On her wedding day, she impulsively flees to the vast, empty marshes outside the city walls, where she meets a young man named Abram, son of a tribe of outsiders. Drawn to this exotic stranger, Sarah spends one night with him and reluctantly returns to her father’s house. But on her return, she secretly drinks a poisonous potion that will make her barren and thus unfit for marriage.

Many years later, Abram returns to Ur and discovers that the lost, rebellious girl from the marsh has been transformed into a splendid woman—the high priestess of the goddess Ishtar. But Sarah gives up her exalted life to join Abram’s tribe and follow the one true God, an invisible deity who speaks only to Abram. It is then that her journey truly begins.

From the great ziggurat of Ishtar to the fertile valleys of Canaan to the bedchamber of the mighty Pharaoh himself, Sarah’s story reveals an ancient world full of beauty, intrigue, and miracles.

- Random House

This was a highly enchanting book with just the right amount of fantasy, history, spirituality, sexuality and fiction to be a constantly engaging read. Halter chooses an interesting perspective for his book – that of a pagan Sarai and her journey to and with Abram – and it is this perspective that makes Sarah so compelling. Rarely do people view Sarah as the woman who had been a part of a pagan religion, who must have still been extremely attractive when meeting the Pharaoh, who must have cursed her barren womb, who fought her bitter jealousy of her handmaid Hagar, who stayed by Abram’s side as he became Abraham.

Sarah sets itself apart from other historical fiction in its mingling of supernatural atmosphere and embellished historical research. God, as Abraham’s deity, is not overwhelmingly represented in the book – in fact, as only Abraham is able to speak with him, he seems almost non-existent.

The only true downfall of this story is the characters’ weaknesses and flaws. At times, it is quite easy to dislike Abram or berate Sarai’s foolishness, but that is what eventually brings each character to life. Halter’s gift is the enviable ability to tell reality through fantasy.

Recommended.

& ElizabethC

The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll

The Dark Queen

Rating: * * *

From Brittany’s misty shores to the decadent splendor of Paris’s royal court, one woman must fulfill her destiny–while facing the treacherous designs of Catherine de Medici, the dark queen.

She is Ariane, the Lady of Faire Isle, one of the Cheney sisters, renowned for their mystical skills and for keeping the isle secure and prosperous. But this is a time when women of ability are deemed sorceresses, when Renaissance France is torn by ruthless political intrigues, and all are held in thrall to the sinister ambitions of Queen Catherine de Medici. Then a wounded stranger arrives on Faire Isle, bearing a secret the Dark Queen will do everything in her power to possess. The only person Ariane can turn to is the comte de Renard, a nobleman with fiery determination and a past as mysterious as his own unusual gifts.

Riveting, vibrant, and breathtaking, The Dark Queen follows Ariane and Renard as they risk everything to prevent the fulfillment of a dreadful prophecy–even if they must tempt fate and their own passions.

- target.com

A fantasy story with potential is like a vanilla milkshake with crushed Oreo bits. For the first few sips, you’re in heaven – nothing tastes this good, surely. [And you don't even like chocolate, normally.] But half-way in, you’re thinking maybe you’re in way over your head. It tastes indistinguishable now – all you can sense is sugar. By the end, you’re telling yourself you should never, never get that drink again.

A week later, you return to the cafe. “Oh yeah, I’ll get that vanilla milkshake with Oreo bits again, I think it was good last time…”

The Dark Queen is the ultimate vanilla shake with Oreo bits, the ultimate fantasy tale – even action’s included, mind! – with the greatest potential. Potential which, half-way in, sputters and drops limply to the floor. What the hell happened?

Ariane, possibly the greatest lady of the earth alive now, does nothing remarkable. The only time she really does anything (besides unremarkable CPR) is to dabble in slightly dark magic – highly uncharacteristic and absolutely pointless plot-wise – to complain to her mother about her life problems. Even after her dead mother asks her not to. Three times she disobeys. Three pointless times so she can b—- and moan to her heart’s content, never mind that her mother asked her not to summon her, never mind that this dark magic could possibly stain her soul (the effects of which, obviously, are never addressed), never mind what this does to the natural balance of magic (seriously, if you’re going to label something as dark magic, you should have some sort of balance between “good” and “bad” or else there’s no need for these labels).

And that’s only just the female protagonist. When you add her two confused sisters – one weakly set on revenge and one just plain stupid, though young – as well as the evil witch Catherine, who, let’s face it, is about as scary as cottage cheese, you’re wondering if the Oreo bits have disintegrated into your shake. Ah – and just to shake it up a bit more – the lovely, dashing male is not so much lovely or dashing as muddled and a bit too “gallant” for anyone’s tastes. He started off as a right git, attempting to force Ariane’s hand in marriage, and then…well, he started keeping secrets that aren’t really secrets – but since Carroll thinks they are, we just nod and scratch our heads – and after that he rapidly began losing appeal.

And when you look back at the cover of the book and realize this book is titled after “evil witch” Catherine, whom, as we stated, is no scarier than cottage cheese, you have to wonder where it’s all leading.

And then you realize it’s leading up to nowhere.

So much potential…it’s a shame, really. If you truly must read it, stop after male and female enter water. Because, honestly, that’s as good as it gets.

On the fence. [But teetering a bit on the dangerous side of said fence.]

& ElizabethC

One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus

One Thousand White Women

Rating: * * * * *

One thousand white women – that was the demand of the Northern Cheyenne, led by Little Wolf. One thousand white women to bear the next generation of Cheyenne, to teach Little Wolf’s people the life which they were expected to soon live among the white people. A preposterous request – they would be exchanged for one thousand wild and tamed horses – and one which the civilized would never dream of granting.

And yet women volunteered in droves – to explore, to christianize the “savages,” to seek freedom from asylums and prisons, to escape…

The sign of an amazing novel is that its content can address harsh topics such as rape, murder, infanticide and betrayal yet still be remembered fondly and soberly. It was difficult to read, true, but I could not put it down – the unfailing courage and difficult choices continued to surprise and capture me.

All the characters were highly satisfactory – none were god-like in quality but the evil were evil and the good simply humans with real, understandable faults. By focusing much of the perspective on May, the struggles between the Cheyenne and the “whites” were truly portrayed without bias. Fergus sugarcoats nothing, preferring to illustrate each civilization as fully as possible, and leave it to the reader to lay or reserve judgment.

I picked this book up without knowing what its subject matter would be – there was no summary on the back – but it immediately stole my attention, keeping me engrossed until its end.

If you choose to read this, be prepared for a heavy but extremely memorable read.

Highly recommended.

& ElizabethC