1: Even better than the first Book of Arna
Christopher Rowley is a true modern master of fantasy. The Ancient Enemy: The First Book of Arna was a simply fantastic read, and The Shasht War: The Second Book of Arna is even more engaging, exciting, and poignant than its predecessor. This book plumbs ever deeper into the hearts of men by holding up the cruel men of Shasht as representatives of the darkness that seemingly haunts our own human society. The Ancient Enemy introduced us to a wonderful land of plenty wherein live mots, mors, brilbies, and kobs - monkey-like creatures of high intelligence and spirituality. Long ago, as the stories tell, Man the Cruel once reigned over the world, but his own self-destructive tendencies destroyed the natural order of life and led to Man's ultimate demise. The mots and mors of Arna cared for the land, celebrated the Spirit that inhabited all living things, and knew nothing of the arts of war. Then Man the Cruel returned, destroying villages, slaughtering and feeding upon thousands of Arna's citizens, and bringing unforeseeable war to the peaceful land. Thru Gillo, who only wants to hone his weaving skills and enjoy the love of the mor Nuza, steps into the role of hero, fighting valiantly to defend his people. On the other side of the conflict, Simona of Gsekk, a young noblewoman forced to endure the hardship of sailing across the world in order to help colonize a new land, comes to know, respect, and love the "animals" her people are trying to exterminate. The moving stories of Thru and Simona are vastly expanded in The Shasht War.As the book opens, spring has arrived and the armies of Man the Cruel have returned, determined not to be defeated by a race of animals the priests of the culture declare unintelligent abominations. There is actually less war here than in the first book, but Rowley's vivid description of the horrors of armed conflict take you right into the heat of battle. For the first time, Man achieves a victory over the mots, and Thru Gillo is among the fighters captured and taken back across the sea to the land of Shasht. Simona herself also wins the right to sail back home to Shasht, where she seizes the opportunity to speak openly with the emperor about the colonial war destroying the noble beings of Arna. The emperor's powers are limited, though, as the mysterious Old One and his blood-thirsty priests exert a power over Shasht that none can easily challenge. For Thru and his fellow captives, death seems imminent and unavoidable, but in Thru there beats the heart of a true hero. His time in Shasht will take him outside the pyramid of ritual sacrifice and into the interior of the strange land, where he must fight to survive. He learns much during this time, as do we, as do a number of men of Shasht. Thru finds friends who are willing to help him despite the great risks in doing so, but his best and only hope of survival lies in the person of Simona. For her part, Simona truly comes of age as a human being and as a woman, rebelling openly from the society that seeks to annihilate her peaceful friends in Arna and seeks to keep her and all women hopelessly repressed. For everyone involved, the time spent in Shasht is one of self-discovery and illumination. Rowley begins bridging the gap between men and mots in a number of ways, turning despair into a great hope that closes out this second Book of Arna and sets the stage for a most promising continuation in Doom's Break: The Third Book of Arna. Rowley is just an amazing writer. On both sides of the conflict, Rowley illuminates the very souls of all of his main characters, both human and mot. His descriptions of warfare are incredibly visual, but it is his powerful ability to reveal the hearts and souls of his characters that really makes The Shasht War such a remarkable read. Exciting, poignant, beautiful, and increasingly philosophical, The Shasht War surpasses every other work of fantasy I have read since Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
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