Thursday, May 28, 2009

Son of the Great River by Elijah Meeks

Son Of The Great River is a story about three children growing up in the pre-Bronze Age, and their journey to find themselves. The story starts out with Saffu, who is forced to leave his tribe and his true love, Naganawae, to journey to the south to return a mysterious cylinder given to him by a strange woman before she died. On the way, he discovers metal, and lives with bears. When he reaches the city from which the cylinder came, he meets Samhail, a young mercenary, and the fiery Rheem, who Sanhail rescued from her family. Saffu and Samhail bond over difficult circumstances, and soon the three must choose their paths as the king makes Rheem princess and Saffu discovers his father was a trusted friend to the king and is offered a position in court. Samhail also must decide whether to stay with the king or continue on. Things become even more complicated when Saffu's old love, Naganawae, shows up.

I thought this book was very interesting, and exciting. It was very informative of the time the book was set in, and some of the actions in the book seemed like they did not belong in that time, but that did not detract from the book. The ending was unsatisfactory, because of the deaths of many main characters. They seemed to be unnecessary, and why they occurred was confusing. Also, I would have liked for Rheem and Samhail's characters do be developed more, as I did not really understand their motivations.

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: New Tripoli, PA America