*Disclaimer — I received these books from the publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
I enjoy historical fiction. I love reading about a time period before my own because it gives me a little taste of what life was like for someone with very different experiences. And, I'd much rather experience it vicariously than permanently give up electricity and running water.
So, when I was contacted by Earthshaker Books to review a prehistoric adventure following young Zan-Gah, I was thrilled. It sounded like something that would be a fun read, and even if I didn't end up loving them, I have four younger brothers, and between them, one brother was bound to be interested. My initial feelings after finishing these two books? I'm keeping them (sorry bro... Maybe, if you're nice to me, I'll let you borrow it.)
The two books, Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure
and Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country
by Allan Richard Shickman were a lot of fun to read. When we first meet Zan, he is a young boy trying to determine his place within his tribe. He wants to be a man, with a man's responsibilities, but at such a young age, that's hard. Zan is a great character. Although he is young, he's already well on his way to becoming a remarkable man. He is learning the courage does not mean a lack of fear, but rather accepting those fears and facing them anyway. He goes with the men of his and the neighboring tribes to hunt the lion that has recently killed a child. He's the both the youngest and the smallest person involved, and he's scared. He refuses to let that hold him back and ultimately, he is the one who brings the lion down. Doing this earns him the name Zan-Gah as an honor.
After the celebration over the defeat of the lion, the narrative breaks away to tell us a little of Zan-Gah's past. Zan has a twin, Dael, who has been missing for about a year. Zan-Gah begins to have disturbing dreams that convince him his brother is actually alive. Now that he has become more of a man, Zan-Gah decides it is time to set out to find his brother, save him, and bring him back home. The search for his brother and all that happens to him as he travels is detailed in the first book. Zan-Gah meets many new people, makes friends and enemies, learns, grows, suffers and triumphs.
I was really rooting for Zan-Gah to find his brother and bring him safely home. Reading this, you really want Zan-Gah to succeed. Which, to a degree, he does. Zan finds his brother and brings him back to the family. It took Zan-Gah over a year to find and free his brother from captivity which means Dael has now been a prisoner for over two years. And his captors did not treat him well. Dael does go home, but he returns to his people broken and withdrawn.
The second book begins with what little humanity Dael regained after being set free fleeing, leaving him angry, bitter, broken and uncaring. He is so full of anger and, all he can think about is exacting his revenge on those who he believes wronged him. And that includes Zan-Gah. Zan-Gah cares deeply about his brother and it hurts him that Dael is in so much pain but masks it with these darker emotions and refuses to let anyone close. Although Dael's character angered me in the second novel, I respect that Shickman didn't sugarcoat anything here. Being d in captivity for two years damages a person. It is impossible to be the same after surviving something like that, and as much as he angered me, I can't really bring myself to blame Dael. He didn't ask to be broken.
I very much enjoyed the story told within these two novels. For the most part, the story was told very well and I thought the characters were wonderful and real. None of the characters felt like overused cardboard stock characters. Each character has their own personality and unique way of looking at life. I was impressed at how much life Shickman was able to give his characters. The differences between the various tribes we meet within the course of the story are also amazing. He gave them each distinct characteristics that definitively set them apart from each other.
There were times however, when the flow of the novel seemed slightly disjointed or abrupt. There were a few times when the story would be moving along at a good pace, and then I felt like Shickman backtracked to give us important information that would become relevant in a few pages, even though it had little, if anything, to do with the current action. But, it needed to be said before it was too late so he just kind of stuck it in. The transitions weren't always smooth.
While reading this, there were also times that I felt like I was reading a very well written history text. I actually enjoyed that aspect of the writing, and thought that it was exactly what this book needed. I think I would have found most other narrative forms awkward or overdone. However, I don't know how much a young reader would enjoy that and the book is marketed at children ages 11 and up. There are many scenes that involve the harsher aspects of life during the prehistoric era which might also be harder for a young child to understand and cope with. While I wouldn't keep this book away from the children (and do plan on asking my 11 year old brother if he'd like to read them) I think these are books that parents would do well to read along with their child (especially if they are a young 11 or so) or at the very least, be aware of the potential questions and concerns that might be raised by the reading of these books, and be available for questions.
Overall, I was very pleased to have read these, and am interested to see what Allan Shickman does next.