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The Waterborn is a tale of epic dimension about a princess, a young warrior, and their twin journeys to realize their dream and meet the challenges of a world where a minor or major god exists in every stream, tree, hillock, and animal. Perkar of the Clan Barku, a near albino, is in love with a Stream Goddess who is threatened by the River. He agrees to accompany the Kapaka, the local king, on a dangerous mission to ask the Forest God to allow humans more land to cultivate, which inevitably means the death of many local gods and demons. Perkar's travel with the king and his chief warrior Ngangata, who is half man, half Alwal, illuminates ageless issues of discrimination, bravery, and honor.
And of course there's magic. Perkar and his friends Eruka and Apad succeed in stealing the Forest God's weapons and thus ruining the Kapaka's mission and endangering them all. The survivors escape in the River which then carries them downstream to the city of Nhol at the heart of the world. Perkar is motivated by his dream of Hezhi and the concept of Piraku, which means many things: honor, glory, doing what must be done even if death results. Therein lies our story as Perkar and Hezhi seek restoration of honor for themselves and their people.
That's where the real story happens because Princess Hezhi Yehd Cha'dune, the daughter of the Emperor of Nhol who is the Chakunge, the Son from the Water, opens this novel as a ten-year-old being raised by her guardian Qey and protected by the half giant Tsem. Both Qey and Tsem have been "forbidden"-struck dumb by the power of the priesthood-to warn Hezhi what will happen to her at puberty. Her struggle to find D'en, her boyhood friend who has been banished to the labyrinth catacombs of the Holy City, has resulted in her manipulating Ghan, the city librarian, to permit her access to the books of the priesthood. As she cleverly and childishly embarks on her secret quest to find D'en or D'enata (his ghost form), she encounters members of her family (the Royal Blood) who failed the Test of the Body administered at puberty by the priesthood.
So much like Frodo and his companions, these young innocents Hezhi and Perkar are lead by their mentors on a quest to discover one another, learn the meaning of their civilization, and challenge the chief god which is the great River. Why does this first novel work so well? Because author J.
Gregory Keyes, who grew up on a Navajo Indian reservation, makes outstanding use of his unique voice in creating supporting characters such as the Huntress; the Raven God; Harka, the Sword of Jade; the Widow Ghaj; Brother Horse, and Yen, all of whom we recognize for their good and evil. He should be commended for his command of dialogue, his use of the Egyptian influences that we all identify (a king who is a living god, the belief in magic, and the architecture), and most of all for his singular approach to the time-honored theme of a noble princess seeking her hero.
This is a triumphant story about the descendants of the Changeling River-the ghosts and priests, the giants and courtiers, the gods and the warriors-and how they have grappled with power, sex, war, death, and rebirth.
Larry D. Woods, an attorney, is an avid reader of science fiction.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.