The Lion Hunter: The Mark of Solomon, Book 1 | The Empty Kingdom: The Mark of Solomon, Book 2 | |
Elizabeth E. Wein | Elizabeth E. Wein | |
Viking, 208 pages | Viking, 240 pages |
A review by Sherwood Smith
The Lion Hunter picks up just after the events in The Sunbird, in which Telemakos, grandson of Arthur, is
introduced, and becomes a victim of international intrigue. Readers unfamiliar with this novel will find expert back story
painted in at the start of The Lion Hunter as Telemakos challenges himself to overcome the fears he suffered after being
held prisoner, blindfolded and bound, as a result of deadly international politics.
Wein skillfully catches the reader up to the present as Telemakos struggles against reactions and bad dreams caused by his
experiences, and worries about the present. His mother is about to have a baby, and his father, Medraut, seems
uninterested. Telemakos veers between boyish daring and intelligent (and anxious) observation of the adults around him.
Unfortunately, his boyish nature gets him into severe trouble. He often goes into the lions' den, and even though he knows
that lions are never actually tamed, one day he forgets. That once is all it takes: his old
lion "friend" goes after him.
While Telemakos is struggling to survive having his arm amputated, his baby sister struggles just to survive. Telemakos's unhappy
mother is taking the opium meant for Telemakos, and his father is prowling around restlessly, worried about the plague quarantine
that is meant to preserve the empire.
Telemakos and his baby sister (whom he names Athena) are starved for affection, and bond together. Meanwhile Telemakos is
always listening, always trying to figure out the motivations and goals of the adults around him, many of whom have powers
of life and death over nations. He's already been used as a government agent, young as he is, and ended up captured and abused.
Wariness does not prepare him for the surprise of being sent to the one-time enemy of Aksum, the subtle, dangerous Abreha
Anbessa, king of Himyar (Yemen) -- once the enemy of the Aksumites, now possibly an ally, but definitely not to be completely
trusted, as Telemakos soon sees. The first day of his arrival, he discovers the king's own hired man being executed in a
horrible way, which Telemakos takes as a warning.
The rest of The Lion Hunter deepens the relationships and tightens the tension, ending with a scene that barely escapes
being a cliff-hanger, though is not a resolution. Though the first three books in this world were all stand-alones,
The Lion Hunter is really the first half of this dual story.
The Empty Kingdom opens shortly after the close of the previous book.
Telemakos is forced to wear bells to let anyone know where he is, a mark of suspicion imposed by Abreha, who can order his
execution -- and might still.
Telemakos is severely tested: he is forbidden to see two-year-old Athena, and he is commanded to reproduce the maps that
Abreha plans to use in order to invade Aksumite territory. For Telemakos really is a spy, he is doing his best to hide
messages within the seemingly harmless texts of his letters home. Letters Abreha reads in front of Telemakos before
they are signed and sealed.
Telemakos worries about Abreha's plans, he worries about the plague quarantine, he worries about his stubborn little sister,
he worries about his aunt Goewin, who does dangerous diplomatic work. He worries about his fears, his actions all the more
courageous for his determination to overcome them. He finally makes what he considers a great sacrifice, offering his
service to Abreha in order to buy his sister's freedom. It requires a hot seal pressed to the back of his neck, marking
him forever...
Telemakos is a child struggling to find his way in an adult world. Though the world is that of the sixth century, with
exquisite skill, Wein maintains verisimilitude while giving clues that make Telemakos's dilemmas comprehensible. For example,
the opium. During the sixth century, no one knew anything about addiction. A kid reader today has heard all about the
dangers of drugs, so when Telemakos tries to avoid muddling his brain with opium, the reader knows that he is on the
right path -- even if the adults in the story don't.
He is not always able to comprehend the motivations of adults around him, but he must be on the watch, to remember, build
clues, and to plan ahead.
Wein does a beautiful job with the emotional complexities of a child in this position. Though I was never in a life and
death situation as a twelve-year-old child, I recall sudden shocking intrusions of the adult world into my own kid
existence, one of which occurred November 22, 1963, when I was the same age as Telemakos. His anxious struggle to
comprehend big events, his effort to discover the moral path when there does not seem to be reliable guidance, rings
true. Not to say that this is a didactic book. There is action aplenty, gleaming with humor, as Telemakos makes friends
with other boys, and learns how to play, and to love, as well as to plan.
This is, right now, an extraordinary time for young adult fiction. The range and breadth far exceeds anything ever
published for young readers.
The old limitations, from story length to subjects handled, have been lifted -- not always to the betterment of the
genre. There are some works published for children that seem aimed at adult readers, for whatever
purpose: adults may love them, even shower awards on them, but children won't touch them. Then there are the works
that appeal to both adults and young readers. Like Megan Whalen Turner's superb Attolia books, which also involve a
clever young male protagonist whose life is constantly in danger as he navigates high politics in a long ago time
and far-away place one universe over, Wein's Aksum series is popular among the teenagers I work with as a teacher,
as well as with adults. Wein writes with clarity, her prose deepening to lyrical image when exploring the sere and
smoldering desert and its life. It's books like these that make this a Golden Age for young adult literature.
Sherwood Smith is a writer by vocation and reader by avocation. Her webpage is at www.sff.net/people/sherwood/. |
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