"Insightful look at an alternate earth"
It has been over five hundred years since the Great Cold
has descended on the land, isolating the North from the
South. Now with the Thaw arriving, the Railway People are
constructing a railroad under the Aldemar Forest but the
project is not going smoothly. People disappear and are
never seen again; the Soul Men, insane shamans whose minds
work in a gestalt fashion, kill others. Yuda, a very powerful Shaman, along with his two children
Annat and Malchik, is assigned to work undercover as a
doctor in the town of Gard Aldemar to figure out what is
going on. Both Yuda and Annat feel the power of the
woods. When Malchik disappears, they determine that he has
been spirited away to the shaman dimension of La
Souterraine. They are able to ride the train into La
Souterraine, gathering allies as they hope to free a city
and rescue Malchik without any of their party falling prey
to the Cold One. CHILDREN OF THE SHAMAN takes place in a world similar to
ours when Jews were ostracized and those in power refused
to let them have good jobs unless they converted. Annat
and Yuda are adventurous characters who deserve their own
series. It is hard to believe this is a debut novel
because the author has such a refined sense of place and is
able to create an imaginary world subtly different Earth
but one we can understand. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted January 10, 2003
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