Recensies

Review published at Genrefluent

Re Jana's family left the marshes to the derision of their neighbors who thought them foolish to go to the desert in search of a city springing up around the building of a huge ship. Along with her father, and her mother who was paralyzed by a stoke and can communicate only with the fluttering of one eyelid, they travel with a Rrattika guide and his young son.

Her mother is the one who was adamant about leaving the marshes but when they arrive at the place the Builder is quite ineptly building his great ship they discover that the Builder and all his people are the despised Rrattika nomads. While her father finds employment as foreman for the Builder's youngest son, Ham, who is in charge of the woodworking facets of the project, Re Jana finds a hidden well of pure water and massages and grooms the Builder's sons.

She discovers that the enormous ark they are building will not save all from the coming devastation of the world promised by the Builder's god. This lyrical novelization of the Noah's ark tale is so sensuously told one can smell the scented oils Re Jana applies in her ministrations as well as the stench of the ark following the flood.

This powerful novel demonstrates the strength of young adult publishing at this particular moment in time as there is no reason that this could not have been published as an adult book and in fact will be published in paperback as an adult book by Berkley and is being published as an adult book in Australia.