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Alexos,
the new Archon, will lead a pilgrimage to the Well of Songs.
Great riches are said to lie there, and the Archon seeks peace
with the Rain Queen. But the desert is a place of strange
menace for the Archon and his companions, and behind them
there is always the general, Argelin, seeking riches and power
for himself. Alone, amid treachery, Mirany has to face the
terrors of war...
With
only Oblek, Seth and two tomb-thieves known as the Jackal
and the Fox for company, the Archon's journey is treacherous.
They must face the Great Desolation and the monstrous animals
outlined on the desert floor, animals with mythical powers,
and must survive without Mirany, bearer-of-the-god and true
friend of the Archon, who has had to remain behind to face
a threat much closer to home.
When
I opened up the first page of The
Archon
I almost sighed with dismay. Here is yet another book that
insists on including a map to to the fictional world it is
set in. Why this is necessary I will never know. While I understand
why a map to shop the path to the Well of the Songs has been
included, it still niggles me that publishers insist on printing
one - as though the reader won't understand what is going
on unless a map can be used as a point of reference.
However,
once I'd started to read this book, I soon forgot about such
personal bugbears and instead slowly started to fall into
the fictional world that Catherine Fisher has created. It
is clear that she has a great passion for ancient Egypt, archaeology
and I'd love to know whether she is a cat lover - I'm betting
she is.
There
is a great chapter that opens with hundreds and thousands
of birds to which my first question was: "Oh yeah! And
what exactly are these thousands of birds supposed to do for
food and drink?" But it was a thought I'd hardly had
time to contemplate before Fisher jumped in and aired my query.
It
was this ability to be able to silence inquisitive minds that
won me over.
An
intelligent children's book that never patronises its readers.
Hodder have a winner here.
Amber
Leigh
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