Amazon.com Everyone in the Valley has brown eyes--except 13-year-old Jonathon. Ugly rumors about Jonathon's beautiful red-haired mother are surfacing among the self-righteous Valley folk, as are whispers about her son. He's beginning to worry that he's a "loony-blue," one of the blue-eyed, red-headed Dalriada--the much-feared mountain people who have magnificent horses, mystical powers, and horns growing out of their foreheads. After his mother's sudden death, the whispers grow to angry threats, and Jonathon escapes the Valley and goes in search of his heritage, his manhood, and his true love. In the mountains he experiences a mystical rite of passage that takes him to the Dalriada encampments, through caves echoing with his own spirit voices, to the very top of the world. From the mountain peak he carries back one of the legendary Firegold apples--a gift that brings reconciliation with his father and his rightful home among the Valley people. Fantasy lovers will enjoy the vivid images and original ideas of this shimmering tale, with layers of philosophy about bigotry, narrow-mindedness, and true identity adding emotional depth. This complex, imaginative first novel bodes well for future titles by Dia Calhoun. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From School Library Journal Grade 6-9The girl is hiding behind a large boulder across the river when Jonathon Brae first spots her. Her cap seems to have little horns, her hair is flaming red streaked with gold, and her eyes peer at Jonathon with the same blue sparkle that his have. Then, in an instant, she disappears. Jonathon is terrified. A Dalriada! What is a barbarian doing so far from the Red Mountains? Are they raiding the Valley? He runs home to his loving parents, brown-eyed like the rest of the Valley people, and steps into the middle of an argument. His mother wants his father to wait until Jonathon is 14 to take him to the Red Mountains to hunt; Brian thinks that 12 is old enough, but he leaves without the boy. When he returns, Karena is incensed at the gift he has brought for his son: a black colt with gold streaks in his mane and tail, Rhohar or king of the Dalriadas horse clans. The arrival of this animal changes everything in Jonathons life as he strives to understand what it is about the colt and the Red Mountains that calls to him, why dark ridges have appeared on his forehead, and if he is going crazy as the Valley folk claim. In an all-consuming search for identity, Jonathon sets forth to face any obstacle to become whole. In the tradition of Robin McKinleys The Blue Sword (Greenwillow, 1982) and Lloyd Alexanders Prydain Chronicles, Jonathons quest evokes a timeless struggle for identity amid vivid imagery, heartbreaking loss, and a subtle weave of fantasy.Melanie C. Duncan, Washington Memorial Library, Macon, GA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. See all Editorial Reviews"
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老实说,我对这种篇幅宏大的叙事传统上是有些敬而远之的,总担心会在某个冗长的段落中迷失方向。然而,这部作品展现出了一种惊人的叙事结构弹性。它并非线性地向前推进,而是巧妙地运用了多重时间线和不同人物的视角,像织一张密不透风的网,将所有看似不相干的线索最终收拢到一起,那种豁然开朗的震撼感,是许多同类作品难以企及的。我尤其欣赏作者处理人物内心冲突的方式——它不是通过大段的独白来完成的,而是通过人物在关键时刻所做的选择、拒绝说出的话语,以及他们之间微妙的身体语言来体现的。这种“留白”的处理,极大地激发了读者的想象力和参与感,让人忍不住停下来,反复揣摩人物行为背后的动机。这种对人性复杂性的深刻洞察,让故事的厚度远超出了类型文学的范畴,它更像是一面棱镜,折射出我们在面对抉择、信仰与忠诚时,内心深处的挣扎与光辉。
评分这部作品在世界构建上的细致程度,达到了令人发指的地步。我能清晰地感受到,作者绝非是临时起意地设定了一些背景,而是倾注了大量心血去构建一个完整、自洽且充满历史沉淀的“活的”世界。从那些专门创造的专有名词的发音习惯,到不同地域间微妙的贸易往来和信仰冲突,无一不透露出一种近乎人类学家般的严谨。我特别关注到其中对于某些古老仪式的描述,那些繁复的步骤、象征性的道具,以及它们在特定社会结构中的功能,都被描绘得栩栩如生,让人不由得怀疑这是否是基于某个真实失落文明的想象。这种沉浸式的细节描写,极大地增强了故事的真实感,使得那些超乎寻常的事件也变得可以被接受和理解。读到那些关于传统与变革激烈碰撞的章节时,我甚至能闻到空气中弥漫的火药味和改革者的决心,作者的功力可见一斑,他成功地让这个架空的世界拥有了可以触摸的质感。
评分要谈论这部书的节奏,我必须用“充满张力的舞蹈”来形容。它不是那种一马平川的奔跑,而是充满了急促的加速和突然的急刹车。某些章节会突然沉静下来,专注于人物情感的细微变化,仿佛镜头被拉近到特写,让你无处躲藏地面对角色的脆弱;而紧接着,一个突发的外部事件又会将节奏猛地拉回到高强度的冲突之中。这种动静结合的编排,使得阅读过程始终保持着一种新鲜感和不可预测性。我发现自己常常会在一个看似平静的段落中突然屏住呼吸,因为我能预感到作者即将抛出一个重磅炸弹。这种对高潮和低谷的精准拿捏,确保了即便是最悠长的叙述,也绝不会让人感到拖沓,相反,它让你在舒缓中积蓄力量,以便更好地承受即将到来的情节冲击。对我而言,这种读起来酣畅淋漓、毫无冗余的阅读体验,实属难得。
评分这本书真正让我心生敬佩之处,在于它对“灰色地带”的忠实描摹。这里没有绝对的善恶脸谱化对立,每一个主要人物——无论他们立场如何鲜明,动机如何看似纯粹——都展示出了其行为的复杂性和内在的矛盾性。我欣赏作者拒绝提供廉价的道德判断,而是将一个又一个艰难的伦理困境摆在读者面前,逼迫我们自己去权衡利弊。例如,那个一直被视为反派的角色,他的部分行为逻辑在后文被揭示后,竟让我产生了复杂的情感共鸣,甚至开始质疑故事中“正义”一方的某些决策是否真的无懈可击。这种对人性的深刻解剖,使得故事的余韵极其悠长。合上书页之后,角色们的形象和他们面临的抉择并没有消失,它们依然在我脑海中回荡,促使我持续思考,这才是真正优秀文学作品的标志。
评分这本书的封面设计简直是视觉的盛宴,那种深邃的墨蓝与点缀其间的金箔纹路,不动声色地传递出一种古老而神秘的气息。初翻开扉页,我就被那种纸张特有的、略带粗粝的触感所吸引,仿佛每一张纸都承载着历史的重量。作者在遣词造句上的功力可见一斑,那些描绘场景的文字,犹如油画般细腻而富有层次感,即便是最寻常的日常片段,在他的笔下也仿佛被镀上了一层引人入胜的光芒。故事的节奏把握得相当老道,开篇的铺陈不急不躁,精准地将我这个读者引入一个全新的世界观中,让我得以细细品味每一个角色的微小动作和眼神交流背后的深层含义。更值得称道的是,作者对于环境氛围的营造极为成功,那种身临其境的代入感,让我几度忘记了自己正窝在沙发里阅读,而是真真切切地呼吸着书中所描绘的空气,感受着那里特有的气候与光影。整本书读下来,给我的感觉不是在阅读一个故事,而是在经历一段漫长而丰富的旅程,每一章的结束都留下一个恰到好处的悬念,驱使着我迫不及待地翻向下页,生怕错过任何一个细微的转折。
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