![]() ![]() A thoughtful Atlantis-like legend in the historical background takes the story's social setting in a direction that surprises both the reader and Tamyth himself. The setting is as much the author's home base of rural Pennsylvania (rust belt factories, quaint communities that aren't nearly as safe as they seem) as it is the genre's stock world, with more than a touch of Andean South America and all that it entails adding depth. Gloria knows the genre and plays up the expectations that come with it, only to deftly pick them apart piece by piece with an eye to both environmental and social-justice concerns. We think we're in the idyllic, morally black-and-white setting of most lesser forays into the fantasy genre, especially with anthropomorphic rodents as the species of choice for our orphan coming-of-age hero, Tamyth, and his friends. Gloria leads us with ease into a seemingly familiar fictional world that recalls the Redwall series but hides secrets worthy of a good Ken Follett novel. Thanks to a bitingly accurate grasp of social myth-making both in the conventions of the genre and in the real world, Pennsylvania-based first-time author S.D. ![]() ![]() It's not often that a book in the young-adult fantasy genre comes around with a legitimate claim to originality. ![]()
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