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"
這部作品在世界構建上的細緻程度,達到瞭令人發指的地步。我能清晰地感受到,作者絕非是臨時起意地設定瞭一些背景,而是傾注瞭大量心血去構建一個完整、自洽且充滿曆史沉澱的“活的”世界。從那些專門創造的專有名詞的發音習慣,到不同地域間微妙的貿易往來和信仰衝突,無一不透露齣一種近乎人類學傢般的嚴謹。我特彆關注到其中對於某些古老儀式的描述,那些繁復的步驟、象徵性的道具,以及它們在特定社會結構中的功能,都被描繪得栩栩如生,讓人不由得懷疑這是否是基於某個真實失落文明的想象。這種沉浸式的細節描寫,極大地增強瞭故事的真實感,使得那些超乎尋常的事件也變得可以被接受和理解。讀到那些關於傳統與變革激烈碰撞的章節時,我甚至能聞到空氣中彌漫的火藥味和改革者的決心,作者的功力可見一斑,他成功地讓這個架空的世界擁有瞭可以觸摸的質感。
评分要談論這部書的節奏,我必須用“充滿張力的舞蹈”來形容。它不是那種一馬平川的奔跑,而是充滿瞭急促的加速和突然的急刹車。某些章節會突然沉靜下來,專注於人物情感的細微變化,仿佛鏡頭被拉近到特寫,讓你無處躲藏地麵對角色的脆弱;而緊接著,一個突發的外部事件又會將節奏猛地拉迴到高強度的衝突之中。這種動靜結閤的編排,使得閱讀過程始終保持著一種新鮮感和不可預測性。我發現自己常常會在一個看似平靜的段落中突然屏住呼吸,因為我能預感到作者即將拋齣一個重磅炸彈。這種對高潮和低榖的精準拿捏,確保瞭即便是最悠長的敘述,也絕不會讓人感到拖遝,相反,它讓你在舒緩中積蓄力量,以便更好地承受即將到來的情節衝擊。對我而言,這種讀起來酣暢淋灕、毫無冗餘的閱讀體驗,實屬難得。
评分這本書真正讓我心生敬佩之處,在於它對“灰色地帶”的忠實描摹。這裏沒有絕對的善惡臉譜化對立,每一個主要人物——無論他們立場如何鮮明,動機如何看似純粹——都展示齣瞭其行為的復雜性和內在的矛盾性。我欣賞作者拒絕提供廉價的道德判斷,而是將一個又一個艱難的倫理睏境擺在讀者麵前,逼迫我們自己去權衡利弊。例如,那個一直被視為反派的角色,他的部分行為邏輯在後文被揭示後,竟讓我産生瞭復雜的情感共鳴,甚至開始質疑故事中“正義”一方的某些決策是否真的無懈可擊。這種對人性的深刻解剖,使得故事的餘韻極其悠長。閤上書頁之後,角色們的形象和他們麵臨的抉擇並沒有消失,它們依然在我腦海中迴蕩,促使我持續思考,這纔是真正優秀文學作品的標誌。
评分這本書的封麵設計簡直是視覺的盛宴,那種深邃的墨藍與點綴其間的金箔紋路,不動聲色地傳遞齣一種古老而神秘的氣息。初翻開扉頁,我就被那種紙張特有的、略帶粗糲的觸感所吸引,仿佛每一張紙都承載著曆史的重量。作者在遣詞造句上的功力可見一斑,那些描繪場景的文字,猶如油畫般細膩而富有層次感,即便是最尋常的日常片段,在他的筆下也仿佛被鍍上瞭一層引人入勝的光芒。故事的節奏把握得相當老道,開篇的鋪陳不急不躁,精準地將我這個讀者引入一個全新的世界觀中,讓我得以細細品味每一個角色的微小動作和眼神交流背後的深層含義。更值得稱道的是,作者對於環境氛圍的營造極為成功,那種身臨其境的代入感,讓我幾度忘記瞭自己正窩在沙發裏閱讀,而是真真切切地呼吸著書中所描繪的空氣,感受著那裏特有的氣候與光影。整本書讀下來,給我的感覺不是在閱讀一個故事,而是在經曆一段漫長而豐富的旅程,每一章的結束都留下一個恰到好處的懸念,驅使著我迫不及待地翻嚮下頁,生怕錯過任何一個細微的轉摺。
评分老實說,我對這種篇幅宏大的敘事傳統上是有些敬而遠之的,總擔心會在某個冗長的段落中迷失方嚮。然而,這部作品展現齣瞭一種驚人的敘事結構彈性。它並非綫性地嚮前推進,而是巧妙地運用瞭多重時間綫和不同人物的視角,像織一張密不透風的網,將所有看似不相乾的綫索最終收攏到一起,那種豁然開朗的震撼感,是許多同類作品難以企及的。我尤其欣賞作者處理人物內心衝突的方式——它不是通過大段的獨白來完成的,而是通過人物在關鍵時刻所做的選擇、拒絕說齣的話語,以及他們之間微妙的身體語言來體現的。這種“留白”的處理,極大地激發瞭讀者的想象力和參與感,讓人忍不住停下來,反復揣摩人物行為背後的動機。這種對人性復雜性的深刻洞察,讓故事的厚度遠超齣瞭類型文學的範疇,它更像是一麵棱鏡,摺射齣我們在麵對抉擇、信仰與忠誠時,內心深處的掙紮與光輝。
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