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Rebecca is an extraordinary young girl; at school she surpasses
her peers in intellect, strength and agility. She appears
to have the perfect parents, always willing to listen or to
give information, but little in the way of advice as they
respect her choices and decisions. Everything is perfect,
maybe a little too perfect? Rebecca considers her live as
ordinary that is until the day her parents reveal the fact
that she is of the race of Orizon. Transported to another
dimension she discovers a world of creatures, where myth has
become a reality, all alive and at war with each other. With
a whole new world to explore, Rebecca quickly finds that the
line between good and evil isn't as wide as she first thought....
Orizon:
The Flame of the White Sun is the first full length novel
by Mario Routi. There must be a seed change amongst authors
these days, as this is the third novel that I have reviewed
that seems to be very unhappy about the world as it stands.
Some have decided to go the whole hog and produce a new mode
of being wrapped up in a dramatic narrative; Routi seems to
have gone the other way and produced a list of complaints
against the modern world.
Seems
he hates television, but loves cinema, hates cars, social
and economic inequality, cruelty to animals... Well, the list
goes on and on. About the only thing he doesn't have a thing
against is chavs, which if you ask me leaves a gaping hole
in the book. Hopefully he will address the pressing chav question
in any follow up book.
The
book uses a good mix of genres; if you had to pigeonhole it,
it's a sort of sci fi meets Narnia, mythical creatures in
space ships. The start of the book is exquisitely constructed,
at first you'll think you are reading just another poor mans
Narnia, until the characters start discussing events
both in the contemporary real world as well as Greek philosophers
- as if they had spoken to them in person. At which point
you'll be thinking: "What the hell is going on here?"
It's an excellent device to pique the interested of any jaded
reader.
Through
its narrative the book examines many of the problems plaguing
the world at the moment, and to show just how up-to-date it
is, it even has a group of Orizons intervening in a terrorist
attack. At times the exposition can become a little preachy
and interfere with the continuation of the plot. However,
it's not so over the top that it completely gets in the way
of the story. As far as the philosophising goes Routi has
taken the very sensible route of highlighting many problems
without pushing his own solutions on the reader, rather the
book appears to be constructed as a jumping off point for
discussion. Even within the Utopia he creates he admits that
the difference between good and evil is very often a matter
of personal perspective.
Apart
from that, slightly heavy part of the book, Routi spins a
good yarn. His characters are pleasantly flawed and believable.
His world, he populates with every fantastic mythical creature
that one could wish for. I'm not quite sure who the book is
aimed at. As it stands it would appeal to both a teenage and
adult audience.
Charles
Packer
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