Otherways- Fiction Fanatics

Although I tend to digress more often into interesting finds of science and archaeology, I actually intended to primarily write book reviews on this site. Obviously, what I intend, and what ends up happening, often don’t even bear a passing resemblance to each other, but that doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned the idea entirely.

Top of my list of ‘old’ books to review is Richard Adams novel Maia.

Richard Adams is probably best known for his tales of rabbits in Watership Down, or you might know him from The Plague Dogs, or Traveller. Although I am a die-hard Watership Down fan, I have to say Maia is my favorite of his novels.

Before you leap in, I do have to warn you that it isn’t full of charming animals trying to survive, at least not in the traditional sense. It also probably isn’t suitable for young audiences, as it contains some fairly ‘mature themes’ as they say in the movie ratings.

What you do get is an epic adventure, with truly believable characters that don’t really seem to fit any of the expected molds. It is the story of a woman-child, caught up in a family squabble and sold into a life of slavery, true, but it manages to tell this tale without being maudlin or trite, and without undercutting the strength that young Maia and her peers possess.

The pace is fast enough to excite, but still slow enough to enjoy the scenery and the company. The characters are rich and varied, with all the history and intricacy you’d expect in breathing companions.

If you read fantasy for the world-building, then you’ll enjoy this book as well. Well-developed climactic regions, each with their own political systems and idiosyncracies interact on a grand political scale, each attempting to wrest from the others what its rulers most desire to enrich their own lives. Against this backdrop of political intrigue Maia dances, seemingly helpless in her slavery, and completely ignorant of the grander plans forming around her, yet somehow a key player in many of them.

It isn’t a light or fast read, but Maia is well worth the effort. Since I get far less time to simply read than I would like, I rarely re-read a novel. There are just too many on the ‘waiting to be read’ pile. Every couple of years, though, I dust off Maia and lose myself in her world for a while, simply because I can’t resist.

Cheers,

Michelle