Seed of Seerling by Amy Kennedy
After many minutes, Thauma croaked out her reading. “This child is not the Keeper you seek. She is a seed.” The old crow then stopped, moved a few bones around on the leather. “The seed.” Her gruff whisper rattled to every corner of the room.
High Priestess Ruman knelt down beside her and stared at the bones in awe. “What seed?”
Thauma squinted her wrinkled eyes at the High Priestess then looked up at Isilian. “This is the child who will rule and bring peace to the Seerling tribes. She will be the seed that will lead her people out of slavery by Harkonian hands and into a great light.”
After many minutes, Thauma croaked out her reading. “This child is not the Keeper you seek. She is a seed.” The old crow then stopped, moved a few bones around on the leather. “The seed.” Her gruff whisper rattled to every corner of the room.
High Priestess Ruman knelt down beside her and stared at the bones in awe. “What seed?”
Thauma squinted her wrinkled eyes at the High Priestess then looked up at Isilian. “This is the child who will rule and bring peace to the Seerling tribes. She will be the seed that will lead her people out of slavery by Harkonian hands and into a great light.”
The child is Astril, first daughter of a priestess of the Seerlings, a tribe ruled by the High Priestess who serves the Great Goddess, a tribe ruled by hatred, fear, and magic that came from this Goddess. But her grandmother had learned about the One True God and followed Him, prayed to Him on behalf of her granddaughter. Although Astril was supposed to train to be the next High Priestess after her mother, she has learned enough to know she doesn’t want to follow that path.
The great enemy of the Seerlings is the kingdom of Harkon, a people who claim to follow The One True God, although some (such as their king at the beginning of the tale) only give lip service to being servants of The One True God. The Harkonians could be compared to the people of the Arthurian legends with code of chivalry that was supposedly followed by all knights, and helpless females who were trained that way. While the Seerlings killed off the Harkonians in battle, the Harkonians tended to take Seerlings to serve as slaves.
As events unfold, the young prince of Harkon, Toren, feels called to spend time learning the Holy Writings under the tutelage of the priest Augur, and returns as a young man who is not only strong an well skilled physically, but spiritually as well. In the same time period, Astril has become the leader of the Seerling soldiers, amazingly adept at warfare. They are on a collision course that will change them all forever.
This was one of the best stories I have read this year, although you may see those words from me several more times before the year is out. It reminded me of the elements in the different tales from the Arthurian legend, including the women like Morgan le Fey who followed the dark forces and had a magical side to them. The spiritual warfare is played out in an arena with flawed characters, demonstrating the power of the True God in spite of the flaws in His followers.
The spiritual portion of the story is strong, yet so are the dramatic elements and the characters. Here is a clash of cultures, complicated romance, betrayal, surprises, battles, and all kinds of action. With two very young main characters (between 18-20), it is a coming-of-age novel that is suitable for older teens, but also very much a fantasy for adults.
Author's website: http://www.seerling.com/index.html. Amy Kennedy also has a page at Shoutlife.com .
Book Details
Seed of Seerling by Amy Kennedy
Published by VMI Fiction (July 1, 2008)
288 pages
$13.99
ISBN-10: 1933204656
ISBN-13: 978-1933204659
To purchase Seed of Seerling:
May be purchased through author's website ($13.99), amazon.com ($11.89), barnes and noble ($11.33 members, $12.59 others), and Target.com ($11.89)
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