Official Review: The Broken World Book One - Children of ...

[Lilapo9]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Broken World Book One - Children of Another God" by TC Southwell.]

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Enter a world of vast differences filled with great sorrows and at the same time great joy. The greater populace is a selfish lot, secure in their control of people, power and goods. How does a young woman burdened with the responsibilities of an arranged life escape the bonds of her lifelong servitude? How does a kind soul living alone without ties and being gifted with the ability to control the elemental powers of the world he is a part of, escape persecution? How can the kind soul who is being leashed with a code of conduct that prohibits helping others unless they prove themselves worthy and the young woman come together to save a race of people? The author, T.C. Southwell does it again. Her life experiences of growing up exploring islands aid her descriptions of another brand new world for us to explore. The science fiction book entitled The Broken World Book One: Children of another God published in 2012 at Smashwords is another fine example of her love of writing and creativity.

Our story opens on a battlefield where a massacre has taken place. Everywhere the dead and dying souls are being collected by the Lady of Death called Marrana. Our main character Chanter, who is a Mujar, lay on the ground with a spear through his chest trapped to Dolana the Earthpower. Dolana the Earthpower both drains and cools him to numbness as he lay trapped in this state of being. He had gone to help his clan fight the Hashon Jahar but they had not wanted his help. He had ended up becoming trapped by his inability to help them and thus became a victim himself. In his weakened state he mind melds with a raven and sends a message that he needs help. Help arrives but at a cost, Chanter finds himself in precarious situations throughout this story that require him to struggle with his unspoken code.

The supporting character Talsy is a young woman who has resigned herself to her station in life as her father’s caretaker. She longs for adventure and escape from her station in life which is to be her father’s caretaker until he marries her off, then he will get her child to keep too. In the beginning she is out hunting to find food for her and her father. She kills a hare that squeals as it dies but that squeal alerts a sow boar who thinking it is one of her young piglets, comes to rescue her young. Talsy tries to stay out of the sow’s way but becomes injured by the sow’s tusks. Once the sow moves off, an injured Talsy tries to collect the hare and shoots at an eagle she feels will feed her father and herself. It is then that she and Chanter’s paths converge. Together as they journey through this world learning more about themselves and each other, their connection to the race of people living there becomes known.

Chanter is a unique soul, both blessed and cursed by the gifts of his species. The people of this world in their greed and selfishness to control everything and everyone initially found the kind and gentle souls of the Mujar exciting. Wishing to exploit them for their gifts set about their tortuous destruction when they learned that they are a species to whom death could not come for a hundred years. Being unable to coerce the Mujar to do anything against their will frustrated those in power and they set about the destruction of the species by throwing any and all into the pits. To be in control of such powers but not be able to use them except under certain circumstances definitely puts the Mujar at a disadvantage with the general populace. Their differences become the catalyst to set the stage for hatred and intolerance. Generations of people have come and gone who were taught by their ancestors to hate anyone different than them. Just as it has occurred in this story so it has also occurred in our history. The Mujar’s response to act out of kindness and to not kill even though they themselves were tortured and thrown in a pit for many decades to die can remind us of the stories we have heard in our past of people who responded to oppression with kindness. Three souls from our own world come to mind: Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King Jr. It was interesting to note that the late Martin Luther King Jr. required his followers to sign a non-violence agreement. Mother Teresa of Calcutta just continued to do her very best serving the people she loved and caring for everyone through her daily endeavors and prayer.

I really liked this story and T.C. Southwell is a very gifted writer. More than once I was caught up breathless in the plot of the story. Her ability to create a teaser climax in the story; give a small rest, then when you think the story is winding down there is a surprise mega climax that leaves you breathless to read the next story in the series. I give this story 4 out of 4 stars.

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[Kappy]

Exceptionally thorough review! I love SF, but I typically avoid fantasy books. However, I would consider reading this book if I could get it from my public library.

[TLGabelman]

This is going on my "to read" list!