Tallow by Karen Brooks
Woolshed
Press, 2009. ISBN
9781741664355. The curse of
the Bond Riders Book 1.
(Ages
12+). Fantasy. Recommended. Tallow has
been raised in the household of a candle-maker
and been kept hidden from view because he is different. Pillar, a
poor
candle-maker, was responsible for bringing the baby Tallow back to his
workshop
in the canalled city of Serenissima despite his reservations about how
Quinn,
his mother, would react. Quinn is quick with her fists and her boot,
especially
when she has been drinking. Life for Tallow is not easy.
Life gets more
complicated when it is time for Tallow to
begin making candles on his own. Although the candles look perfect,
better than
Pillar's, the customers find fault with them. Neither Pillar nor Quinn
is happy
about that. Both Pillar and Quinn are aware of the problems Tallow
could bring
down on them, but the arrival of Katina, a bond rider, helps settle
their
fears.
Katina teaches
Tallow to channel the special powers so
that they are controlled, but before she can complete the training she
must
return to the Limen, a strange nether world she has given a blood bond
to. She leaves
and
gives Tallow a warning not to use the special powers on humans and not
to give
cause for unwanted attention which could rouse suspicion as to Tallow's
identity.
Needless to say Tallow is
unable to follow these
instructions and has to help out when people and animals are unfairly
treated.
Tallow thus seals the fate for not only Pillar and Quinn, but also
Dante who
has become a very special friend along with many other citizens of
Serenissima
who die in a plague brought in by the wraith like Morte Whisperers.
Karen Brooks has woven a
tale that is exciting,
dangerous, frightening and eminently readable. Her characters are
believable
and have very human frailties and faults. This is the first of a
series, The Curse of the Bond Riders, and if
the usual pattern of fantasy writers is followed then this will be a
trilogy
and I imagine the next book will be much anticipated, because there are
so many
Mark Knight