3 out of 4 stars
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The Gods are angry; unless they are appeased, they will wipe out all life in a great flood. This is the message that is given at the start of Orope by Guenevere Lee. This is a fantasy/historical fiction novel set in the distant past. It is written in the third person and follows the journey of the three messengers chosen to spread the message.
The Gogepe, commonly called the Whisperers of Gods, consists of many tribes. Within each tribe, there are women that can communicate with the Gods, called Rhagepe. Once a year they gather for a huge ceremony. At this ceremony, a warning is heard that the Gods will cause the oceans to rise and swallow the land. This is because only the Gopepe follow the old ways. In an attempt to avert disaster, three people are chosen to be the messengers of Gods. These three set out to contact the leaders of the surrounding kingdoms, to try to convince them to change their ways and to return to the old forms of worship. Will they succeed in time?
This is a fascinating look into the past, showing how people with different beliefs interacted. Especially the way that the whisperers were treated, both with great respect and with immense fear. I really liked the way that the author taught us about these different cultures from the Whisperers point of view. I also liked the way that each chapter started with a map of where the messengers were in their respective journeys. This made it easy to work out whom that chapter focused on. There is also a very useful glossary, as there are many unusual terms used throughout the book.
The author has a smooth flowing style that made this an easy book to read. However; some of the concepts that she tried to portray were difficult and some passages I had to read twice to understand what she was getting at. This continued right to the end of the book, where the story didn’t reach a conclusion. It just said, “to be continued”. This makes this a story of many books and can’t really be read on its own.
I really enjoyed reading this story, though there were many grammar mistakes included, mostly in the guise of an extra letter in a word or even an extra word that did cause some confusion. Unfortunately, this means that I have to give this a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. With a bit more proofreading, this would have merited 4 stars. I think this would appeal to anyone who likes fantasy novels, or anyone who likes historical fiction tales about Gods and how they were worshipped. As the book does contain human sacrifices, I don’t think this is suitable reading for youngsters. I also think that anyone not interested in reading the full series should give this a miss.
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Orope
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