Clovermead: In the Shadow of the Bear by David Randall

I was substituting at a local school and having a very, very slow day. I found this book lying on a shelf in the teacher's room and for lack of anything better to do, I started reading. My goodness what a lucky find this one was! I had no idea what the story was about when I started but must admit that before three pages were read I was completely hooked.

I note that this work is targeted for the teen and preteen crowd which is quite misleading. Yes, it is perfectly appropriate for this particular age but were I the publisher I probably would have extended the reading age level to at least 102. This is a great example of what we are seeing more and more of...age crossover books.

Basically this is a story set in a world; a medieval world where magic, religion, myth, legend, and reality are rather mixed. The heroine of our story is a young girl who has a bent for adventure and deep down wants to be a warrior. The story is hung on the conflict between the benevolent goddess, Lady Moon and her nuns, and the supposedly evil good, Ursus, and his rather evil henchman Snuff, the chief priest. This is the story of a young girl caught up in a war she does not understand but who is THE key player in this conflict between good and evil. This is the kind of story that contains a spoiler in almost every chapter so it is rather difficult to cover plot. I will say though that the story moves quite well, is captivating and in a very whimsical way, examines questions which are quite pertinent to our day and to our world.

There is plenty of action in this work; much to do with swords and battle, yet it would be a mistake to stick this story in the Conan type blood fest so many of this genre fall into. The story is much deeper and contains some very surprising twists.

David Randall is an obvious natural story teller that is able to pull off a fantasy tale that is not only believable, but is simply fun to read. His characters, and there are several, have actual depth and the author has been able to show both the good and bad in each. Clovermead has been developed into an almost perfect protagonist and through her the author has been able to blend character after character in an almost perfect mix...she acts as both matrix and catalyst. To be honest, you cannot help but like the kids the instant she is introduced into the story. Randall is a very, very good writer!

Now do not take me wrong here. As to plot and story line, there are certainly more complicated works out there, but to be frank a great part of the charm and appeal of this story is the simplicity of plat overlaid by some very complex characters.

Good sword and sorcery writing here and so very much more. This is certainly a five star read for readers of all ages.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Clovermead: In the Shadow of the Bear

• Accelerated Reading level : 5.3
• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (November 22, 2005)
• ISBN-10: 1416907157
• See-a-Sample