Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Trackers by Kathryn Mackel

Fans of Jack Vance's Dying Earth series will enjoy Trackers. This was originally conceived as book 2 of the Birthright Project. Book one, Outriders, is available but the publisher does not plan on continuing the series. This is the readers loss.

The young men and women of the Birthright Project are on a mission to preserve God's original creation from the fallout of the Endless Wars and human depravity. They battle future sorcerers, warlords and their mutant creations. Kathryn's imagination is displayed in this series. Starting with the new ark beneath the polar ice cap, people being delivered to the surface world by whales, to the description of the decadent city. This is a world with with gargants(giants), the shroud, mysterious sorcerers, and many other interesting people and things.

What makes this book stand out is the combination of Kathryn's imagination and her focus on the human heart. Despite the many physical changes that the sorcerers have brought about in their effort to become like God, the core conflicts of humanity are the same as we face today. Can the Birthrighters overcome their individual desires to keep the group intact and accomplish their mission? This is the same type of conflict that began in the garden of Eden and conitinues through our time.

Highly recommended for fans of speculative fiction.

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