Book of the Week: Wind Follower

As part of my ongoing quest to discover minority fantasy and scifi writers, I have found another gem that I am going to recommend. I just finished the book Wind Follower by Carole McDonnell. The story follows Loic, the first born and heir to the Warrior Chief of the Doreni Pagatsu clan, and Satha, the daughter of one of his father’s oldest friends. Loic sees Satha one day and demands that he marry Satha. What follows is a quest by Loic to find the Creator and bring him back to the three tribes who thought that he had abandoned them.

The story concerns four tribes. The Ibeni, Theseni, Doreni, and the newly arrived Angleni. It seems to me that the story is a retelling of African history and colonization by the English. The backdrop of this is the spiritual journey that both Loic and Satha take separately. When I first began reading the book, I was distracted by the new vocabulary I had to learn. But the further into the story I went, the more I was drawn into the world that McDonnell had described. The characters and their personalities came alive. This is the second book that I have read (see The Alchemist) that has given me a visceral emotional response. The Christian themes are very apparent in the book, but the story is not meant to be preachy. The characters and their motivations are not hidden and aren’t impossible. Without spoiling the ending, I was taken by surprise. However, in retrospect, I realized that Loic and Satha’s story could not end any other way. The amount of research that the author put into this book must have been daunting.

As far as Christian fiction goes, I thought this was a very interesting and thought provoking book. Am I a fan of Christian fiction? Not really. I read the entire Left Behind series and found that series of books to be over written, drawn out, and preachy, which most Christian fiction novels tend to be. Not so with Wind Follower.

The best thing that I liked about the book was that it was one fantasy story that began and ended in one book. Most of your Fantasy stories take place over several novels. Lord of the Rings had three volumes. We followed the adventures of the Shannara decendents in 12 novels; The Belgariad and the Mallorean were 12 novels. Not that I don’t like series like that, but it’s nice to have a story begin and end in one novel. Though I do see where she could write a prequel or two. And I wish I had known about the glossary before I finished the book.