Review: Zadayi Red by Caleb Fox

Zadayi Red (Amazon USA, UK, Canada)
by Caleb Fox
Tor Books
Hardcover
Excerpt

 I think Caleb Fox has a brilliant future.

Zadayi Red is a fantasy novel based on a Cherokee legend. It starts with the tale of Sunoya, who is marked as a shaman at birth because her last two fingers on her left hand are webbed. She was bears another mark--a mark of doom--and according to tradition should have been killed at birth. Her mother concealed this mark and warned her never to reveal it.

She has a vision that the clan's most precious object--the Cape of Eagle Feathers--has become descecrated and powerless, rendering the clan deaf to the wisdom of the gods. To avert this calamity, Sunoya travels to the cave dwelling of Tsola, the Seer of the Galayi people. Together, they embark upon a journey to the spirit world to learn why this is going to happen. They learn that it was the fault of the Galayi, for they will start to kill each other. And when they do, the gods will turn away from them.

They also learn of a way they can earn another cape. It will require a hero.

Upon Sunoya's return, she right away gets caught up in an adventure, which leaves her as the adoptive mother of a newborn babe who might be that hero. His name is Dhazi, which means "hungry one." As Dhazi grows up, the focus gradually shifts to him. The task that he eventually must perform doesn't seem difficult on the surface, but when you add in almost constant assassination attempts, it gets considerably more exciting.

This novel is not like other novels you read every week. Even the voice of the novel is distinctive. Consider this excerpt:

Fear zinged tremolos through him, body and soul.
He looked around again. His eyes brought him nothing. I am in utter nothingness.
He put his hand on his heart like he would have put it on Awahi's zither. He wanted to stop the vibrations and end the sounds. They were terror aborning.

I loved "fear zinged tremolos". I could almost feel the shivers.

I do have one major critique. A violent act takes place toward the end of the novel that I thought completely out-of-place and perhaps even out-of-character. The main conflict was over. It was almost as this character got punished for doing something good. And it was senseless because the person who perpetuated the act seemed to me a character who might redeem himself. I don't want to say any more, but I was disappointed by that particular plotline.

This novel is not light reading, but neither is it particularly heavy. At first, I read it in small doses, and I even read another novel while I was reading this one (The Stars Blue Yonder which, it may surprise you, complemented this book quite well.) But I hope you don't think this a bad thing. It's not. Not ever book need be a can't-put-it-down thriller. This book inspires thought.

Kudos for not dragging out a torture scene--just about when I couldn't stand anymore, it was over. It didn't even take two pages. I must warn about a rape--some of my readers will never forgive me otherwise--but it does take place off-page.

The main villain--who is almost single-handedly responsible for all the killing that is going on--is deliciously evil and horribly cruel. No shades of gray there. And the author did a wonderful job with a mentally handicapped character. He turns out to be of great value to Dhazi, and a great friend. Well done and bravo for that, because all too often I've read about mentally handicapped characters portrayed as monsters.

This is a memorable book--one for the keeper shelf.  It reminds me of Carole McDonnell's Wind Follower, which I reviewed almost two years ago. If you like delving into unfamiliar cultures and reading novels that seem wholly un-Western, then I recommend you give this one a try.

~*~

In an earlier post, I blogged about the opening chapters, so if you are curious, you might want to give it a read. You can also enter a contest to win a copy of Zadayi Red, complements of Tor.

Debut Showcase: Zadayi Red

Zadayi Red (Amazon USA, UK, Canada)
by Caleb Fox
Tor Books
Hardcover
Excerpt

Publisher's Blurb:
A young Shaman of the Galayi people has had a powerful and frightening vision: it is of the Eagle Feather Cape, the gift of the Thunderbird, which is worn by the Seer of the People to see the future and gain the guidance of the gods.  The cape is torn and bloody, and it will no longer bring visions to the Seer of the People.  But the Shaman's vision also tells her of the cure:  a child will be born to the People, a hero who will restore the cape and return the goodwill of the gods to the People.

Dahzi may be that hero, if he can survive the hatred of his grandfather.  He was born after his mother’s death, as she fled from her father’s anger.  But Dahzi carries the hope of all of his People, along with the power to become a great Chief.  He will be tested--by his family, by his people, and by the Gods.

I'm reading this novel and I have blogged on the opening chapters. So far, it's been great and I'm close to the end. It was slow going in the first half, but not in a bad way. It was slow going in the way a literary novel tends to be. And now, as I'm reading the closing chapters, it's quite gripping. As soon as I finish this post, I'm off to read again.

Tor sent me this novel, but it's one of those that I might have been tempted to buy whether I received the review copy or not.

As-I-Read-It: Zadayi Red

Zadayi Red by Caleb Fox is an unusual novel that gets lots of props for sheer originality. It is based on a Cherokee legend. Other writers may write from the framepoint of Native Americans, but I've never read any in the fantasy genre. It seems like a natural fit.

(Click the cover for a larger view.)

Actually, I'm not even sure if this is written from the point of view of the Cherokees. The people are called the Galayi, so it may be a fictional world. A Google search for "Galayi" turned up foreign links and links to Caleb Fox's website.

I am now about one quarter through the book. So far, it is mostly told through the point-of-view of Sunoya, a medicine person of great power. She has a vision in which the Cape of Eagle Feathers--a powerful tool of communication with the gods--is desecrated and powerless. Sunoya takes a trip to the spirit world to learn why the cape becomes desecrated and what can be done to restore it, or prevent it.

Her task is unclear, because the gods don't give her exact instructions on what must be done. Instead, Sunoya is given a spirt guide to help her with her task. The spirit guide is not what you might expect. And he cannot tell Sunoya the future; instead, he can only tell her what must be done. It might seem like a plot device, but even if it is, it works. The point-of-view sometimes even switches to the spirit guide, who has a distinct personality.

The point-of-view sometimes switches to the villain, who is one of the better ones I've read in a long time. He's driven by ambition and pure, blind hatred, yet he thinks he's doing the right thing. He is cruel and he is fun to hate. By a single act, he can rob Sunoya of her spirit guide and doom her to death, and he has already indicated that he plans to do it if he gets a chance. So as you you read, you know this confrontation might be coming.

So far, there's enough here to keep me reading, and I've set aside all other books. I have some nitpicky critiques, but I like to keep those until the final review. Sometimes, but the time I get to the end of a book, I've forgotten about any critiques I may have had along the way. Or, what I think is a flaw is revealed to be a clever trick on the part of the author. Since I'd rather not look like an idiot, I'll just keep silent until I'm finished.

This book is not available in bookstores until July. Here are the Amazon pre-order links (USA, UK, Canada).

What do you think of that cover? I think it's awesome.