Deviations: Covenant (Elissa Malcohn)
(1 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
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Deviations: Covenant is the first of six in a series being published by Aisling Press. Rich character development and fascinating central conflict quickly addict the reader to this story. The author’s tone subtly coaxed me to judge the ethics of the situation comprehensively by virtue of the characters’ widely varied viewpoints. The moral dilemma of the story would easily lend itself to pontification from a less skilled writer.
The plot is too surprising and “juicy” for me to reveal too much, but I will warn that it does have a creepiness to it, ala modern vampire novels. Do set aside time to read the story straight through, as once taken up the book is hard to put down. I found that as the final pages approached I was craving a bit more “meat” to the story, but fortunately the second book in the series is due out in September.
The main character, TripStone, is a hunter for her Masari tribe. She must perform sacred rituals with each kill. Her tribe must kill their gods to survive. Many of the neighboring Yata tribe have mixed feelings about their relationship with the Masari, and hidden in their woods, their secret militia seeks to alter the balance of power. Meanwhile, in the hills above the Masari village of Crossroads, TripStone’s friend Ghost is performing illegal experiments, a teenage runaway is dealing with serious addiction, and a Yata woman is being harbored from an evil “flesh farm.”
Not your usual happy read on a sunny day, but the moral issues are so compelling, so thought-provoking, you’ll thank the author for presenting this perspective.