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Readers > The Spell of No'an > Comments And Reviews
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Comments And Reviews
"An unforgettable story. Discover a world you didn't know existed."
--- Foremost Press.com
"Having read all three books of James Priest's wonderful trilogy, I have nothing but praise. The scope of this work, which takes us from the middle of North America across the Atlantic on the backs of birds to Stonehenge, is extraordinary. I enjoyed every moment I spent with the kirins. Priest's work resembles Lord of the Rings, but is more rooted in nature and gentler in tone."
Mary Logue, author of Dancing with an Alien,
Snatched, and numerous other books
The Spell of No'an
The author of a trilogy has no choice but to be unfair to his readers. Only in the last volume can he tie up all the ends neatly. The other volumes have to end with a "cliff-hanger" like a soap opera in order to ensure that his faithful readers will continue on to the next volume. I am usually inured to these tactics and tend to make a mental note that if I come across the sequel I will read it. However, in this case I took the trouble to buy the sequel. How did the author do it?
We are talking of a "quest." Seven people journey to overcome evil, hardly original. There is a lot of tension and excitement what Shakespeare used to call "alarums and excursions" in his stage directions.
The characters themselves are a sort of elf called "kirin." James D. Priest builds a parallel world to ours. We share the earth with kirins, a race who hides from us and has magical powers. The attraction was that they were so different yet so like us. We can feel the pain of Speckarin, the leader, when he feels that he is failing in his job, or that of the young Hut, when he is seduced into doing something which he knows to be wrong. They are the sort of characters we can care about and want to know what happens to them.
Science fiction often includes social criticism. The invented world provides an opportunity to exaggerate aspects of the contemporary world in order to criticize them. Fantasy, however, tends to be pure adventure without the social dimension. Here I was very conscious of strong moral values. The tribe is responsible for an endangered member and must endanger itself in order to defend that member. One of the characters, Diliani, was saved by a race of troglodytes, the Gryglas, who had been wronged by the kirins. She forced the queen of the tribe hosting the party to try to negotiate with the wronged race. These "kirins" recognize the importance of intelligent life, however different.
Obviously they will succeed in the end, but it is certainly a pleasure to join them for the ride.
Chaim Seymour
Givat Shemuel, Israel
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Kirins: The Spell of No'an, by James D. Priest is the first book in a trilogy, and it is an excellent start to what appears to be an entertaining new fantasy adventure. The book is a quiet, graceful novel that leads the reader softly into a captivating, splendid fantasy world.
The book creates the very real world of the Kirins, a race of foot-high magical creatures (think gnomes, leprechauns, etc.) who live and thrive in the forests. Two of these beings, Talli and Gilin, are unexpectedly thrust into danger, when they are tasked with finding the answer to why Kirin magic is dwindling. They, and several of their friends, embark on a quest, pursued doggedly by strange beings, finding strange perils and discoveries in their journey.
As they progressed, Talli in the lead, the rain became heavier. They found it difficult to see, even to keep their eyes open. They were not accustomed to tolerating this sort of weather. At home when weather conditions were bothersome they stopped whatever they were doing until it was over. They never felt pressure to persist, as they did now.
The book does an exceptional job of creating a believable world for the Kirins, and having them interact with our reality:
Late in the morning, Gilin spied something ahead, high in the sky, a shining white body with wings and a tail, appearing to be moving in their direction. He had occasionally seen things like it from a high vantage point in the home forest, but only in the distance on the horizon, and they always seemed to be moving slowly. Among clan youngsters, rumor had it they were some type of human contrivance.
The characters are charming and engaging and I had no problem caring about their fate as they confront obstacles. They are familiar enough to relate too, with just enough mysterious essence to hold your curiosity. The fantasy world is well crafted; it is not confusing, nor is it boring. The plot is solid and carries the reader along, although it does meander a bit, which hurts the sense of urgency of the quest. Some of the waywardness is reasonable given the fact the characters are portrayed as somewhat bewildered and out of their depth, but I would have liked a touch more tension. Still, I cannot say it detracted overly from my reading enjoyment.
I do recommend the book for fantasy lovers of all ages; it is a skillfull work of fantasy fiction. Just keep in mind it is the first book in the trilogy; the Kirin quest continues in the second and third book.
A. F. Stewart, fantasy author,
Chronicles of the Undead,
Inside Realms, and others
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Highly visual and made for the big screen, James Priest's sweeping fantasy trilogy takes us on a spellbinding ride from North America across the Atlantic Ocean to Stonehenge in England.
A race of tiny, magical beings lives throughout Earth today. They are kirins. In the distant past humans knew them well. But an ancient rift occurred between the races, and kirin magicians cast a spell—the spell of no'an—making all kirins invisible to humans. Dwelling in elaborate tree homes and underground sanctuaries, kirins enjoy a strong kinship with animals, birds, and other creatures of their region. But sadly, we humans are unaware of their hidden civilization.
Book One of the KIRINS trilogy, The Spell of No'an, opens with a deadly menace threatening kirins everywhere. Elamare, a depraved kirin magician at Stonehenge, has dispatched monsters to attack kirins anywhere who know of his evil conduct. Two young kirins in the central part of North America, Gilin, an astute lad, and Talli, a spirited girl, have this knowledge and are thus in constant danger.
Their clans choose Talli and Gilin, devoted to each other, and three companions for a highly improbable mission—to destroy Elamare. As they fly eastward on trained ravens, a severe thunderstorm splits the party in two. Gilin and Talli are separated. The two parties search for each other in vain, both finally deciding to proceed alone.
On an impulse, a human youngster, Nathan, shoots Gilin's raven down with a shotgun. Gilin escapes injury, but knows that without help the raven will die. Visible to humans since being attacked by Elamare's monsters, Gilin confronts Nathan and his family. Awestruck by the miniature being, Nathan's grandfather secretly shelters the tiny explorers and their birds in his hunting lodge. In the first cooperation between the two races in eons, the kirins and humans nurse the bird back to health, and come to know and esteem each other.
Through magical instruments the traveling parties finally come together, but celebrate only briefly, knowing they have infinitely more to do before the mission is complete.
Talli and Gilin sit gazing into a campfire. He takes her hand. "I wonder if we'll succeed," he says. She squeezes his hand. "Everything depends on it."
This magical adventure will leave you yearning for more.
ForemostPress.com
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You'll find yourself looking to the skies for this mystical race of beings. --- ForemostPress.com
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