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hickorynut 's review for:
The Sight
by David Clement-Davies
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Larka and Fell are born with The Sight, a rare revered and feared cerebral power that allows them to see through other eyes. Their mother's estranged sister Morgra seeks to fulfill a dark prophecy in which she would gain power over all wolfkind, as well as all other living beings. She amasses an army of followers, wolf, bird, and spirit, while a rebel army of wolves comes together in hopes of stopping her. Ultimately Larka must accept her destiny and step forward to save those she loves, and to protect a stolen human child from sacrifice. Strong themes include accepting responsibility one is born into, learning that all life is valuable and vulnerable, understanding death and how to meet it, and questioning what we are told should be. While the plot revolves around wolves, the lessons are starkly human, especially about our impact upon this natural world and the results of our actions now and in the future.
Rereading this for the first time as an adult was an interesting experience - I expected it to have aged worse. I feel as if I had more understanding of the subplots and human history which added to the complexity of the story. This was set in Transylvania and included many of the local legends, religions, and regional history that also was drawn into the beliefs of wolfkind. I found the exploration of the wolves' beliefs and understanding of creation to be an intriguing reflection of our own questions. The main complaint for this book is usually it's length and while I would agree it's unnecessarily drawn out in some ways, I also felt it was more balanced than I formerly believed as a now older reader with more perspective and education.
"In blind superstition lies evil."
"It may be true that we fear death, but it is also true that we would be no happier if we lived forever."
"Is there nothing, nothing we can see in life that is too terrible? No horror we can see that will bring peace?"
"The stone was cracked and broken and, while the pillars around them seemed so strong and forbidding, he saw that what had done this was nothing more than little weeds and grasses. Tiny shoots, drawn by the sunlight, had managed to reach up from the earth and shatter the human stones."
"The forests fell before Man, and the earth itself was shaken by human hands, as all of nature seemed to run before him. Man was everywhere, spreading, mating, multiplying, filled with the same desire to survive that gripped all life, but driven by a power and a hunger that not even they could understand."
"The world itself was suffering. It had grown black and tired. They saw forests consumed by machines, and the seas grew dark and polluted. Smoke and fire were being pumped into the skies."
"The humans are losing contact with what they are. They are forgetting their instincts."
"Great cliffs of ice crashed from their rocky peaks and thundered into the sea. The seas began to rise as the ice caps melted and the air grew thinner and thinner. Terrible winds began to blow and then, when the seas had swamped the land, and the flowers and the trees and the animals were gone, when everything...was gone, even man, a terrible cold settled on the earth. Again the ice came, but this time it was everywhere."
"Man will try to control the elements, until the elements control him."
"Man's real battles were as terrible as any dark myths. The humans had fought for land and power, driven by other stories that burned in their minds, stories quite as powerful as their shining swords, of a prophet who brought truth to the people of the book, and of a god impaled on a cross."
"We all die. Perhaps only when we know that can we truly begin to live. To see the wonder of it all, not the darkness."
Rereading this for the first time as an adult was an interesting experience - I expected it to have aged worse. I feel as if I had more understanding of the subplots and human history which added to the complexity of the story. This was set in Transylvania and included many of the local legends, religions, and regional history that also was drawn into the beliefs of wolfkind. I found the exploration of the wolves' beliefs and understanding of creation to be an intriguing reflection of our own questions. The main complaint for this book is usually it's length and while I would agree it's unnecessarily drawn out in some ways, I also felt it was more balanced than I formerly believed as a now older reader with more perspective and education.
"In blind superstition lies evil."
"It may be true that we fear death, but it is also true that we would be no happier if we lived forever."
"Is there nothing, nothing we can see in life that is too terrible? No horror we can see that will bring peace?"
"The stone was cracked and broken and, while the pillars around them seemed so strong and forbidding, he saw that what had done this was nothing more than little weeds and grasses. Tiny shoots, drawn by the sunlight, had managed to reach up from the earth and shatter the human stones."
"The forests fell before Man, and the earth itself was shaken by human hands, as all of nature seemed to run before him. Man was everywhere, spreading, mating, multiplying, filled with the same desire to survive that gripped all life, but driven by a power and a hunger that not even they could understand."
"The world itself was suffering. It had grown black and tired. They saw forests consumed by machines, and the seas grew dark and polluted. Smoke and fire were being pumped into the skies."
"The humans are losing contact with what they are. They are forgetting their instincts."
"Great cliffs of ice crashed from their rocky peaks and thundered into the sea. The seas began to rise as the ice caps melted and the air grew thinner and thinner. Terrible winds began to blow and then, when the seas had swamped the land, and the flowers and the trees and the animals were gone, when everything...was gone, even man, a terrible cold settled on the earth. Again the ice came, but this time it was everywhere."
"Man will try to control the elements, until the elements control him."
"Man's real battles were as terrible as any dark myths. The humans had fought for land and power, driven by other stories that burned in their minds, stories quite as powerful as their shining swords, of a prophet who brought truth to the people of the book, and of a god impaled on a cross."
"We all die. Perhaps only when we know that can we truly begin to live. To see the wonder of it all, not the darkness."