Slave Power
by Raewyn Dawson
The spectacular cover image of the arrow-wielding young horse woman will certainly capture attention on the book shelves and encourage readers to flick through the pages of this beautifully presented book.
YA readers will readily identify with the cast of characters. Girls will love imagining themselves as pure-hearted Melo, who embraces the peace way, but is also a fearless soldier when required. Melo’s nemesis, Mithrida, selfishly manipulates behind the scenes determined to undermine not only Melo – she also covets the Queen’s power.
The empathic leadership qualities demonstrated by Melo and her tribe sends a positive message for teenage readers. The story is not all love and peace but does touch on darker elements of slavery, including murder, rape, and sexual perversion. Note, these are not graphically portrayed, only referred to in the context of the story. More emphasis is placed on cooperation and peaceful resolutions.
The story clips along and I had a continual desire to turn the page as I was invested in Melo and her tribe’s plight.
There were a couple of style issues that distracted me from the story. The first was an overabundance of exclamation marks throughout the entire novel and, in my opinion, culling 99.9% of them would markedly improve the story flow. The second would be allocating the point of view (POV) to specific characters and having a distinct break between POV changes and removing omnipresent intrusion.
The author must have performed meticulous research and this attention to detail alongside her imaginative flair has created a fully fleshed world, complete with an entire and credible belief system. The settings are so richly described that starting each chapter is like stepping into a mind movie.
I thoroughly enjoyed Slave Power, Book One, of The Amazon Series, and I would read more from this author.
by Raewyn Dawson
The spectacular cover image of the arrow-wielding young horse woman will certainly capture attention on the book shelves and encourage readers to flick through the pages of this beautifully presented book.
YA readers will readily identify with the cast of characters. Girls will love imagining themselves as pure-hearted Melo, who embraces the peace way, but is also a fearless soldier when required. Melo’s nemesis, Mithrida, selfishly manipulates behind the scenes determined to undermine not only Melo – she also covets the Queen’s power.
The empathic leadership qualities demonstrated by Melo and her tribe sends a positive message for teenage readers. The story is not all love and peace but does touch on darker elements of slavery, including murder, rape, and sexual perversion. Note, these are not graphically portrayed, only referred to in the context of the story. More emphasis is placed on cooperation and peaceful resolutions.
The story clips along and I had a continual desire to turn the page as I was invested in Melo and her tribe’s plight.
There were a couple of style issues that distracted me from the story. The first was an overabundance of exclamation marks throughout the entire novel and, in my opinion, culling 99.9% of them would markedly improve the story flow. The second would be allocating the point of view (POV) to specific characters and having a distinct break between POV changes and removing omnipresent intrusion.
The author must have performed meticulous research and this attention to detail alongside her imaginative flair has created a fully fleshed world, complete with an entire and credible belief system. The settings are so richly described that starting each chapter is like stepping into a mind movie.
I thoroughly enjoyed Slave Power, Book One, of The Amazon Series, and I would read more from this author.
Review by WJ Scott, multi-award winning children’s author
Title: Slave Power
Author: Raewyn Dawson
Publisher: Mary Egan Publishing
ISBN: 9780473389376
RRP: $25
Available: bookshops
Author: Raewyn Dawson
Publisher: Mary Egan Publishing
ISBN: 9780473389376
RRP: $25
Available: bookshops
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