Customer Reviews

Child of An Ancient City

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was first drawn to "Child of an Ancient City" while awaiting the last installment of Memory Sorrow and Thorn, and found myself intially apprehensive, but later enthralled. This book is indeed a worthwhile read. Set in a world that could very well have existed 200yrs or 2000yrs in the past, this tale begins with a raid on a merchants caracan, whereby a lucky few are thrown together, companions by necessity now more than choice. Then, as they make their way back to civilization, they are followed by a mysterious lurking presence. One by one they are lost, until they finally realise what they face, a creature of a nocturnal, blood craving nature, who is immortal, and invincible. Their only sure way of surviving is to sit around camp fires by night, each taking turns to tell tales to keep this creature entertained until the daylight hours. All goes well until they must compete against each other for their very lives. Overall the story is quite entertaining, and the addition of a whole series of smaller stories of mythos and legends, add to make a book with great depth of character. My favourite being of the Holy-man whose very ability to perform miracles depended on his impurity of spirit. Well worth a read.

Hi all,

I'm an absolutely _huge_ fan of Tad Williams. I've read everything out there from Talechaser's Song to Mountain of Black Glass (and read MST three times). I've read both of his shorter works: Child of an Ancient City and Caliban's Hour. In reading Child, I found the prose weaker than what I was accustomed to with Tad: perhaps this was due to the condensed nature or perhaps it was that much of the text was actually written by Nina? I'm undecided. On the whole I enjoyed it more than Caliban's Hour. I would recommend this book to fans of Tad but not to the uninitiated.

I am a big fan of Tad Williams Dragonbone chair series. This is different but still very good a nice variation on the traditional vampire story.

I've only read _Caliban's Hour_ by Tad Williams but I liked that much better than this book. I've also read some shorter works by Hoffman which I've had mixed feeling on. This seemed more like a long, short story. It did seem rushed because there was a lot in the story. A main setting of some men having dinner and then one of them telling a story and then the characters in that story telling many stories.

As confusing as that sounds it wasn't a confusing read. I like the arabian setting and it was funny at times but nothing really impressed me about it, except for one of the stories told within the main story.

I think it would be more impressive for someone just getting into fantasy as opposed to a veteran. Though as the last reviewer mentioned it may not correctly represent Williams' 'normal' style of writing.

Simple and shallow, this one isn't at all like Williams' more popular epics like Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Otherland, or Shadowmarch. This short novella, about a jaunty group of Arabs getting lost in unfamiliar territory and being harassed by a story-loving vampire, lacks the complexity and emotion that have made Williams' other work so popular. Instead, in this one, you get a mostly light-hearted (even with Death as a constant companion) story composed mostly of other smaller tales told within the major tale, as undeveloped characters attempt to distract a tormented (but curious) vampire by wracking their brains for entertaining stories so that they don't get eaten. One positive note, this is the first Williams book I've ever read that wasn't in dire need of a critical editor! The chiefest complaint I've had with his books in the past is that he tends to unnecessarily drag his stories out. Still, I've always enjoyed the complexity and seriousness of his work, and couldn't help feeling a bit let down by this simple story. I think most readers of his will have a similar reaction.

Nonetheless, this is actually an interesting theme and was executed effectively by Williams and Hoffman. I'd still recommend it, especially as it could be read in a single sitting, and won't take too much or your precious time.

A "Arabian Nights"-era group who are taking gifts from their Caliph to a "Cauccasian" prince, are hunted by a "Vampyr". In order to survive, they accept his wager to tell a tale that is more sad than his.
* POSITIVE ELEMENTS: Self-sacrifice plays a large role in the book. When one of the men is seriously wounded in a fall, the others will not leave him, though it will slow their flight from the monster. At the end of the story, though the monster is getting ready to kill him, one of the protagonists cries for the beast's neverending lonliness.
* SPIRITUAL CONTENT: The majority of the characters are Muslim and constantly offer praise to Allah. Two of the characters claim to be Christian, but flee their faith because the Church won't allow them to marry. They are relatives. The main character speaks of Muslims preaching in front of Christian churches and converting many of them to the "true faith." This is somewhat disconcerting from a Christian perspective, as this book is obviously written on a grade school level and may affect young minds.
* SEXUAL CONTENT: .The book doesn't have any sexual content, per say, though the main character refers to the act by a crude term. Another character, while telling a story, mentions that he, as a young man, was following a girl who had promised sexual activity before disaster strikes. Two relatives marry, leaving their homeland and, presumably, their Christian faith to do so. One of the illustrations shows an Arabian woman in revealing attire.
* VIOLENT CONTENT: People are killed in a number of ways. One man is bludgeoned in the head, another's throat ripped out. Blood is shown to be virtually non-existent on corpses, as the creature that is stalking them feeds on it.
* CRUDE OR PROFANE LANGUAGE: One word. One man uses the phrase, "Am I a Christian or a Jew?" as a swear phrase.
* DRUG AND ALCOHOL CONTENT: The story is being told at a celebration where many of the characters are drunk from too much wine. At one point, a servant drops (and destroys) a barrel of wine.
* OTHER NEGATIVE ELEMENTS: The book leaves one loose end. The main character mentions, in a story that he tells, that he regrets never having seen what was in a package that he delivered to a wealthy woman in his youth. We never find out what this item is. Also, the resolution seems a bit forced. The villain's story is predictable, at best.
Another thing to take into consideration is that this book deals with rather mature subject matter, considering its reading level. I'd say that a sixth grader would be able to read it with full comprehension. The violence and religious viewpoint should be enough to give Christian parents pause.
* CONCLUSION: For an adult, a decent, somewhat unfulfilling read. Not for the kids, though.

A very interesting book. A group of travellers is ambushed by bandits. Then, their companions are slowly killed off by this mysterious "vampyr", which drains them of blood. Then, it challenges them. Whoever tells the saddest story lives, but in the end, it wins. When the boy is chosen, his pity and sorrow about it's plight somehow angers it(why it let's them go is beyond me.) and it lets them go, it's too short though, and the stories, except for the Vampyr's are not very sad at all, but otherwise, a good book. Good reading for all ages.