Colman [Hardcover]

Monica Furlong (Author), Karen Cushman (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 2004 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Set in very early Christian times, Colman is a spellbinding fantasy of a faraway age, when the mystical and the commonplace walked hand in hand. The healer, Juniper, and her apprentice, Wise Child, are accused of witchcraft and forced to flee their small town. Wise Child’s devoted cousin, Colman, escapes with them. This is his story of their arrival to the land of Juniper’s birth, where she is, in fact, a princess.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-8 This suspenseful novel concludes the saga that Furlong began in Wise Child (Turtleback, 1987) and Juniper(Knopf, 1992; o.p.), with the main characters returning to Juniper's home kingdom where she was a princess. For those who have not read the first two books, the beginning will be confusing. As the tale unfolds and the characters' personalities become evident, readers should be able to pick up the thread and follow the action. Juniper has been trained as a doran, a person with special magical gifts who strives for good in the universe. Wise Child is her apprentice, and Colman is their young friend. Another key ally from the earlier books is Cormac, a disfigured man whom Juniper has healed from leprosy. When this intrepid group arrives in Cornwall, they learn that Juniper's parents are dead. Her evil aunt, Meroot, and Meroot's Gray Knight have seized control of the kingdom and severely oppressed the people. Colman, Cormac, and Wise Child go to the palace and spy on Meroot, who is using Juniper's brother, Prince Brangwyn, the rightful heir, as a sort of regent to blackmail the survivors of the realm. The plot grows ever more complex as Juniper's mentor is found to be in service to Meroot and the children are captured and thrown in a dungeon. The story will keep readers turning pages right up to the satisfying resolution. Overall, this title is a powerful conclusion to the trilogy, but it does not stand alone as well as the other two volumes.--Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-8. In a surprising turn for an author who tended to focus on wise, powerful women, Furlong's posthumous follow-up to Wise Child (1987) and Juniper (1990) assumes a boy's point of view. While the second book stepped back in time to tell of Juniper's training as a doran, narrator Colman, Wise Child's devoted companion, picks up the new narrative precisely where the first book left off, just after the central characters have narrowly escaped Juniper's execution as a witch. The travelers seek asylum in Cornwall, where they discover that enemies from Juniper's past have subjugated her father's people and kidnapped his heir. Colman's guileless voice is appealing, but readers may long for more dimension to his character as he serves mostly as an admiring observer of fierce Wise Child, gentle Juniper, and curmudgeonly Euny, who draw upon Furlong's unique brand of earthy wisdom and white magic to restore harmony: "Good things, unexpected things, happen when people who love good take risks and work together." A foreword by Karen Cushman, part eulogy (Furlong died in January 2003), part precis of the story thus far, lends a bittersweet flavor to this long-awaited sequel. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (February 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375815147
• ISBN-13: 978-0375815140
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #358,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must-read if you liked Wise Child and Juniper!, March 11, 2004

By 

britta (new england) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Colman (Hardcover)

Wise Child and Juniper are two of my all-time favorite books, and I was surprised and delighted to discover Colman, the completion of the trilogy! Overall, it's an amazing and wonderful book, as is to be expected of Monica Furlong, but it does not live up to Wise Child and Juniper.

The story begins immediately where Wise Child left off, and the events of Wise Child and Juniper are explained in a very cursory way. I would not recommend reading Colman unless you have read Wise Child and Juniper, otherwise the story will not make much sense and will not be as fulfilling! Both Wise Child and Juniper could be read as stand-alones, but Colman could not.

Colman includes all of the familiar characters - Wise Child, Juniper, Cormac, Meroot, Euny, etc., but the difference is that this book is narrated by Colman, Wise Child's best friend/cousin. However, I would hesitate to say he's the main character - it's still Wise Child and Juniper's story, as it should be. I just wish it had been narrated by one of them!

Colman joins Juniper and Wise Child as they flee their home to escape persecution as witches. They sail to Juniper's homeland, where Juniper's father was once king. But now Juniper's evil aunt Meroot has taken over the land and rules it with her black magick. She and her partner have killed many of Juniper's family and friends, control the remaining people through violence and taxation, and by holding Juniper's brother hostage in Meroot's castle. It is up to Wise Child and Juniper, with the help of Colman, Finbar, Cormac, and Juniper's childhood teacher, to save the land from Meroot's evil and free Juniper's brother to reign as king. Wise Child and Colman voluntarily enter Meroot's castle, posing as traveling children seeking work as servants, in hopes that being inside the castle will allow them to discover a weakness in Meroot that they can exploit, as well as give them a chance to find Juniper's brother and help him. Their plan requires great courage, courage that is to be tested many times...

It seems to me that Wise Child was a book that was character-driven, while Colman is plot-driven. The greatest strength of Wise Child was its focus on the deep and loving relationship between Wise Child and Juniper - Juniper was simultaneously a mother, mentor, and friend to Wise Child. Although Wise Child contained exciting and suspenseful scenes, for me, the "meat" of the story took place during Wise Child and Juniper's "mundane," daily life - while they worked, talked, ate, and slept together and their bond grew. When Wise Child experiences something exciting then becomes bored with the return to normal life, Juniper tells her that she feels that the "dull bits" of life are usually the best, and that excitement is only necessary here and there to feed off of.
I agree, which was why it was a bit frustrating that Colman had virtually no "dull bits" at all! Wise Child, Juniper and friends are in mortal danger nearly from start to finish, which makes for an exciting, suspenseful story, yes...but that's not what drew me to Wise Child and Juniper, and it's not what I expected/hoped for from Colman.

Nonetheless, I will be reading Colman again, and I still enjoy my "least favorite" of Furlong's books lots more than I enjoy most books! :) It's technically a Young Adult book, but I'm 25 and still enjoyed it! I would recommend the Wise Child trilogy to anyone, child, teen, or adult, to be read in the following order:
-Wise Child
-Juniper
-Colman

I was very saddened to learn of Furlong's death (Jan. 03), but am immensely grateful that she gave us this final book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great follow-up to "Wise Child" and "Juniper", March 8, 2004

By 

Grady McNeil - See all my reviews

This review is from: Colman (Hardcover)

After reading "Juniper" and "Wise Child", I was excited to hear that Monica Furlong had written another book involving similar characters. Colman was not the main focus of the other books, but he takes center stage in this endearing story. Juniper, Colman, Wise Child, with the help of Finbar, return to Cornwall. To their horror, it has been ransacked, and the inhabitants are now at the mercy of the Gray Knight and Meroot. Juniper's brother, the prince, has been kidnapped and taken to Caerleon. Determined to help the citizens, Colman and Wise Child go to Caerleon in hopes to save the prince. What follows is an exciting story!
I enjoyed this book a great deal. It was a very good end to the series. I would suggest reading "Wise Child" and "Juniper" prior to reading this book.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars who wrote it?, April 18, 2006

By 

prema rasa - See all my reviews

This review is from: Colman (Mass Market Paperback)

I find it very hard to believe that Monica Furlong wrote Coleman- none of the characters is in character, so to speak, the "magic" is less than weak, and the pleasant outlook on life in the present is entirely missing.