Customer Reviews

Eel's Reverence

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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Go buy Eel's Reverence by Marian Allen (Twitter: @marianallen). It's a great read. It's inexpensive. You'll like it.

Now here's why I recommend the novel.

I enjoyed reading and learning about the world Marian has created. Characters intrigued me. The protagonist, Libby, is not in the usual vein especially in these days of the brooding, half-dressed teens. That is not to say there are not brooding young types. It's just that the main character is an old woman. A woman of faith who is being overrun by a new order. Our hero, Aunt Libby, is thrust into the role of resistance and collaborator to this new order.

The story takes place on a world not too unlike our own though in more primitive times. This world is agrarian, machine free. Humans share this world with non-humans. The conflict between human and non-human grinds upon both races. The non-humans are interesting, compelling, and prickly.

Libby begins as a woman of a faith that has slipped into irrelevancy at best and at worst into a problem for the powerful. Her own desire to just slip away brings her to the focus of the new powers who seek money and control. Her allies and enemies shift allegiances, accommodating their own agendas, giving the plot both mystery and tension.

Libby seems ill-equipped to contain this storm. Yet, though her naivete, her faith, her age are weaknesses, they are also her strengths.

The plot of power and the machinations of those seeking power is old and timeless. I just need to look around to see this plot played out continuously around us. Marian's treatment of this tale is interesting and fun.

I would like to see and hear more of this world. The author has gifted us with a small taste. I hope you too will enjoy Eel's Reverence by Marian Allen.

Eel's Reverence is a story about peace overcoming violence, as well as an exploration of a fantasy world of "mermayds" (who all seem to be male), and a society where men give birth and couples start families at the age of ten. It's an interesting place to visit and a story with a worthwhile message.

I wish the author had developed this world more fully, however. I finished the book with many questions. For example, what are the consequences of men experiencing pregnancy? (and women not experiencing it?) As far as I could tell, the men and women in this world behave the same as they do in ours, which seemed like a lost opportunity. I also wanted to better understand the religion of Micah at the center of the conflict, and why the people of the city were so helpless against a handful of bullies.

I just finished this book, encouraged to buy it after reading about Marian and her characters on one of her tours through book review blogs.

Eel's Reverence is a fantasy allegory that wonderfully compares a humble heart of a "true" priest to "reaver priests" who would take advantage of others through a demanding litany of subservience. Eel's Reverence explores relationships between friends and enemies, and all the results of dealing with hard choices. As a Christian, I had no trouble relating to the allegory in this novel, and the conflicts that arise in real life. Very well done, with a new conflict, just as I thought the story would end. Marian Allen is an accomplished storyteller. My money was well spent - if you enjoy fantasy or allegorical stories, yours will be too!

As a pacifistic elderly woman, Aunt Libby is not your everyday fantasy protagonist. That's what first caught my eye about Eel's Reverence and it's what I enjoyed about the story. As a true priest, Libby offers kindness and forgiveness to everyone, even people who have made attempts on her life. She inspires the characters around her to do what's right, which drives the entire story. A lot of characters turn from enemies into friends regardless of whether they're religious themselves. One character seemed like a cliched, cardboard villain at first, but they turned themselves around thanks to Libby's inspiration -- and I found them a downright endearing character by the end. Basically, there's a lot of violence and scheming to liberate the Eel, but Libby and her genuine faith provide a lot of positive themes to balance out the blood.

I did have a few quibbles with the writing. The characters never seem to look after for their horses or think about the horses' needs, even when riding them all day and night through the desert. I doubt this was a conscious choice on the author's part (because the horses show no ill effects), but it still bothered me that those poor horses were being driven like cars. I also found scene description a bit lacking at times, summing up significant actions in a simple "X did Y" manner that didn't capture as much feeling as it could have.

More significantly, Libby's point of view is used at all times, even for scenes she wasn't present in. This became jarring sometimes when Libby hadn't been onscreen for twenty pages and the narrative suddenly referred to "me". Then I'd remember that this is Libby's narration and I'd wonder how she knew all the tiny details of the scene. Did someone tell her all the details she herself would have noticed ...? It would have been more effective to use the POV of someone who was actually there, especially when Loach the mermayd was the focus character. Fair treatment of mermayds was an important issue in the story, and I thought they were an interesting race in general, so I was disappointed that the mermayd worldview was always filtered through a human POV.

But like I say, those are quibbles. They weren't enough to stop me from enjoying the story, and I'm glad I found this book.

I started Eel's Revenge not knowing quite what to expect. I usually don't like religious themed fantasy but before I knew it, this one had drawn me in and right past my prejudices into a really good story.

Although they are not anything alike on the surface, the novel reminds me of the old show "Kung Fu", at its heart. The inhabitants of the Eel are suffering under repressive leaders; they have a hunger for spiritual truth and are drawn to the unlikely heroine Aunt Libby. She brings out the best in (most of) the people she meets on her journey - never in a treacly, sappy way but with subtle humor and simple courage.

And it doesn't hurt that there were a few twists and turns along that way that I didn't see coming. :-)

A good read, a fascinating fantasy world that I would like to see more of.

In Eel's Reverence, Marian Allen has created a delightful fantasy world and a great cast of characters. The "Eel" is similar to our world in more agrarian times. Battles are fought with knives, fists, clubs, and crossbows. Travel is by horse or cart. Humankind and mermayds come into contact and conflict with each other in a complex, prickly relationship. The complexity of relationships is not confined to race. Aunt Libby unwittingly stumbles into the role of foil to an alliance of reaver priests who have taken over the Eel. She and the belligerent, brooding "tad" who befriends her must sort through a tangle human and non-human agendas.

I enjoyed following the adventures of her protagonist, Aunt Libby, an aging "true" priest of Micah, who grows tired of watching parishioners abandon the true faith for the showy temples of reaver priests. She intrigued me because she is not in the usual vein of the scantily clad and beautiful heroine. Aunt Libby's naiveté, her adherence to the true faith, and her age are both strengths and weaknesses in the struggle to peacefully resolve differences between races and faiths.

In Marian's world, nothing is quite what it seems. The machinations of the rich and powerful to control the masses is one of the oldest, but Eel's Reverence gives it a fresh and inviting treatment. In the Eel, everyone has their own agenda and Aunt Libby is pushed to both resist and collaborate with the revers. Often her faith is tested. Her friends and enemies shift allegiances and forsake her at the most inopportune moments. Through it all Eel's Reverence shines with humor, great pacing, and plot that is filled with mystery and tension. I highly recommend you read this book. Better yet, have someone read it aloud to get the full impact of Marian's skill with language.