Customer Reviews

The Hidden Arrow of Maether

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

 

 

Fourteen-year-old Linn continues to mourn her father, even though it's been years since he died. When her mother remarried, this time to a worshipper of the demon Rane, it was almost more than Linn could bear. Her stepfather's beatings over the past years are nothing compared to his latest demand, however. He arranges a marriage for Linn that will requirer her to convert her faith and becom a worshiper of the demon. Obeying this order would go against everything Linn's beloved father taught her. So she runs away and boards a ship, hoping to find the fabled City of the Trees, where the Lysefolk spoken of in her father's religion are said to live. But not before recieving a harsh beating from her stepfather that leaves a strange mark the shape of an arrow in the palm of her hand. This mark, supposedly the Hidden Arrow that can defeat Rane once and for all, causes some to fear and hate her, and others to trust her for their salvation. Linn must find out the true meaning of the "Hidden Arrow" if she is to fufill her destiny and build a new life for herself. I highly reccomend this book to teens who enjoy fantasy novels.

The Hidden Arrow is a fun book for kids and adults. There's a main character you instinctively identify with, lots of suspense both in plot and character development, and enough fantasy to keep you on your toes. I couldn't put it down until it was finished. This is Aiden Beaverson's first book. I predict she'll go far.

In this allegorical fantasy of good versus evil, the world of Maether was created by the Great One and is held together by the mighty sentinels and the 60 lysefolk that the Great One placed in the City of Trees. Whenever a lyse (pronounced lees) dies, the Great One sends another. There must always be the mighty sentinel trees and the 60 lysefolk, or Maether will no longer exist. But the demon Rane, the enemy of the Great One, is killing the sentinels one by one, and he wants to destroy the lysefolk and the City of Trees. Rane is getting stronger and stronger, and his followers are beginning to dominate the land. Truens, who are followers of the Great One, must keep their faith secret or they'll be attacked by Rane's worshippers, robbed of all their belongings, and even killed.

In the midst of this cosmic struggle, 15-year-old Linnet lives quietly in Maether, wishing for nothing except that her brutal stepfather will leave her alone. Linnet's own father died when she was a small child, and her mother remarried a Rane worshiper. All Linnet has left of her father is his Lysetome, the leather book of his faith which she cherishes, and the dreams she has of her father telling her to "take the path." She remains faithful to her Truen faith. So, when her stepfather tells her that he has betrothed her to a Ranite and she must accept the red tattoo of Rane on her forehead, Linnet decides to escape. That's when something miraculous happens: a pathway forms as the grasses and weeds bend down before her. It can't be the wind doing it because the wind is blowing from the north, and the pathway leads toward the east. Could this be what her father meant in her dreams?

Linnet follows the path, which leads her on a quest. She wants to find the City of Trees. This quest is difficult enough. She almost doesn't make it. But when she gets there, she learns that she must embark on another, even greater and more dangerous quest. This second quest is so dangerous, in fact, that one lyse has already died trying to make it, and the lysefolk can only ask Linnet to embark upon it --- she alone must decide if she will. Does the lysemark on her hand mean that the Great One has chosen her to be a lyse? Will she be able to find the path to the sacred waters of Maer's Lake? The future of the lysefolk and all of Maether depends upon it. And Rane will stop at nothing to prevent it.

THE HIDDEN ARROW OF MAETHER is a book of courage, faith, and high purpose, with a dash of romance tossed in. You will enjoy the imaginative world the author creates, and you'll want to read about Linnet's quests as she fights for the Great One.


---Reviewed by Tamara Penny

This book was so amazing! The Hidden Arrow of Maether is a very good book and has a great storyline. The characters feel real; their emotions are so humanlike! There are a few words that are difficult to pronounce, and the book has a little bit of violence, but you can really get a magical adventure out of it. It's really cool the way Beaverson doesn't explain all of the questions you might have at the end, but still wraps it all up neatly... maybe this shows that perhaps some questions should never be answered.

I enjoyed this book very much. I would say that it is more suited to younger ages, but if you're a big fantasy reader like me, you'll enjoy it.
What I enjoyed about it was it's simple but pure content. It shows that there is a good and bad side. The characters are realistic to me, because you see that they aren't perfect; they get tired, scared, mad and dirty, just like anyone else. It was creative and sweet!

Aiden Beaverson's The Hidden Arrow of Maether is a temporarily amusing YA fantasy, targeted toward the pre-teen/early teen crowd. Unfortunately, it holds only minimal interest for the older and more jaded fantasy reader.

For example, there's the plot. A young, rebellious, Talented, Follower of the Light/Truth and General Good Guy (girl) leaves a restrictive and oppressive environment to join other Followers of the Light/Truth in their secret hideout hidden from the eyes of powerful, tyrannical, evil forces. The young protagonist follows a laid out destiny and ends up saving all the Followers of the Light/Truth by dint of special powers, youth and faith.

Sound familiar? No, it's not Star Wars. Not that this sort of plot isn't capable of greatness-- after all, look at Star Wars. But Arrow doesn't manage to pull it off, and remains a mildly generic, mildly enjoyable fantasy. There is nothing particularly notable about it. In fact, it's all rather shallow. The conflict between good (the Truens, followers of the true religion, obviously)-- and evil (the Ranites), is drawn in overly simplistic terms without ever exploring shades of gray-- a possible one being that no religion is ever totally without corruption and another that *nothing* is ever all good or bad. But there aren't any shades of uncertainty here; the reader knows immediately who's on which side and every character and struggle is obviously good vs. evil. I, for one, hate being expected to believe that something, particularly a religion, is good just because the author says so. Linn's not a particularly unique heroine, either; most of what she accomplishes is done either through inexplicable acts of destiny/God and even so after quite a bit of whining on her part. And there are occasionally gaps in the world building-- how can anything be 'heavenly' when Christianity doesn't exist in that world?

Beyond that, there's nothing seriously the matter with Arrow, and at the same time, nothing to make it stand out from dozens of similar fantasies. If you don't mind spending an hour on a predictable but certainly readable fantasy, by all means, read it. For something really outstanding, though, Robin McKinley, Garth Nix and Lloyd Alexander are much better choices.