Land Without Evil: A Novel [Hardcover]

Matthew J. Pallamary (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

A timeless message to our universal soul, Land Without Evil is the story of the Guarani people of South America and their quest to maintain their culture during the European onslaught of the 1700s. Shamanism, historical conflict, coming of age, and a touching love story drive this impeccably researched novel.

"Bravo...More!" Ray Bradbury,author of Fahrenheit 451

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Land Without Evil is a great read for anyone looking for insight and inspiration on their own spiritual journey..." -- Harold Bloomfield, author of Hypericum and Depression

"A triumphant blending of creative imagination and deep scholarly research, both driven by Pallamary's philosophical idealism, Land Without Evil proves that a suspenseful novel can sizzle with conflict--with no villains on either side, only good souls who differ." -- Charles Champlin, critic, and author of Back There Where the Past Was

"Pallamary plunges into the heart with a moving tale about people caught between worlds--the past, the future, and the possible..." -- David Brin, author of The Postman

"Read, trust, expand, and know that once we, too, were all there...EMPOWERED!" -- Victor Villasenor, author of Rain of Gold

About the Author

A frequent lecturer at writers' conferences, Matthew J. Pallamary has been published in countless magazines and journals. His collection of short stories, THE SMALL DARK ROOM OF THE SOUL, received mention in "The Year's Best Horror and Fantasy". He frequently visits the rain forests of Yucatan and Chiapas, pursuing his studies of shamanism.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 358 pages
• Publisher: Charles Pub Co; 1st edition (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0912880090
• ISBN-13: 978-0912880099
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #206,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Matthew J. Pallamary's work has appeared in Oui, New Dimensions, The Iconoclast, Starbright, Infinity, Passport, The Short Story Digest, Redcat, The San Diego Writer's Monthly, Connotations, Phantasm, Essentially You, The Haven Journal, and many others. His fiction has been featured in The San Diego Union Tribune which he has also reviewed books for, and his work has been heard on KPBS-FM in San Diego, KUCI FM in Irvine, television Channel Three in Santa Barbara, and The Susan Cameron Block Show in Vancouver. He has been a guest on the following nationally syndicated talk shows; Paul Rodriguez, In The Light with Michelle Whitedove, and Environmental Directions Radio series. Mr. Pallamary has also appeared on the following nationally syndicated television shows speaking about fading cultures; Bridging Heaven and Earth, Elyssa's Raw and Wild Food Show, and ECONEWS.

His first book The Small Dark Room Of The Soul is in its second printing and has been e-published by Alexandria Digital Literature. It has also been mentioned in The Year's Best Horror and Fantasy. His second short story collection, A Short Walk To The Other Side, was published as an e-book, by Mystic-Ink, an imprint of the Digital Literature Institute. DreamLand a novel about computer generated dreaming, written with Ken Reeth was also published as an e-book by Mystic-Ink and won the 2002 Independent e-Book Award in the Horror/Thriller category.

Matt has twenty years of teaching experience at major writer's conferences throughout the United States and is presently part of the faculty of the Southern California Writer's Conference and the Santa Barbara Writer's Conference.

His historical novel of first contact between shamans and Jesuits in 18th century South America, titled, Land Without Evil, has been published in hardcover by Charles Publishing, and has received rave reviews along with a San Diego Book Award for mainstream fiction. It is also recommended and required reading in over a dozen high school and college English departments throughout the United States and was chosen as a Reading Group Choices selection. Mr. Pallamary also received the 2000 Man of the Year award from San Diego Writer's Monthly Magazine. His memoir, titled SPIRIT MATTERS, chronicles Matt's life long search for truth that took him from the false spirituality of a violent concrete jungle in an Irish Catholic ghetto in Boston to the discovery of true spirituality in the jungles of the Amazon won first place in the San Diego Book Award Spiritual Book Category and was an Award Winning Finalist in the National Best Book Awards 2008.

He frequently visits the jungles, mountains, and deserts, of North, Central, and South America pursuing his studies of shamanism.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Magical Realism with a Scholar's Eye, November 17, 1999

By 

Toni Michael (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Land Without Evil: A Novel (Hardcover)

In his new novel, Land Without Evil, Matt Pallamary has transcended his years of writing horror fiction. He has gathered together his years of learning the craft of writing, and his years of devotion to the shamanic path, to spin out a yarn of silken fibers of highest quality, weaving a universal hero story.

The Land without Evil is the mythical paradise of the Guarani people of Amazonia, the place they hope to be led in a dance by a great shaman at the end times. The novel, Land Without Evil, is the story of Ava-Tape, as he undergoes shamanic training and initiation, led by his father, Ava-Nembiara. Ava-Tape has been educated by Jesuit missionaries, and has learned their ways of worshipping their God. But he cannot understand a god who does not speak directly to him in a voice he can hear.

In the Guarani world, the gods sing in the voices of the forest. Ava-Tape's task is to learn the song of Tupa, the son of gods, and to learn to dance in perfect expression of the song, to lead his people on the path to the Land without Evil.

This book does for Guarani culture what The Celestine Prophecy did for Mayan culture. It explores a culture and a way of life with deep spiritual teachings of an ancient tribal people. However, Pallamary does it in a style that is both utterly Realistic, while at the same time Magical.

Pallamary's scholarly eye informs every line of the novel. The story is steeped in knowledge of plants and herbs, birds, animals, and tribal people. The knowledge is delivered seamlessly within the line of the story. If you like Jean Auel's world of prehistoric people, you'll love Pallamary's tribal world. The hero is a real man, with the fears and longings and struggles of Everyman, and some superhuman struggles, for good measure.

Pallamary has not forgotten his roots in horror fiction. More than one scene is equal to Steven King. I won't give any of it away and spoil the frisson.

And yet, Pallamary's horror scenes are utterly Realistic. Nothing is supernatural. At the same time, they are enfolded in the Magical world Ava-Tape inhabits.

The conflicts are conflicts of cultures, embodied in men. The Spanish conquistadores, with their weapons of steel and gunpowder, and their religion of writing and reading, were deaf and blind to the songs and dances of the forest. The Guarani, encountering the Spaniards, could do nothing but die or flee to their promised land.

Pallamary's work is as Realistic and as Magical as Castaneda's Yaqui Way of Knowledge. To quote Ray Bradbury's blurb on the cover, "Bravo... More!"

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You won't be disappointed . . . an exciting read, January 6, 2000

By 

Lorenzo Hagerty "Lorenzo" (Del Mar, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Land Without Evil: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is one of the finest novels about the extinction of species I have ever read. What distinguishes "Land Without Evil" from other ecological tales is that the species facing extinction is the human species, embodied in the Guarani people. Pallamary's fluid writing style makes this book a real page-turner, and his grasp of the social and historical processes which shaped the Americas during their early colonial period is unsurpassed. Highly recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A mystical roller coaster ride in the jungle!, January 25, 2000

By 

Robert Duane Gubala "RobG" (San Diego) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Land Without Evil: A Novel (Hardcover)

A powerfully tragic yet hopeful story that takes the reader deep into the jungle and then gives a mystical roller coaster ride through the eyes of this books hero. The character becomes you because of this wonderful writers skills... your reality and his blurs together seamlessly. A must read, gotta have it kind of book that becomes glued to your hands until you finish it in a sweat. WOW!