Customer Reviews

Land Without Evil: A Novel

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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!"

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.

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!

Pallamary uses a highly visual style to tell the story of a young shaman's stuggle with changing times. You can literally see in your mind's eye the luscious green forest; you can smell the rich scents of the humid air; you can hear the calls of the macaws and howlers echoing around you. The reader is truly consumed into this wonderful story, and becomes a part of the magic. This book is at once both a spiritual triumph and a saddening wake up call to the world. Tupa must be very proud.

Here is a novel woven with facts that every person who believes they should go to remote peoples and change their ancient spritual traditions should read first. "Land Without Evil" gently transports the reader into a paradigm of the native healers/shaman. A way of life that more and more people are now longing to learn and experience for themselves. A story such as this pulls us to respect and honor what little is left of this way of life, when humans were open to more than the material world.

This is one of the best novels I have ever read. The story and descriptions give you the full sensations of the experience of the journey to the land without evil. From inside the head of the young shaman Ava-Tape, you see, hear, and smell tribal South America. You share his confusions about the ways of the missionaries, a people who would "crucify the son of their god."

I went through a wide range of emotions reading this book. From the joy of the dance and the thrill of young love to the sadness and horror of survival in a changing world, I was involved in the lives of the Guarani in this story. I felt like I was part of the family in the jungle. Excellent!

It's such a pleasure to read a book in which the author has invested not only his talent but his heart. You come to really care for the world Pallamary has created, and all the people who live in it. I could see everything as if I were there instead of reading a book. Awesome.

without a doubt, you will see this story in a movie theatre near you. matthew pallamary has a way with words, that you only wish you knew how to do. i have 10 copies of this book which i am spreading across america. i am jumping on this band wagon.............want to jump behind me?

Length:: 1:22 Mins

Land Without Evil: A Novel