Customer Reviews

The Sun Singer: A Novel

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Cassandra was doomed to foresee the future, and never to be believed. In The Sun Singer, Robert Adams foresees tragedy he is helpless to prevent. Afterwards he denies his gift of prophecy until his grandfather's death opens a doorway to another, parallel life, where his gift is needed to wage a battle of monumental proportions. This is a beautiful, haunting book, and a compelling read. --Lynne

`The Sun Singer' tells of a mythical adventure filled with magical events as seen through the eyes of a young teenage boy, Robert Adams. It is his quest to complete the journey his grandfather began and which circumstances kept them from achieving together.

Robert Adams` psychic dreams tell him of the future, a future only his grandfather can interpret. The mixed match pieces of his dreams are like pieces of a puzzle that have no true meaning in our world of reality. Tragedy is foretold in a dream of Julianne's death, a dear friend of Robert's, leaving him to vow to gain control of his mind and reject his gift. The fairy tails and rhymes his grandfather profusely spoke into his life suddenly had no meaning, until that day in the mountains.

With much excitement, Robert finds himself among those whom his grandfather spoke of and others recognizable only from his psychic dreams. Each encounter takes him further up the mountainside and along a trail filled with magical characters. In his quest to complete his grandfather's travels and deliver himself from his psychic dreams, he now needs to rely on them to make sense of his journey.

Robert enters into another dimension through a magical doorway in search of Pyrrha, a village ruled by evil and the place that unlocks the mystery of Julianne's death. There he fulfills his promise and returns a young man.

This is a wonderful adventure story which is hard to put down! Within Robert?s quest to finish his beloved Grandfather?s work, every reader will find something which strikes a chord from his/her own life. Both Native American and Scottish lore are incorporated into the ?magic? or ?fantasy? elements, which are so well constructed that the reader never doubts that everything which occurs is quite real. The scenes are artfully crafted and the words carefully chosen ? a real delight. A great read for both teens and adults.

Campbell is an alchemist, expertly blending ingredients as diverse as vision quests and quantum mechanics to deliver something more like a powerful healing tonic than a novel: a sort of literary elixir. He delicately interweaves these elements into his story so skillfully that, unlike so many other novels of this genre, he avoids lecturing or preaching. Because of this nuanced approach to holistic and new age concepts, he reached me in a way that Castaneda never could. The characters are dynamic and complex, the dialogue authentic, and the relationships extraordinarily familiar. Campbell's interplay of waking and dreaming, the fantastic and the familiar, serves to obfuscate and disorient so effectively that when the epiphanies did come I felt them as deeply as if they were my own. Campbell commands language like a sorcerer, crafting vivid, visceral dreamscapes. Quite simply, The Sun Singer was like a lucid dream.

The main character in "The Sun Singer" is Robert Adams, a teenager who
has been tormented with his psychic dreams, especially after the death
of his grandfather, and Julianne. Robert was against the idea of battling
with his dreams. It was easier to ignore them, but his agony, and torment
lead to a major decision. He had the dying need to meet the people who knew his grandfather, and he had to find out the truth about his close
friend's death, Julianne. The choice he had to make in order to move on
in life was a once in a lifetime opportunity, which happened while on a
family vacation in the mountains, after the passing of his grandfather.
The door of Pyrrha opens, inviting Robert to enter a village that's
ruled by evil, mystical magic, and a journey of ultimate reality into
the future. As Robert enters this mythical kingdom, does he grow up
overnight? Is he prepared to battle with evil, and step into war as he
confronts his grandfather's betrayer? Does he stop blaming himself
for a tragedy he could not prevent? Will he survive Pyrrha's evil as
he unlocks the mystery of Julianne's death? As Robert set out on his
quest to complete a journey that his grandfather began, the pages to
"The Sun Singer" become an unforgettable magical adventure. I recommend
this novel to teens, adults, and all fantasy lovers. Malcolm R. Campbell
takes the reader on a magnificent, magic carpet ride to the past, the
present, and the future. The story is enlightening, and tug's at the
reader's heart as the adventure becomes a journey that strikes a chord
in every reader, while looking back into the years of growing up. This
novel is packed with riveting intensity, and is hauntingly powerful.
As each page in "The Sun Singer" fits another piece to the mysterious
puzzle that Robert is determined to put together, the story becomes
more entertaining, and touching. The author created a brilliant,
must-read fantasy that makes you crave for a sequel. "The Sun Singer"
takes the reader into an enchanting adventure, with magical power,
and healing tonic. After Robert enters a time-zone of another world,
the mystery he unravels leaves unforgettable consequences as if
viewing "The Sixth Sense" with Bruce Willis!


Geraldine Ahearn, A.I.O.M.
Author of 6 books
Founding Member ABI Women's Review Board

Growing up is seldom an easy proposition. If you are a rare individual gifted with clairvoyance and blessed (or cursed) with a crucial destiny to fulfill, the difficulties become manifold. Robert Adams learns this lesson when he steps - like Alice through the Looking Glass, or Lucy through the Wardrobe- into Pyrrha, a world that throbs with latent magic, rich history...and hosts the most colorful cast of characters you could ever hope to meet.

This book blends the brand of mysticism and wisdom we're wont to associate with the Native Americans (and Casteneda's Don Juan) with more classical fantasy (3 staffs of power, gates between worlds), myth (a Dryad, a "speaking" Eagle and Raven Familiar) together with author Campbell's contagious wit, humor, and uncommon insight into human nature. We're talking about a human story here, after all, and its fantasy tag may lead some readers astray, expecting Potter wands held aloft and brought to life with exclamations in pig-latin. Then again, I don't expect such a journey as this book chronicles will be beckoning me when I step out my front door tomorrow; though I admit I dearly hope that my chance might come, at least once in this life.

I have encountered few books that have moved me like this one has. Thomas Covenant. Lord of the Rings. Stranger in a Strange Land. There are a few I could name; but really, how many life-changing moments can you have without feeling a little crazy in the end? Life, in its wisdom, rations them out to us. The Sun Singer is one. Maybe I'll never have the opportunity to encounter the forces of darkness and light that struggle in the depths of my soul, personified within an exotic and yet strangely familiar otherworld, like Robert Adams was fortunate enough to. But I do know this: after reading this book, my own mundane world didn't look or feel quite the same. I reckon yours may not either, at that.

This book is very different from my normal reads but the writing is meticulous and pulls you into the story so deep you really feel you are there. The tale unfolds throughout and you can never foretell where is coming next. Hopefully there is a nother story coming soon.

I read about one half of THE SUN SINGER and then made the mistake of allowing an inquisitive teenager to read a few pages. The book was gone in a flash and not returned until finished. Compelling characters and challenging scenarios keep these pages turning. I had a couple of beloved grandfathers, I could relate to Robert Adams. I had to discover what he would do next.

Author Malcolm R. Campbell weaves many fantastic one-two liners into this story. I have several favorites. An example: "Lovely word, hallucinating," drawled Tor. "I must put it on my list of important words."

There is an unconventional "Alice in Wonderland" feel when Robert steps into other dimensions with curious readers at his heels. Adults will enjoy this novel. Teens will love it.

Robert Adams is both cursed and blessed with the ability to dream of the future, but not necessarily control it.

Full of poignant despair, Robert struggles to reject his gift. Campbell's writing is captivating as you are drawn into the confusion in this young man's mind as he sets out on a journey his grandfather put in motion.

Enjoy the ride as you travel along with young Adams as he experiences the magic and mysticism of Navajo lore towards fulfillment of a promise he made to his grandfather.

This is an enjoyable fantasy and I recommend it for all

Robert Adams has come home. Or has he?

In the Worlds of Multiple Dimensions, just where is home? On a journey into destiny, is 'home' the beginning or the end of the journey? Or does 'home' usurp such limiting boundries as time and space?
Whatever is the Ultimate Reality, traveling the journey with Robert has opened new horizons of possibility and wonderment for me regardless the answer.
The Worlds of The Sun Singer give credence to the eloquent words of Richard Bach in "Illusions" . . . "Magic is only magic until we understand it."
I will take more journeys with Robert Adams as he has now taken residence in my imagination. The Sun Singer isn't just a book, it's an enlightening. It's a pass to worlds beyond the mundane of closed thought and mediocrity. Perhaps 'home' is in the unopened doors of imagination after all.

Kudos to Mr. Campbell for daring to go through the doors found at the outer reaches of the mind and the Universe.

Susan Haley, Author

"Rainy Day People"
"Fibers In The Web"