Wind Follower [Paperback]

Carole McDonnell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2007

Although it is not entirely to her liking, grief-stricken Satha, a dark-skinned woman from a poor Theseni clan weds young Loic, the wealthy Doreni son of the king's First Captain. Loic, graced with ability to see into the hearts and minds of others, begins to help Satha overcome her sorrows. Despite coming from different tribes, they begin to forge a life together. But when Satha's own compassion is used against her and a treacherous enemy contrives to dishonor her in Loic's absence, Loic's love turns to anger and disgust. Embittered, Loic must still avenge his honor and Satha's and he sets out on a journey that brings despair as well as spiritual discovery. Battling him are the Arkhai, the spirits of the land who know his quest will lead him toward the God whom they have usurped. After his departure, Satha is kidnapped, sold into slavery and learns, first hand, how cruel the pioneering Angleni tribe can be. Both face great hardship, danger and anguish apart, but with the Creator's aid there remains hope they will be reunited and heal the love the world has torn asunder.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McDonnell's promising fantasy debut portrays a land inhabited by the black-skinned Theseni, brown Ibeni and tan Doreni. Peace among the three tribes is disrupted by the paler-skinned, domineering Angleni as well as inner clan conflicts. Loic tyu Taer, the son of the wealthy headman of the Doreni Pagatsu clan, falls in love at first sight with Satha tya Monua, the impoverished but proud daughter of his father's old Theseni friend. Loic requests an immediate marriage and Satha's parents agree, but for Satha, passion takes longer to ignite, and Loic's father's jealous third wife plots to destroy their happiness. The two must reaffirm their faith in each other and the Creator God to find their way through their troubles. McDonnell's language is delicate almost to a fault, even as she describes betrayal, rape and slavery, while her elegant, meticulous world-building shimmers with the ambience of an old-world folktale. (Oct.)
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Review

McDonnell's promising fantasy['s] ... elegant, meticulous world-building shimmers with the ambiance of an old-world folktale.--Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Juno Books (September 11, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809557797
• ISBN-13: 978-0809557790
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #893,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a novelist, a writer of fiction, devotionals, poetry, reviews, and essays and my works have appeared in many publishing venues, in print and online. I live in New York with my husband, two sons, cat Freddie and my dog, Hemotep.

I've written for as long as I can remember. My Jamaican family was always telling stories and mother had memorized the opening chapters from several books, such as Ivanhoe, A Tale of Two Cities, etc. I was especially good at adapting. Somehow I felt the stories I had inherited from the European tradition (stuff we learned in school or watched on TV) always needed to be tweaked to include (subtly) matters that were important to a little Jamaican girl growing up in a Jewish-neighborhood in Brooklyn. I remember the day I decided I was a writer. It was the day a classmate grasped a poem I had written from my desk and brought it to the teacher who proclaimed the poem "great." I was hooked.

I studied Literature in college, not creative writing. Because I wanted to write great literature that would be ageless. I still hope my stories will be timeless. My reviews appear in print and at various online sites. My first novel, Wind Follower was published by Juno Books in September 2007.

Other published Fiction and Essays.
-- "Oreo Blues"- Essay in LIFENOTES: Personal Writings By Contemporary Black Women, edited by Patricia Bell-Scott. Published by W.W. Norton.
-- "Homecoming" - Short story. Won first prize in New Mass Media's Annual contest and was a third place winner in the annual national Contemporary Western Fiction contest.
-- "Lingua Franca" - Short story. So Long Been Dreaming: Post-Colonialism in Science Fiction -- Arsenal Pulp Press - October 2004.
-- "Black is the color of my true love's hair," - Short story. Fantastic Visions III - Fantasist Enterprises - August 2005.
-- "The Australians"- Essay in LIFE SPICES from Seasoned Sistahs: Writings By Mature Women of color, Published by Nubian Images Publications.
-- Homecoming at the Borderlands Cafe - Short story to be published in Jigsaw Nation anthology - DNA Publications March 2006
-- "The Cat Came Back" - Nudges from God anthology.
-- "That Smile" - "Then an angel came along" anthology.
-- Additional devotionals appear in Christian print magazines and websites.
The Gleaners -- in Black Faery anthology
So Far -- in Black Science Fiction Society anthology
Changeling -- in Griots edited by Milton Davis and Charles Saunders
Housewarming -- in When the Morning Stars Sang anthology edited by Lyn Perry
A Cry For Hire - Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, edited by Warren Lapine

I've been a participant in NYC's The Women=s Caucus for Art and was a participant in HarperCollins Multicultural Mentor Program back in the day. I've read at many venues including the African-American Read-In - a national literacy cable project , Mercy College, Trinity School, Purchase College, WHUD/WLNA, The Institute for Photographic Resources and other venues.

I've also worked as a finish-not-fail teacher. Plus I design fabrics.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Journey - 4.5 Stars, October 8, 2007

By 

Angelia Menchan "acvermen.blogspot.com" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wind Follower (Paperback)

The Wind Follower by Carole McDonnell is a fascinating journey into African History. The fantasy novel encompasses so many issues and handles them with aplomb. Wind Follower is a story about ancient African societies and their customs, cultures and traditions. So many issues are explored in this novel that resonate in our world today. The issues of race, class and religion are explored in ways I have never read in a fantasy novel. Being told from the fantasy angle only makes it more interesting.

The book follows the life of Loic and Satha, a married couple from different tribes. There are three main tribes that are divided by race and color. There is the white skinned, the light skinned and the dark skinned tribes. Loic is light and his wife, Satha, very dark. The personalities, customs and rituals of these tribes are discussed in-depth. It is very obvious Ms. McDonnell has done extensive research on ancient African tribal customs.

What makes Wind Follower such an intriguing book is how the themes of spirit and ancestor worship are amazingly intertwined with a strong Christian message. Some readers may find the perceived Christian angle difficult to digest because there are well described scenes of sex and violence. However, I found them integral to the story of Loic and Satha because it explored their relationship and how hard they worked against all odds to be together. A main component of the story is about Loic fighting for Satha's honor which would not allow the story to be told in any other way. Ms. McDonnell does an amazing job of making the characters in a fantasy, completely human.

Wind Follower is a compelling read from start to finish and I highly recommend it to all readers. This book is the type that can inspire conversations for years to come.

Angelia Menchan
APOOO BookClub

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Terrific Fantasy that Reads like Spiritual Folklore!, November 13, 2007

By 

Mir (North Miami Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wind Follower (Paperback)

What a read! I loved this book.

An immature but fervent young man at odds with the spirits of his people, yet destined for some greatness he doesn't comprehend or believe; a woman of virtue and selflessness of a different tribe and color who must marry this young , flawed chieftain's son besotted with her looks and manner; and a crucial historical moment when their peoples are threatened by an outside tribe intent on conquest as their religious right: That's the premise of WIND FOLLOWER. Much conflict and growing up ensues.

Carole McDonnell, an author with graceful prose and a fierce talent, has penned a delightful fantasy that rings with echoes of human history and anthropology as well as abounding with Biblical allusions. The combination of her skill in storytelling, her finely realized world with its various cultures and customs, and her definite and unapologetic Christian worldview is one I found resulted in a tale that is exhilirating and refreshing, upholding Christianity within a fantasy framework in an age and genre generally cynical about or skeptical of or openly hostile to such a worldview.

This is a novel that allows for the variety in its fiction that is naturally found in the real world. It's not a Euro fantasyland such as Tolkien's or Lewis' or a host of others that seem to have one or both feet stuck in medieval England or Ireland. No, this one has too many suggestions that its world is set in a place akin to frontier America, while not being bound point by point to that era or geography. There are suggestions of Asia, of Latin America, of Africa (Muslim and pagan and Christian), of Anglo settlers slash conquerors, of Native Americans.

There are three main resident tribes, each with its own characteristics and customs and appearance--one evoking Africa, one a blend of Asia and Native Americans, one less quantifiable but seemingly akin to Latino-mestizos. And there is the supernatural "tribe" composed of legion of beings who interact with the native peoples in various ways, not all of them seemingly worthless or wholly benevolent. There is something more complex at work, and all may not be as it seems.

The human story centers on two characters, an impoverished spinster-woman of the "African" tribe, and a man who is a chieftains's son of the "Asian/Native American" tribe. For him, it is love at first sight. For her, not so much. And the story of his wooing and her resitance, and then of the complications that come into their married life--including some significant treacheries and tragedies--build to a climax that will affect the entire world, and will remind readers of the most significant spiritual narrative of the last 2000 years.

The story is affecting as a love story, as a quest story, as a tragedy, as a heroic tale, as a tale of spiritual warfare. And the voice that the author uses is effective for the telling of such a story, both musical and poetic enough to give it the feel of an oral retelling of a great folklorically-enshrined history, and non-contemporary enough in the sound to feel both culturally different and sacred.

I heartily recommend this to both Christians and non-Christians. Christians familiar with their sacred texts will easily pick up on the multitude of paraphrases and allusions and it will enrich the meaning. But a warning note for those who are on the prudish side or have a thing about sexuality in fiction: There are some scenes that you may find offputting. I found they added and did not detract from the story. But then, I find asexual depictions of romance and marriage false and gynecological exam depictions of sex gratuitious. Carole McDonnell walks the line perfectly. Enough that it feels like real people with real experiences. Not so detailed that you feel as if you stared into someone's bedroom at the wrong time.

Non-Christians will enjoy a tale of romance and adventure and the seeking of one's identity and of truth. Well, anyone can enjoy that. Plus good writing.

If I had to pick out one negative, it's the numerous typos--excess words, missing words, and other booboos-- that the copyeditor should have caught. I hope the book goes into multiple printings and gets a wide readership, but please, for the second and other printings, can the editors at Juno fix those errors? This story deserves the best presentation possible. At the same time, I'd like to thank Juno for having the vision to publish this fine story that is unashamedly theistic.

Oh, and the cover is kicking, but it really should feature both the strong female, Satha, and her spouse, Loic. It's a dual story that is belied by the emphasis on Satha on the cover.

Thumbs up. Very high up and wagging with pleasure.

Mir

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great beginning but sputtered in the end, March 25, 2010

By 

D. Moonfire "dmoonfire" (Marion, IA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wind Follower (Paperback)

Wind Follower, by Carole McDonnell, could be reduced down to the simple tale of "man falls in love with woman, man loses woman, man gets woman back" story, but that would lose a lot of depth of this story. The writing style of this novel is gritty and brutal which adds a lot to the tribal interactions of characters. The main characters are fascinating and damaged--something I enjoy greatly. However, all of the characters, primary and secondary, suffer with rapid changes of emotions throughout the story, which made it difficult to follow the complexity of the inter- and intra-tribal relationships.

I loved the world-building except for the foreign words interspersed throughout the book. They took me a while to translate into analogs of my own experience which pulled me out of the story.

The first half of the book is my favorite, for the world and character building, the interactions and even the religion. The final quarter I did not enjoy as much. I felt it ended too quickly without a satisfying ending. The rapid changes in emotional state turns into sudden changes in abilities, comprehension, and plot revelations. The emotional rapport that the author gives to the readers snaps with this ending and what could have been an enjoyable ending came out as a sputtering stop. I wasn't aware of the author before reading this and I felt that the ending was inspired too much from Christian tales, in specific the stories of Jesus and Moses, with just a few of the names changed as appropriate. Even with those influences, I'd rather see the ending built up a bit more and less copied from already established stories.

One could say something about judging the book by its over, but I absolutely loved the cover on this one. Would I read it again? Maybe once or twice more, but I'm likely to set it down two-thirds into the story simply because of the ending.