Customer Reviews

Winter on the Plain of Ghosts: A Novel of Mohenjo-daro

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Eileen Kernaghan's reputation for meticulous research and an engaging story is well sustained by her most recent book, WINTER ON THE PLAIN OF GHOSTS. Set in the prehistoric Indus Valley, the novel is a retrospective tale of a young boy who escapes the perils of village ritual sacrifice to become first a thief, then a wealthy and respected merchant in the ancient city of Mohenjo-daro (The Tiger City). His subsequent involvement with the priesthood which controls Mohenjo-daro and his eventual rebellion against their repressive hold on its inhabitants make for compelling reading.

Though known as a fantasy writer, in this instance Kernaghan's strong, lyrical prose, combined with her passion for well-researched detail, help her lend an aura of historical authenticity; magical and fantastic events are skillfully interwoven with plot and dialogue, often convincing the reader that such things were part of everyday life in these long-ago times. Fully realized characters and catastrophic events compel the plot towards its inevitable conclusion. This is a powerful, satisfying novel, which, in this reader's view, will make it difficult to put down.


Winter on the Plain of Ghosts is a gripping fantasy from a three time Aurora Award winner which reaches so far back in history the era is scarcely recorded, yet it carries overtones of life as we know it today. Eileen Kernaghan outlines the problems of religious bigotry and the entrenched resistance to change by the powers in charge as disaster threatens, when change is their only way to survive.
The reader escapes with Rujik of Ur, a boy being sacrificed to the gods of his tribe in an age-old ritual; stays with him through his successes and disasters, his failed yet triumphant love, and in doing so learns something about himself and the surprisingly similar problems of modern living.
`Winter` is a satisfying book, beautifully written by an author with a poet's heart, one which will stay with the reader long after he has closed its back cover.

i loved this book! it combines excellent, evocative yet unintrusive writing with a faithfully depicted historical setting. it tells of real people that i come to care about facing circumstances that range from frightening to fulfilling.

the story takes place in a world where many peoples mix--hill-tribes and desert-folk, rich and poor inhabitants of an ancient and crumbling city, making their lives within and outside of the law.

many faiths are represented, older than any that exist in india today. the world unfolds with convincing realism even while spirits and demons, goddesses and gods, divination, alchemy and spells are a natural part of it all. it's hard for me to explain this. the magic, the deities don't pop out at you like overblown caricatures, no matter how intense the scene. they work beautifully into a story of a real person in his fascinating world. i can't say it enough times--i LOVED this book!

This beautifully written book brings the reader into a time and culture little known and less written about. The author develops a convincing setting and civilization, and the story moves well through many fascinating stages. A book I would think about while I was at work and look forward to coming home to. Highly recommended.

You will like this book if you like chick lit where the men are weak and/or venal and the women are strong and pure. The hero (male) has a series of lucky coincidences, which allows him to exceed his station in life. He starts as a runaway child (a girl saves him) becomes a thief, gets apprenticed to an alchemist (supported by a strong woman) and then becomes a successful merchant. He initiates a rebellion with the help of another strong woman who leads an army (of course she does). Although the plot is derivative the writer uses the lazy technique of putting the hero in difficult situations and then uses sorcery to extricate him. He carries an amulet that solves all his problems.

The author also seems to think that modern science was widely accepted three thousand years ago.For example, the people at that time are supposed to have accepted atomic theory. I know Democratus postulated the existence of atoms a thousand years after this takes place but it was just another speculation, certainly not widely accepted.

On the whole, the plot is unsatisfying. The hero needs the help of the woman he loves to make him strong enough to persevere. Naturally she is pure (chaste), a woman's idealized relationship with a man. He meets the right people from his past at just the right time, etc. He shows emotion by vomiting (Oh, the carnage!). Enough. I can't recommend this book. The author will just have to get some of her friends to write more five star reviews.