G. A. Hesse

I enjoyed the colorful fantasy world G.A. Hesse creates in The Prophecy of Zephyrus so much that I read it twice. I found it a beautifully written, high-action story with many plot twists that kept me guessing. Answers to mysteries unfold naturally, creating a tight, well-crafted plot. One senses the author knows exactly what she’s doing every step of the way in the epic journey undertaken by the male protagonist, Obie Griffin. It’s a journey from boyhood to manhood, from insecure teenager to confident and competent warrior. Obie is swept into a physical battle between the forces of good and evil, as well as an inner battle with his own demons.

The author’s keen ear for the language enables her to create flowing sentences that easily draw the reader in. The eloquent simplicity of style reminds me of the writings of authors like Updike and Hemingway. Hesse’s prose is often poetic, especially in visual scenes such as Obie’s recurring nightmare, and the night he runs through an enchanted forest alongside the lion-man, and when, in a pensive mood, he observes snow falling on forest trees. Another treat is the entire scene where the black sorcerer King Torolf tries to win the love of the female protagonist, Gabrielle, who is a noblewoman, and Guardian of the Light Crystal. The entire scene of several pages is written in perfect iambic form---no small feat. Since Gabrielle is bewitched at the time, the author’s style here pulls the reader from everyday reality into Gabrielle’s mental realm of bewitchment. The scene is beautiful and poetic, yet the reader senses it is not quite real. It is subtle enough that many readers may be unaware of the literary craft behind the words; they are only aware of the falseness of Torolf’s conjured garden. To pull this off is an achievement for any writer. Although we know Torolf’s reason for wooing her is to acquire the Light Crystal with all its power, we view a side to him that surprises us. For although this evil black sorcerer is eaten up by hatred and a desire for revenge (the source of it is revealed earlier in the book by the character Andras), when he lays eyes on the now grown up Gabrielle, her beauty kindles in him feelings he has all but forgotten, and he falls prey to love---perverse though that love may be.

The book is filled with lively, credible characters, each having a unique voice. Sometimes the differences in voice are subtle and sometimes marked. In the beginning, for example, the differences between Obie and Josh’s voices, two modern-day teenagers, is not nearly as great as the contrast of voice between Obie and the aristocratic characters he encounters in the ancient Gaelic Kingdom of Windermere. While the author most likely did not wish to subject readers to a tiring task of unraveling the Gaelic tongue, one would expect the aristocrats to at least speak a more formal English than 21st century teenagers engage in. However, not all characters are high-born, as we note in the speech of the rough and ready soldiers of the queen, the bar maid at the Jolly Horse Inn, enemy soldiers (whose language differs according to their breed), and others. Tau, the lion-man, speaks rather formally because he has only acquired the ability to speak English (the common language) recently.… (altro)

‘The Prophecy of Zephyrus’ by G. A. Hesse
420 pages

A new fantasy hero has been born, a hero you can’t help but like and root for from the moment you meet him.

Only 17 and marked by a limp which is his legacy from the car accident which killed his mother Obie (Oberon Griffin) has had to learn to be a survivor. Obie is not considered cool by his peers who love to tease him about the limp which he himself feels is his punishment for surviving the accident. However, he is grateful for his friendship with Josh and the mentorship of Will Grey Eagle, a Native American herbalist.

Every hero needs a secret weapon and I must say I was very surprised to discover that Obie’s is his ‘Raptor’ slingshot. I love that fact that the author has taken something so simple and made it into a great weapon - a weapon which our hero is able to use not only while living in his own time but also after he travels on a comet’s tail to the ancient Kingdom of Windermere. It reminds me of David using his slingshot to slay Goliath.

When Obie finds a stone in a cave in Ghostrise Valley with his name on it he takes it home. From that moment on he starts having bad dreams. When he tells Will Grey Eagle about these dreams Will suggests that if he were to spend a night in the valley everything will become clear to him.

It is during this night that Obie, his friend Josh and Josh’s faithful dog Hudson spend in Ghostrise Valley that Obie is whisked away on a comet’s tail to the ancient Kingdom of Windermere and his wonderful adventure truly begins. Here he finds two new companions whom you will love – lion-man Tau and the Mole.

This book is a good example of how good must overcome evil, how we must use the strengths within us, how we must never give up and how we must all battle to save the earth and all its bounties.

I recommend this book to teenagers and adults alike. Like me you will be anxiously awaiting the second book in this series.

Thank you Ms. Hesse for a great read.… (altro)

I'm torn on whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. On the 4 star side, I found the book to be a pretty great page turner, and I was wrapped up in discovering more about the world the author had created. For those reasons, I really enjoyed the book.

However, there were a few things about the writing the pulled me out of the story enough to prevent me from rating it higher. There are some editing mistakes in the edition I read -- simple punctuation errors that forced me to read through the sentence a little slower to make sure I was parsing it correctly. Some of the dialog was also stilted and unnatural. The ending, while quite satisfying, seemed to try too hard to tie everything up in a nice little bow. The ending could have still been satisfying if a few questions were left unanswered.

The story and plot is fairly classic High Fantasy, taking place in a world like Tolkien's Middle Earth - same earth as our own, but a time period lost and forgotten when talking animals, elves, dragons and magicians roamed the earth. I had to suspend disbelief to make sense of how that worked (some sort of medieval Europe in Wyoming?), but I tried my best. I also wondered if Tolkien and CS Lewis and other great High Fantasy greats have ruined my ability to enjoy newer High Fantasy novels since so much seems borrowed from them.

The main character is a teen boy from modern times with some sort of mysterious past. His mother died when he was very young and he has a mysterious limp. He feels forgotten by his father. He is swept up in a mystery in a strange valley near his house and then is literally swept away into this other magical land. While there, he discovers he is the hero that has been foretold, and he ends up on a quest to stop an evil king from destroying the world. Flying horses, talking animals and local people help him on his way, while the evil king and his minions try to stop him.

All in all, an enjoyable book and certainly worth the time it took to read it, though not an outstanding piece of literature.… (altro)