PopSyndicate.com

The story begins in the country of Caledonia, 592 A.D. The pagans are still active, but Christianity is on the march to drive out all nonbelievers. On the night of Samhain (later to become known as Halloween), the marriage of two druids, Rowan and Fiana, takes place. As their wedding ceremony becomes official, their party is ruthlessly attacked. Those who aren’t killed follow Fiana and traverse through a magical portal while Rowan holds the Christians at bay. The portal closes before he can escape. Fiana sees him enter his wand as he calls out to her to come back for him. Although the Christians don’t know where he escaped to, the wand is picked up and taken.

One year later, Fiana makes the near-impossible journey back to this world, but the wand is nowhere to be found amongst the ruins. She begins a 1400 year search for her beloved. But to survive the years of persecution as a witch during the various ages, Fiana must learn to change with the times.

Flash forward to modern day, we find a young boy in seventh grade named Cullen. He lives with his foster family , a drunken mother, a belligerent father and a bully for a brother named Rex. His only escape is to the Redwood forests in northern California. There, he can read his fantasy stories, especially the worn and tattered version of The Hobbit, a book given to him by his father and the only thing that survived the fire that killed his father and sister. He is a nerdy outcast who is both quiet and very smart. His only two friends are Maddy and April, a girl who has been blind since an accident while a baby.

Cullen also has the hots for his teacher, Ms. MacFey. He enjoys staying after school to help her straighten up the classroom, talk about books and listen to some of his teacher’s legends and myths that she grew up with - tales told to her by her father which have been told in her family for centuries. Her family is protector of The Green Man, the leafy faced figure that is seen on the front of doors, plaques and statues. But she knows the legend and his name - Rowan of the Wood.

Cullen, while out in the forest on Halloween, finds an interesting stick. Unbeknownst to him, it is the wand. Magic fills the air on this stormy night. Next thing he knows, he is back home with no recollection how he got there. Things really start to get weird when Rex and his cronies begin to pick on April. She runs into the boys restroom, unaware of where she is in her haste and unaware that Cullen is in a stall. While she is being bullied by the gang, Cullen gets a strange feeling. Out of the stall comes Rowan, sort of like The Hulk, to take care of business.

Cullen and learn that they co-habitate Cullen’s body. Cullen must help Rowan find Fiana. For Rowan it only feels like he has been in the wand for a week. The world is so different. For Fiana, it has been many lifetimes. But time has changed her and she is not the same peaceful beauty he knew when he disappeared. But she has retained her magical abilities and is extremely powerful and dangerous. What will their reunion have in store for them?

Rowan of the Wood begins like a Dungeons & Dragons RPG adventure, one that I’ve sat through on a few occasions. It begins combining a handful of clichés and weaving them out of a thinly veiled version of Harry Potter as the story bounces back and forth in time. I won’t reveal how Fiana begins to change for the benefit of her survival, but it is an interesting way to preserve the character.

The story is very predictable from an adult standpoint. With the exception of the attack on April, which almost comes across as if she’s going to be raped, the remainder of the book seems geared more to the Harry Potter age range (yes, I know adults read HP as well). Maybe for a 10 or 14 year old, the story won’t be as predictable.

I will give credit to authors Christine and Ethan Rose. Their historical knowledge of medieval times is accurate and does help the story to stay based in this world. I have a bigger problem with their repetition of events, not only throughout the book, but sometimes within the same chapter. Give your readers a little more credit and don’t over-explain. There is also the unresolved, or maybe I should say undefined, climax at the end. Certain characters obtain insight to what is happening with no explanation nor any disbelief, excitement or attempt to reason from the characters. It just sort of “happens” and everyone seems cool with it.

Despite this, I have definitely read worse, but there are so many little things that would make this better. For someone not used to reading fantasy and just entering the magical worlds of literature, Rowan of the Wood is probably a decent way to start the journey. For those who have read Tolkien and Howard, this is not the book for you.

[Addendum: After posting this review, I was contacted by author Christine Rose and publisher Deltina Hay of Dalton Publishing. The hardcover I reviewed is an earlier edition Rowan of the Wood published by Blue Moose Press. In January of 2008, Dalton picked up the rights and is planning on releasing the newer version with some minor editing and changes.

A couple of the concerns I had with the plot have been addressed (not because of my suggestions) and other elements will be made clearer as the story develops. It is intended to have a total of five books in the Young Adult series. With that being said, I can honestly change my rating from 2.0/5.0 to 3.0/5.0.]

3