Child of an Ancient City: Amazon.ca: Tad Williams, Nina Kiriki Hoffman: Books

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From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up-- An Arabian Nights flavor adds a twist to this supernatural tale. After a hearty meal, Masrur settles back with his friends to share stories. He tells a tale of how his caravan was once attacked by bandits, leaving the survivors to find their way home from the north lands. Suddenly, one night, someone--or something--begins killing off their men. A young boy who is familiar with the territory tells them they've been attacked by a vampyr. Sure enough, they begin to notice a shadowy figure lurking near their campsite in the evening. At a loss to stop the murders, the travelers decide to put an old folk legend to the test. If they can entertain the vampyr all night with their tales, they can prevent him from killing one of them. The legend is true, it turns out; too true, for the beast challenges them to a storytelling contest. If they win, they can pass through the north lands unheeded. But if he wins, they become his lunch. This story avoids the stereotypes of Transylvania, only to reiterate cliches of the Middle East. The tale drags its feet in introducing the protagonist--the vampyr--and the development of its character seems almost an afterthought. Also, the stories told are mundane, and don't come close to being as memorable as the tales of Scheherazade. --Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library Junior High Up
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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On a dangerous journey from fabled Baghdad to the desolate mountains of Armenia, a caravan of soldiers and diplomats is stalked by a mysterious vampyr, and the only way for the men to ward the demon off is to tell stories of magic and enchantment. . --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

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4.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars So . . . So . . ., Jun 17 2003

By	Brian Cox (Campbell, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Child of an Ancient City (Library Binding)

A "Arabian Nights"-era group who are taking gifts from their Caliph to a "Cauccasian" prince, are hunted by a "Vampyr". In order to survive, they accept his wager to tell a tale that is more sad than his.
• POSITIVE ELEMENTS: Self-sacrifice plays a large role in the book. When one of the men is seriously wounded in a fall, the others will not leave him, though it will slow their flight from the monster. At the end of the story, though the monster is getting ready to kill him, one of the protagonists cries for the beast's neverending lonliness.
• SPIRITUAL CONTENT: The majority of the characters are Muslim and constantly offer praise to Allah. Two of the characters claim to be Christian, but flee their faith because the Church won't allow them to marry. They are relatives. The main character speaks of Muslims preaching in front of Christian churches and converting many of them to the "true faith." This is somewhat disconcerting from a Christian perspective, as this book is obviously written on a grade school level and may affect young minds.
• SEXUAL CONTENT: .The book doesn't have any sexual content, per say, though the main character refers to the act by a crude term. Another character, while telling a story, mentions that he, as a young man, was following a girl who had promised sexual activity before disaster strikes. Two relatives marry, leaving their homeland and, presumably, their Christian faith to do so. One of the illustrations shows an Arabian woman in revealing attire.
• VIOLENT CONTENT: People are killed in a number of ways. One man is bludgeoned in the head, another's throat ripped out. Blood is shown to be virtually non-existent on corpses, as the creature that is stalking them feeds on it.
• CRUDE OR PROFANE LANGUAGE: One word. One man uses the phrase, "Am I a Christian or a Jew?" as a swear phrase.
• DRUG AND ALCOHOL CONTENT: The story is being told at a celebration where many of the characters are drunk from too much wine. At one point, a servant drops (and destroys) a barrel of wine.
• OTHER NEGATIVE ELEMENTS: The book leaves one loose end. The main character mentions, in a story that he tells, that he regrets never having seen what was in a package that he delivered to a wealthy woman in his youth. We never find out what this item is. Also, the resolution seems a bit forced. The villain's story is predictable, at best.
Another thing to take into consideration is that this book deals with rather mature subject matter, considering its reading level. I'd say that a sixth grader would be able to read it with full comprehension. The violence and religious viewpoint should be enough to give Christian parents pause.
• CONCLUSION: For an adult, a decent, somewhat unfulfilling read. Not for the kids, though.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, Mar 14 2001

By	Shane Tiernan (St. Petersburg, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: CHILD OF AN ANCIENT CITY (Mass Market Paperback)

I've only read _Caliban's Hour_ by Tad Williams but I liked that much better than this book. I've also read some shorter works by Hoffman which I've had mixed feeling on. This seemed more like a long, short story. It did seem rushed because there was a lot in the story. A main setting of some men having dinner and then one of them telling a story and then the characters in that story telling many stories.

As confusing as that sounds it wasn't a confusing read. I like the arabian setting and it was funny at times but nothing really impressed me about it, except for one of the stories told within the main story.

I think it would be more impressive for someone just getting into fantasy as opposed to a veteran. Though as the last reviewer mentioned it may not correctly represent Williams' 'normal' style of writing.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Caution, Mar 6 2001

By	Eric A. Rioux (Windsor, CT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: CHILD OF AN ANCIENT CITY (Mass Market Paperback)

Hi all,

I'm an absolutely _huge_ fan of Tad Williams. I've read everything out there from Talechaser's Song to Mountain of Black Glass (and read MST three times). I've read both of his shorter works: Child of an Ancient City and Caliban's Hour. In reading Child, I found the prose weaker than what I was accustomed to with Tad: perhaps this was due to the condensed nature or perhaps it was that much of the text was actually written by Nina? I'm undecided. On the whole I enjoyed it more than Caliban's Hour. I would recommend this book to fans of Tad but not to the uninitiated.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A great little read
I am a big fan of Tad Williams Dragonbone chair series. This is different but still very good a nice variation on the traditional vampire story.

Published on Sep 23 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Story; well worth your money
A very interesting book. A group of travellers is ambushed by bandits. Then, their companions are slowly killed off by this mysterious "vampyr", which drains them of... Read more

Published on Aug 10 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars A Most Unique Volume!
I was first drawn to "Child of an Ancient City" while awaiting the last installment of Memory Sorrow and Thorn, and found myself intially apprehensive, but later... Read more

Published on Dec 31 1998