The Ancient One

September 14, 1992
When an untouched forest of ancient redwoods is discovered on Native American holy grounds in the Oregon wilderness, a band of unemployed loggers sees only an opportunity to earn a living, not thinking of either the ecological or the spiritual consequences of felling the trees. Anxious to preserve the wilderness, Kate (the heroine of Barron's debut novel, Heartlight ) and her great-aunt Melanie set off to stop the loggers. Once in the forest, Kate is catapulted 500 years into the past, where she is caught in a fatal struggle over the very same wilderness. Kate's quest--to help the forces of light and love prevail over Gashra, the Wicked One, and his forces of greed and death--resonates through time, influencing events set in the past as well as those set in the present. This fantasy adventure offers well-realized characters, imaginative situations, high-minded theme and purpose, complex emotion, a smattering of really good fight scenes and a healthy dose of slapstick humor. Working with elements inspired by American Indian lore, the Lost World stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs and A. Merrit, and the works of C. S. Lewis and Madeleine L'Engle, Barron has woven a boldly original novel that is as thought-provoking as it is fun to read. Ages 12-up.

November 1, 1992
Gr 5-9- -Kate, who journeyed to a distant star in Heartlight (Philomel, 1990), now finds herself transported into the past. While visiting Blade, a town in southeastern Oregon, she is immediately embroiled in a battle between local loggers and her great-aunt Melanie, a retired teacher whose hobby is preserving the lore of a lost Native American tribe. At stake is a newly discovered crater containing several species of ancient trees. Events move swiftly as Kate accompanies her aunt to the crater to confront the loggers, who are determined to cut the trees down. Within the hollow of "The Ancient One," the forest's oldest redwood, Kate slips back 500 years. Persevering on her mission, she encounters friends and enemies. While the story, with its rapid pace, inventive surprises, and feisty heroine, is entertaining, readers are left with unanswered questions. (How can a walking stick destroyed in the past exist in a present that is clearly a product of that past? Why does Barron undercut his repeated avowal of the interconnectedness of all life by casting reptilians in their cliched role as bad guys?) Also, by personalizing the conflict, the author chooses to ignore the complexities of international trade and corporate profit. Two deeply philosophical books, Ursula LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea (Bantam, 1984) and Patricia Wrightson's The Ice Is Coming (Atheneum, 1977; o.p.) serve the cause of environmentalism better. Purchase where fantasy adventures are popular.-Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MA

September 1, 1992
Gr. 6-9. Visiting her Aunt Melanie in Oregon, 13-year-old Kate becomes involved in a logger-environmentalist conflict when a virgin stand of redwood old growth is discovered in the heretofore fog-shrouded Lost Crater. Holding her aunt's owl-headed walking stick, Kate is thrust back in time, where she meets Laioni, a member of an Indian tribe that vanished centuries earlier. Kate soon finds herself fighting to save the forest not only in her own time, but also in the distant past. The typical stuff of fantasy is all here: a likable hero and her companions, allies and enemies, battles and death, a quest for a lost amulet needed to overcome evil, etc. But what starts out as a convincing fantasy rooted in contemporary times and issues runs amok when the story rises to a crescendo (you can hear the music also rising in the background) for the confrontation between the forces of good (Kate) and the forces of evil (a "colossal," "great," "gigantic," "towering red beast, with the head and body of a Tyrannosaurus rex and the enlarged arms and legs of a human . . . part dinosaur, part man, part octopus . . .," with "bulbous black eyes," "deep purple lips," and "teeth-studded jaws," "a many-toothed grin," and a "gargantuan smile," with "a few dozen teeth"). At this point, the story is so vastly overwritten, melodramatic, and cliche- and adjective-ridden that the almost too strong environmental message is nearly lost. That's a pity, because the author is obviously truly concerned, and his scenes of the Northwest wilderness are right on target. Despite the excesses, readers will be drawn in at the start and will want to know the outcome. ((Reviewed Sept. 1, 1992))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1992, American Library Association.)