The Crystal Bird

ISBN: 1475225075

Author: Drayton, Helen

Condition: New

From the Back Cover"The author is an exciting and exceptionally skillful writer. The reader is propelled along an emotional journey that ranges from fear to love and from agony and despair, to pride in how a people can not only survive, but triumph over brutal and unjust circumstances. An enthralling read..." Dr. Charles Cline. "Drayton delivers an epic tale of an ancient civilization confronting the present...A unique, engaging story of star-crossed love, history and mythical magic." --Kirkus ReviewsProduct DescriptionThe Crystal Bird is an engaging story of history, star-crossed love, mythical magic, and intrigue.Slavers encounter a formidable group of warriors in the East African Rift Valley, and they are slaughtered. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, the warriors will thrive and prosper in isolation. Centuries later, archaeologists Allan Cline and Christopher Ward lead a team of explorers to the same region, and they stumble into a cave, leading to a mysterious society. They gain knowledge of life-changing secrets and discoveries that upend the story of civilization. When rogue members try to make an escape with precious substances, the peaceful but deadly people sensing danger, strike back. Allan feels a growing affinity with the people and finds himself falling in love with an influential woman, exploding drama and intrigue. He feels the weight of centuries of betrayal and brutality that shatters lives.From Kirkus ReviewsDrayton delivers an epic tale of an ancient civilization confronting the presentexplorers are torn between their respect and reverence for the land theyve discovered and the potential cures they could bring back to the world, transforming this fast-paced adventure story into a much deeper and more complicated taleA unique, engaging story of star-crossed love, history and mythical magic.-Kirkus ReviewsReviewDrayton has fashioned a dynamic story that echoes classic time-and-space travel odysseys. Drayton develops her ideas through the characterizations she dramatically, and, on occasion, poetically, brings to lifeit grips readers with its focus on the dilemma of imperiled explorers and star-crossed lovers, and the contrastingly serene, enviable lives of the Ashais. The interplay between ancient African culture, seen here at its apex, and modern civilization, which still includes slavery, disease, and warfare, makes this fantasy click. Readers will no doubt be enchanted by Draytons atmospheric descriptions of the magical world of Ashaise.-ForeWord Clarion ReviewsOne thing may be apparent above others, on a firstreading of The Crystal Bird: were in the hands of someone who has consideredher historical fiction carefully, and with no shortage of passionateinvestment. The story charts the adventures of two archaeologists who stumbleacross a fascinating find in the late nineties, one that leads them to interactwith a sequestered civilization, the Ashais tribe. As a far more advancedsociety, the Ashais are in possession of secrets that could change the face ofboth medicine and warfare. Herein lies a moral dilemma, however, do thearchaeologists honour the private, proudly-guarded traditions of the Ashais, orsmuggle this chemical bounty back to the outside world? The innate lyricism ofDraytons language is evident in her two poetry collections, Brown Doves and Passages II Brown Doves. She brings this wordplay to bear in the compositionof The Crystal Bird, and bolsters her attention to language with the developmentof a uniquely-visioned epic.A spellbinding account of what happens when twocivilizations collide, mixed in with views from the present time and days ofyore, Helen Draytons first novel is unmissable for those who like theirhistorical fiction relevant, emotionally resonant, and page-turning-Shivanee RamlochanFrom the Author"The forces of Ashaise had gathered to await the journey across the sun and to fight if necessary. At the end of the ritual, the Keeper, with his