Dael and the Painted People by Allan Richard Shickman

Dael and the Painted People (Zan-Gah, #3)

By Allan Richard Shickman

Publisher: Earthshaker Books, 2011

155 pages, paperback

Date Finished: 6/11/2011

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Some Adventure

When Dael, guilty and tormented, came to live with the tribe of the painted people, he longed for peace and restoration; but without knowing it, he made a powerful enemy. Luckily, Dael had friends-including a troop of crows-and his own mystical powers. The disturbed and violent hero learns from the Children of the Earth, and from his submissive wife, a new way of life that is peaceful and generous.
~from goodreads.com~

~First Line: "To dream of a head dripping with blood and look into its glazed and lifeless eyes might, even in sleep, leavae the dreamer changed and chastened."
~Last Line: "Her name was Siraka-Finaka."

Review: The third installment in the Zan-Gah series was told in Dael's perspective instead of Zan's. In ways I liked it even better. Most likely because we got to see Dael go through  mental change.

Dael and Sparrow run away from the BaCoro and end up living in the red-painted people's tribe. They have a child, get married, the whole nine yards. I'll stop there; I don't want to give the book away :).

One of the main parts of the entire book, I think, is the fact that Dael's mental health takes a turn for the better, the much better. He goes from a wild, insane, war-centered beast to a man that loves his family, will do anything to protect them, and actually tries to talk things out instead of just killing people. Quite an improvement, don'tcha think?

The characters were all really good. Dael meets one of the painted people, Koli, who was without a doubt one of my favorites. He's always in good spirits and helps anyone he can without hesitation. When they first meet, Dael is still a war-beast, but his terrible attitude doesn't turn Koli away. If anything, it just makes Koli like him even more.

The plot was superb. It switches between Dael's perspective and Rydl's. Rydl has become . . . well, I'll let you read about that :D.

Overall, though, this book was really great! If you haven't started this series yet, and you're in to Historical Fiction books, I think you might like this one!

Plot Rating: 5
Character Rating: 5
Cover Rating: 4.5
GoodReads Rating: 4

Overall rating:
and five-eighths :)

Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country by Allan Richard Shickman

Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country (Zan-Gah, #2)
By Allan Richard Shickman
Publisher: Earthshaker Books, 2009
151 pages, paperback
Date Finished: 23/12/2010
Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Action, Adventure

~First Line of Book: "When Lissa-Na died, Dael wept real tears."
~Last Line of Book: "He only knew that the demons who had long possessed his twin had departed; that healing and regenration were still possible because there is a secret place in every soul that has never yet been wounded."

Again, thank you to Bonnie Lenz & Mr. Shickman for sending me these books. They were awesome! :D

Review: The sequel to Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure was amazing! The characters developed even more, and there were even some that made debuts. There was also more action, especially since we had another major battle.

Besides the predominant adventure that was made when Zan's people, the Ba-Coro, moved to the Beautiful Country, there were a few more travels that got to read about. My favorite was definitely when Zan, Rydl, Dael, and some of Dael's followers went looking for tar -- and found a volcano! It was really cool, but Dael started to creep me out a little.

I would definitely say read this novel! It really was an ah-mazing sequel, and I hope that you all get the chance to read this wonderful series :D. I can't wait until the third and fourth books are released!

(4.5 Wings)

Quotes from the Book:

"He did not realize that Pax, who happened to be busy nearby, had overheard most of what was said -- had heard her husband praise Lissa-na and confess that he loved her. That was bad luck, and there was more to come."

"All three [mountains] were capped with snow, except that the central one, open at the top, sent up a column of rolling smoke. Bursts of fire and showers of hot sparks exploded from its ragged peak, followed moments later by loud growling noises. At each eruption the ground shook. The mountain's pure shape rose upward in even, symmetrical arcs that were both simple and sublime, while the fountain of fire at the apex challenged and polluted the sky." (It's a volcano! Cool, huh?)

"These desert people were unfamiliar with the wolf and afraid of it, but that did not slow them down and they ran with all their might."

"He had that strange aura of the other world shining from his still-pale face, and looked exactly like what he was -- a corpse that had returned to life."

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure by Allan Richard Shickman

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure (Zan-Gah, #1)
By Allan Richard Shickman
Publisher: Earthshaker Books, 2010 (second printing)
148 pages, paperback
Date Finished: 11/ 11/ 2010
Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Action, Adventure, Coming of Age

~First Line of Book: "From a long dfistance a traveler, or some wild thing, might see within the deep and absolute blackness of night an intense orange light which looked from afar like a glowing coal."
~Last Line of Book: "Dael smiled."

Review: Firstly, I would like to send a big THANK YOU to Bonnie Lenz at Earthshaker Books for contacting me and asking me to review this book; another thank you to Mr. Shickman for autographing the book.

Now on to my review.

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure was an amazing series debut. The story's main character, Zan, is serious a lot, and has a twin named Dael, who is always cheerful and happy. Dael and Zan have a fight one day over food, and Dael wanders off -- and never returns. A year later, Zan earns a new name, Zan-Gah, for his bravery in the killing of an enemy. Zan starts having strange dreams about Dael and sets off to find and rescue his lovable brother. Zan makes new friends and basically becomes a man during his struggle to stay alive and successfully find his twin. Adventure, action, unity and forgiveness. This series debut will have you reading it whenever you ahve the chance! I recommend this book to all Historical Fiction lover. A great read indeed :).

Rating:


Quotes from the Book:

--And now for the bad news: I read the book so fast and was so into it that I forgot to gather quotes from the novel! I am sorry that you all have to suffer because of it, but at least now you might actually go buy the book (lol). But no matter. I wish to very Happy Reading!!