Clement-Davies's suspenseful debut novel centers on a cast of deer, who, like the rabbits in Watership Down, often use their own special vocabulary (deer, for instance, are "Herla"; an insult to a Herla would be to call him a "brailah," or hedgehog). Soon after the novel opens, the deer are fleeing from the power-hungry Lord of the Herd, Sgorr, a buck with a mysterious past who is slowly building a militaristic following. An ancient prophecy states that a fawn with an oak leaf-shaped mark on his forehead is destined to free his kind from the "lord of lies." When Rannoch is born with such a mark, the elders know to protect him from Sgorr and arrange his escape with a pack of friends. Rannoch discovers as they travel that he can talk to--and even heal--other animals. Meanwhile, Sgorr conquers herd after herd and uses other wildlife as fodder for his militia's training. Rannoch doesn't want to fight, but when an assassin murders the hind who raised him, he knows he must confront Sgorr--and fulfill the rest of the prophecy. The struggle between good and evil builds right up to the final face-off. Some chapters drag a bit, and the narration occasionally breaks out of the deer's point of view to fill in scientific facts about mating or herd behavior, but for the most part the adventures are likely to captivate readers. Ages 10-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
In what PW called a "suspenseful debut novel," a pack of deer face the realization of an ancient prophecy and a struggle between good and evil builds to the very end. Ages 12-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Gr 6 Up-A sweeping story of prophecy and adventure set in medieval Scotland and mixed with liberal doses of the habits of red deer. The Lore of the Herla foretells the coming of one deer that will restore the traditional ways of life to the herd. Rannoch, born on the night of his father's murder and the overthrowing of the Outrider stags, seems destined to fulfill this prophecy. To protect him, his mother gives him to another hind to raise and engineers the escape of a group of hinds and fawns to travel with him. Rannoch finds he is different from his friends-he has a unique birthmark, prophetic dreams, healing powers, and the ability to communicate with other species. As he grows, so does the danger to the home herd, with first Drail and then Sgorr introducing progressively militaristic measures to the deer. As Rannoch matures, the violence in the world grows as does the violence within him. For a while, he turns his back on his friends, but in the final climactic battle with Sgorr, he takes his place as Lord of the Herd and restores the balance of the forest. While the Herla talk and have a mythology, they are deer through and through-they search for food, the stags fight for their harems, and protection of the young is one of the highest priorities. Even Rannoch, a pacifist, eventually realizes the Herla's only hope is to continue behaving like deer, not to follow Sgorr's idea of becoming more like humans. Give Fire Bringer to fans of Brian Jacques's "Redwall" books (Philomel) and Richard Adams's Watership Down (Macmillan, 1974).-Lisa Prolman, Greenfield Public Library, MA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
In the primeval forest there is a prophecy: a fawn born with an oak-leaf mark on his forehead will change the future of the Herne (as the deer are called). This augury is the keystone of first-time novelist Clement-Davies's sweeping animal fantasy. Rannoch is the hunted and hidden fawn who must find his destiny. His father and the entire legion of Outrider bucks have been betrayed and slain by Drail, the Lord of the Herds and his followers. Rannoch is fostered among strangers, only to be hunted first by the Drail's Nazi-like legions and then by the Machiavellian Sgorr and his minion. Tutored by the others of the animal kingdom, rescued by man, surviving many close calls on his journey, Rannoch faces his ambivalence and fear to lead the deer from their bondage. This vividly told story is not for the faint of heart: dreadful predictions, holocaust-like massacres, and ritual killings pervade this tale. Imaginatively placed in the wilds of ancient Britain, the obviousness of the allegory, with Rannoch as a Christ-like figure may make some readers cringe and others fill with ominous dismay, as it seems the story rushes to an unmistakable conclusion. Jaded readers of the genre will be surprised and relieved as the narrative veers off into the unexpected. A hurtling ride. (Fiction. 12+)
