 Betty Conley, one
of the editors for The
Independent Gay Writer, has done one of her rare book reviews.
She edits full-length book manuscripts, reader-submitted reviews, and
other material. But she says writing
a review is not one of her favorite activities.She reviews Twilight of the Gods: Cinátis (Book One Complete)  |
 Twilight of the Gods: Cinátis (Book One Complete) by Ronald L. Donaghe Trade Paper, 584 pages, $21.95 Two Brothers Press, Sept. 2004 ISBN 1-59457-619-X Ronald L. Donaghe’s fantasy novel, Cinátis, begins as the central character, Jeru, is preparing to leave his family’s farm for the last time. A reported plague, spreading from the southern reaches in the land of Omoham, is threatening the people, most of whom, like Jeru, are earth gifted. Fear of the plague has caused people to leave their homes in droves. Jeru’s parents, Megan and Wanu-té, and his brothers, Joshu and Samu, have already fled the farm. Jeru, a stone felder like his father, is aware of deep disturbance in the ground beneath his feet...only a stone felder would be aware of such sensations. He’s troubled by the rumblings, but continues his preparations to leave for the two day journey to the city of Cinátis, where he hopes to learn news of the plague. Spending his last night at home alone, Jeru senses a new presence, that of a stranger, but at the same time, he knows there is nothing to fear. On the way to Cinátis, Jeru is attacked and injured by some men from the industrialized land, Ch'turc, to the north of Omoham. Ch'turc people are unwanted, unpleasant invaders, threatening and crude, spreading ever deeper into Omoham with their noisy, offensive, smoke spewing machines. Ostensibly, the Ch'turc enter Omoham to save the people from the plague, but they are taking over the abandoned homes and inns. Jeru is rescued from his attackers by Eríl, a Na-té. Na-tés are an ancient race of people, living deep in the Miasma Forest, which runs along the eastern boundary of Omoham, beyond the unseen Na’ibel River. The earth gifted Na-tés wear no clothing, and are able to communicate over great distances through their mists. In a series of events, wonderfully told by Donaghe, Jeru realizes that Eríl is his ideal man--the stranger he’s sensed, and seen in his dreams. Eríl, long smitten by Jeru—he had been watching Jeru as he worked in the fields—joins him on his journey to Cinátis. They become Té mates. Once in Cinátis, Jeru and Eríl discover belligerent Ch'turc all over the city, their priests posting proclamations forbidding citizens to practice the art of felding, which they consider unnatural and evil. Other demands, counter to the Way of the Té, include no nudity (up to then clothing had been optional), no displaying of what Ch'turc believe to be unnatural affections, and other demands that, if not met, are to result in immediate execution. Jeru and Eríl meet Ka-té, the sitting witch of Cinátis. Over one hundred years old, Ka-té, senses how special Jeru and his partner are and encourages them to embark on a quest to learn the truth of the plague. They are to travel to the other six major cities of Omoham, visiting the sitting witch in each of the cities. Jeru hadn’t realized how powerful his stone felding abilities were until he and Eríl had an angry encounter with a Ch'turc priest, preventing him from setting fire to the Miasma Forest. Jeru was able to make the stone beneath their feet tremble. Further along in Donaghe’s novel, Jeru’s abilities strengthen. He becomes an exceptionally powerful stone felder… powers that may prove disastrous to the entire country of Omoham. Before Jeru’s family left home, Samu, his wood felder brother, had fashioned a staff for him. While in Cinátis, Ka-té left his hand print on Jeru’s staff, gifting the staff with powers, thus allowing communication between Ka-té and Jeru. The sitting witch of each of the seven main cities of Omoham has an astral eye, allowing communication among the witches through astral mists. Ka-té senses evil in the mists coming from one of the other six astral eyes, but he has no idea what the evil is, or which city the evil mist is coming from. Ka-té keeps the information to himself as he encourages Jeru and Eríl to travel first to the city of Levi-dell, a moon wheel’s journey to the south. Their journey begins. Each night, Eríl prepares a nest where they consummate their love. Ka-té told them that Jeru’s taking of Eríl’s seed would enhance not only his stone felding powers, but would greatly enhance his mist awareness, and his Animas, or life force. Long before reaching Levi-dell, they realize something is very amiss in the land. They visit each city of Omoham, and all the sitting witches come to care for Jeru and Eríl. Almost all of the sitting witches, that is. Jeru and Eríl become fast friends with the fire felders of Nu-ed, who put on a spectacular fire show for their visitors; they meet the soil felders of Bender, and admire their beautiful glassine buildings. There is a surprise for Jeru in Bender when a person he cares for reenters his life. In each of the cities, Jeru and Eríl meet other earth gifted people, each with different felding powers, and they gain friends and allies as they come to the realization that the plague is not at all what they expected. By the end of Cinátis, the realization of why Donaghe’s series is called Twilight of the Gods comes into focus. It’s easy to see why Cinátis was a 2004 nominee for the Imagination Award from the Stonewall Literary Society. Five stars to Ronald L. Donaghe’s Cinátis, a well-written and exhilarating journey through an enchanting land with new surprises on each page. His characters are richly developed, very believable and realistic considering the mysterious setting. Jeru and Eríl meet many people on their journey, the hes, the shes, and the shhes. I truly cared for the many likeable characters, hated the bad guys, and feared the unknown. The next book in the Twilight of the Gods series, Gwi’s War, takes Jeru, Eríl, and their friends into the land of Ch'turc and promises to be just as exciting a novel as Cinátis. |
A note about the unfortunate publishing history of Cinátis. In 2002, Volume 1 of Cinátis was published, and the author thought that Volume 2 of this book would be published the next year. But such was not the case. The publisher was not planning to complete the book with the second volume until 2004 or 2005. So the author decided to submit the work to another publisher and, still working in the two-volume concept, iterated the importance of bringing out both volumes at once. "Yeah, we will said this second publisher..." But publishing delays and gliches and other unforeseen circumstances delayed volume 2, so the author decided it was time to take matters into his own hands by canceling his contract with this second publisher, and with the help of a tiny press (Two Brothers) using the resources of Booksurge, worked to bring out Cinátis in one complete book as was his intention when it was written. Twilight of the Gods is a trilogy. The three books in the trilogy are Cinátis, Gwi's War, and War Among the Gods. The quickest and best place to order copies of this book at present is direct from Booksurge. The next best place in also online at the usual stores, like Amazon. But here you must order the edition with this ISBN: 1-59457-619-X; otherwise you will experience delays since both other editions are out of print and are only partial editions of Book One: Cinátis. |