Review of The Fisherman's Son Trilogy

By Dr. Hugh Rosen

Website: http://www.hughrosen.com
About Hugh Rosen, the author: http://www.hughrosen.com/AboutHughRosen.htm

Anyone who enters the portal of this amazing trilogy must be prepared to confront mystery, adventure, magic, illusion, and possibility. Yet, what one might not anticipate from this comment is that although the books are shrouded in fantasy, they contain embedded within them truths that young readers can apply to their own lives, continuing on throughout adulthood. The books provide a wealth of sensory description encompassing all five senses. Each character that appears is well described in personality and appearance, the former being manifest more in showing than telling. The sentences and chapters are succinct and short, being very much adapted to its intended readers. This in no way negates the abundance of experiences that children who read these books will be treated to. The audience of readers might be sent scurrying to the dictionary over such words as bioluminescent, labyrinthine, monolithic, and incandescent. If so, they will be fortunate in forming a good reading habit that will benefit them throughout a lifetime. These challenging words, however, are not typical and young readers will find the words of the text quite suitable for their age.

The name of the first book in the trilogy is The Fisherman’s Son. Presentation of the opening sentence draws the reader into the story immediately: “The cold wind blew down from the North and slithered into the house like a living thing.” Such rhythmic and captivating narrative is reflective of the entire book. The story begins with Wiley O’Mara, the son, living in a poverty stricken village during the early 19th Century. The village has a startling history, however, which is revealed only as the narrative progresses. Wiley is a lonely and isolated lad, twelve years old, whose beloved mother is dying and whose father, an inveterate alcoholic, is irresponsible, as he disappears periodically for days at a time. Wiley is forced into being the parent of his parents, rather than assuming his proper role of a child being nurtured by them. His beloved mother would have been a perfect nurturer of Wiley, had she not succumbed to the “fever” that plagues the village. Immediately upon her death and with the disappearance of his father, Wiley is plunged into a desperate situation early on.

It is at this point that the mundane life of Wiley is transformed into one of magic, secrets, and imaginative adventure. The author’s masterful use of color begins to take on the aura of painting a picture with words. At this phase Wiley meets the magical petite Lucinda, whose talents allow her to float above the water waving a wand bedecked with jewels. She bestows upon him a golden cup with the words, “Drink deeply by land or sea. Earth comes only once.” inscribed upon it. Wiley ponders the meaning of these words throughout the trilogy, for they contain the touchstone of the main “message” of the work. The phrase appears too repetitively in all three books, but that is a minor quibble. Wiley’s task is to use the golden cup to contact Elden, a dolphin, whose name means “old, wise protector.” Elden has the uncanny ability to communicate with Wiley through thinking what they want to say to one another without speaking. But Wiley has lost the cup that was to identify him to Elden and he must retrieve it to establish his credentials. This is not accomplished without a fearful and fierce battle with a ferocious beast. Finally, by the end of the book, Elden transports Wiley to an opulent underwater habitat that dates back to the fifth century B.C. It is populated with creative people and independent thinkers. But is it real? Wiley is shocked to learn that his village was once a part of this city, but had been sundered from it by a falling meteor. Yet he is left with the conundrum, told to him by Elden that it is merely an illusion created by imagination. His own village had never tried to recapture its wealth and vitality because, “After suffering such great devastation, the people who survived the meteor made a stubborn decision to never again reach for the stars.” Despite the contrast between his impoverished village and the corporeal wealth and rich culture of the illusory underwater city from which it had derived, Wiley is left with a sense of hope that his city will someday be restored to its former state.

The City of the Golden Sun, the second book of the trilogy, begins when Wiley awakens in his tree house back home with only a faint trace of what had taken place, which he at first mistakes for a dream. Yet sleeping high up in the same domicile are six friends he had met in the ancient city of opulence and advanced culture. Despite the illusory nature of the annihilated city, the boys had been hiding in a library when the meteor struck the city. Elden, the dolphin, had encased the library with a bubble and thereby preserved their lives. Amongst them is Keegan, the son of the King of the old city. The six boys are destined not to understand that time has gone by since the meteor struck and separated the two parts of the original city. For them, the meteor has only just struck and the tragedy is fresh in their minds.

Each boy is clearly delineated and stands out as a distinctly separate individual. Wiley, in his growing maturity, feels a responsibility for the welfare of the boys and assumes a role of leadership. He generates within them a sense of teamwork as they strive toward assuring their survival that involves adapting to their new environment. Wiley has learned an important lesson from his experiences so far, which is that, “…once he had decided to put one foot in front of the other and keep on going, the universe had opened up to him, and he had succeeded.” He begins to feel that he is no longer a child, a fact that carries fears of its own for him. Wiley is soon to learn from the enchanting lady, Lucinda, who had bestowed the golden cup upon him that he alone must find a way to bring the two halves of the city back together again, thereby bringing about unity between them. Succeeding at this, the poverty of the surviving part of the city on land that he inhabited would be revitalized and restored to its former majesty. In the meantime they must cope with finding food to survive and a way to resolve their ancient garb, as they wore tunics making them seem as if they had come from another time zone, which they had. Wiley takes the lead in attempting to solve these problems. Further he takes them to meet the magical Lucinda, so that they will be convinced that he is not making up his story or imagining it. The boys are stunned and bewildered by her appearance, as if she were an apparition.

The boys return to The City of the Golden Sun at the direction of Lucinda. They return riding on the backs of friendly marine animals in the sea. Wiley rides on the back of the special dolphin, Elden, and the others have advantage of other friendly sea creatures, such as the whale, Beluga. Much of the entire trilogy takes place underwater and the reader is treated to a wide spectrum of sea dwellers, including dolphins, whales, jellyfish, sharks, eels and esoteric fish who stare curiously at the boys and then swim away. Once back home in the ancient city, the boys partake of the basic theme that permeates the City, to seize the pleasures and treasures of the moment and make the best of the time that is allotted them. Each boy returns to his family and Wiley gets a better sense of the Golden City by partaking in the other antithetical half of the poverty stricken city he came from, the part that had given up hope and lives on in resignation to their perceived fate. But the events of time interrupt their brief interlude as fate is replayed by the striking of the meteor. The boys escape and are brought back by the sea creatures to the remnant of what was once a part of their city.

Return of the Golden Age, the last and most recently published book in this trilogy, was for me the most joyous, exuberant, and hopeful of the three books.

As a temporary measure Wiley sees to it that the boys from underwater are placed in an orphanage where he once sought refuge. A firm woman, Mrs. Mulvaney, who is very strict, bordering on being harsh, yet conscientious about performing her duties, is the manager of the orphanage. Her character is a trifle too stereotyped and greater justice might have been done had she been described in a more balanced manner, attributing a wider range of varying attributes to her.

A good deal of the structure of this last book consists of chapters alternating between Wiley’s escapades in his city and the experiences of the remaining boys, who are living in the orphanage. This approach enlivens the book and keeps one waiting in anticipation about what will happen in the next chapter, even while enjoying the one being read.

Wiley is advised by Elden before returning to his city that the people inhabiting it must be informed of their past history. We are introduced to the mystery and magic of the caves. There is much to be discovered about them, most of which will not be revealed here.  However, within the caves Wiley finds traces of past life that drew and carved art on the walls. He brings a couple of trusted community members and also the boys to witness this and more. Wiley saw a vision that had morphed into something halfway between the impoverished village that Wiley knew and the grandeur of The City of the Golden Sun. He observed a renewal and vitality amongst the people and the environment that he had never envisioned or even hoped for previously. His own father was before him: active, productive, cheerful, responsible and kind; alcohol was no longer a part of his life. It remained for Lucinda to explain to him that perhaps he had seen a vision of what is possible, of what might yet be. “If visions are real enough, they can materialize, by bringing about the changes necessary to accomplish that. Visions can be very motivating,” she tells him. Yet, hard work is necessary to bring this about and serious choices must be made.

In summary, this is a marvelous trilogy for young people, intertwining fantasy and reality. The line between the two is often blurred, as it is in our own minds. Fantasy and vision for the future can provide the map that leads to the desired reality. We must live each moment that we are blessed with and make the most of it.

The author, Marilyn Peake, has crafted her trilogy with consummate skill and adapted it well to her intended audience. She will mesmerize her readers and while teaching practical philosophy to them, it has been achieved in a manner that weaves its messages smoothly into the narrative of the story. Although the books can be read in any order with enjoyment, I would recommend that they be read chronologically, as each one builds on the preceding one, thereby laying a foundation for what is to follow.

Copyright (c) 2008 Marilyn Peake