A lost little girl weeps in the high wilderness, and her cries are heard...Is her rescuer a crazy, lonely woodsman, or a timeworn Celtic god, and she his only believer? Does an ancient female deity live beside the pool, among the ancient trees of the cool beech grove, or is she little Pierette's "imaginary friend," a poor substitute for a murdered mother?
Will the Black Time come, when dark, evil machines tower over the sunny little harbor of Citharista and all the goodness of the world is locked in an ebon box, or will young Pierette indeed become the great sorceress of her dreams, with fire at her fingertips to stem the evil tide?
Journey with her across the ancient landscape, wander among the bleaching limestone bones of dragons that lie still atop the hills, and see for yourself whether the old gods yet endure....
The Sacred Pool stands at the midpoint of a vast historic tapestry, looking both forward and back: From the sea-girt Paleolithic caves of Sormiou and the enchanted forests of ancient Gaul, to the steamy swamps of Midicor IV, a million years hence; from old Polybius in his leather tent at the siege of Numantia, to Achibol the Charlatan in a cybernetic fortress buried beneath the Columbia Icefields of Alberta, L. Warren Douglas is there -- and he takes his readers with him.
From Publishers Weekly
As the first in Douglas's projected trilogy the Sorcerer's Tale, this highly literate, intricately allusive alternative Dark Ages fantasy ingeniously explores the evolution of myths that sprang from various pagan roots to blossom into Christian tradition. Douglas's delightful heroine, Pierette, lives in coastal Provence sometime between the eighth and the ninth centuries A.D., when a succession of pillaging invadersDSaracens, Christians, Huns and VikingsDleft their marks (and not a few offspring) on the native Proven als. Child of a cowardly olive-grove farmer and an ethereal woods-dweller stoned as a witch by scapegoat-seeking villagers, Pierette eventually grows into a full-fledged sorceress capable of shaping reality to her requirements. Buoyed by the sacred spring, Ma, where her mother's spirit guides her growth, Pierette learns to pierce the Veil of Years, traveling through time and space to an early Stone Age tribe and to the Atlantean Fortunate Isles. Pierette's quest is to undermine the "terrible sameness" of skepticism that institutionalized Christianity induces. Douglas brilliantly highlights many of the pagan foundation-stones that supported the early Christian church through characters loosely based on historical and mythic figures as well as his own creations. His central philosophical preoccupation concerns the coexistence of good and evil, which he presents as two sides of the same concept, rather than two opposing forces. Immensely readable and elegantly simple in execution, this vivid reimagining of Western humanity's turbid adolescence engages, enchants and enthralls. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Raised as a boy for her own protection and to preserve her father's lands, the child known as Pierrette or Piers becomes the focus of a grand quest for knowledge. Pierrette's uniqueness results in a journey of discovery and self-awareness at a time when Christianity wars with older religions for prominence in Roman-occupied Europe. Based on research into the history and language of France's Proven al region, this work by the author of Simply Human details a little-known era of history, portraying a world infused with the magic of religion and nature and caught in a crucible of changing beliefs. For most fantasy collections. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
A MILLENNIUM IN PROVENCE
A lost little girl weeps in the high wilderness, and her cries are heard...Is her rescuer a crazy, lonely woodsman, or a timeworn Celtic god, and she his only believer? Does an ancient female deity live beside the pool, among the ancient trees of the cool beech grove, or is she little Pierette's "imaginary friend," a poor substitute for a murdered mother?
Will the Black Time come, when dark, evil machines tower over the sunny little harbor of Citharista and all the goodness of the world is locked in an ebon box, or will young Pierette indeed become the great sorceress of her dreams, with fire at her fingertips to stem the evil tide?
Journey with her across the ancient landscape, wander among the bleaching limestone bones of dragons that lie still atop the hills, and see for yourself whether the old gods yet endure....
The Sacred Pool stands at the midpoint of a vast historic tapestry, looking both forward and back: From the sea-girt Paleolithic caves of Sormiou and the enchanted forests of ancient Gaul, to the steamy swamps of Midicor IV, a million years hence; from old Polybius in his leather tent at the siege of Numantia, to Achibol the Charlatan in a cybernetic fortress buried beneath the Columbia Icefields of Alberta, L. Warren Douglas is there -- and he takes his readers with him.
From Publishers Weekly
As the first in Douglas's projected trilogy the Sorcerer's Tale, this highly literate, intricately allusive alternative Dark Ages fantasy ingeniously explores the evolution of myths that sprang from various pagan roots to blossom into Christian tradition. Douglas's delightful heroine, Pierette, lives in coastal Provence sometime between the eighth and the ninth centuries A.D., when a succession of pillaging invadersDSaracens, Christians, Huns and VikingsDleft their marks (and not a few offspring) on the native Proven als. Child of a cowardly olive-grove farmer and an ethereal woods-dweller stoned as a witch by scapegoat-seeking villagers, Pierette eventually grows into a full-fledged sorceress capable of shaping reality to her requirements. Buoyed by the sacred spring, Ma, where her mother's spirit guides her growth, Pierette learns to pierce the Veil of Years, traveling through time and space to an early Stone Age tribe and to the Atlantean Fortunate Isles. Pierette's quest is to undermine the "terrible sameness" of skepticism that institutionalized Christianity induces. Douglas brilliantly highlights many of the pagan foundation-stones that supported the early Christian church through characters loosely based on historical and mythic figures as well as his own creations. His central philosophical preoccupation concerns the coexistence of good and evil, which he presents as two sides of the same concept, rather than two opposing forces. Immensely readable and elegantly simple in execution, this vivid reimagining of Western humanity's turbid adolescence engages, enchants and enthralls. (Jan.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Raised as a boy for her own protection and to preserve her father's lands, the child known as Pierrette or Piers becomes the focus of a grand quest for knowledge. Pierrette's uniqueness results in a journey of discovery and self-awareness at a time when Christianity wars with older religions for prominence in Roman-occupied Europe. Based on research into the history and language of France's Proven al region, this work by the author of Simply Human details a little-known era of history, portraying a world infused with the magic of religion and nature and caught in a crucible of changing beliefs. For most fantasy collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.