Having ended England's Civil War between the Roundheads and the Royalists in 1645, the Overlord of the Holekhor, a race from another world, and his half-English son question the decision to colonize the island and convert their beloved English to a faithcharacterised by witches and myriad gods.
Ben Jeapes is the author of The Xenocide Mission, The Ark, Winged Chariot, and 18 short stories, most of which can be found at his Web site: www.sff.net/people/ben-jeapes. He lives in Oxfordshire, England.
In Jeapes's (The Ark) inventive, dense alternate history, the English Civil War of the 17th century comes to a close due to the intervention of a third party-the alien Holekhor race who arrive to claim the embattled country for their own. Dhon Do, who has walked among humans under the name John Donder, arrives from the "Old World," an alternate plane connected to the world of humans by one or more gates. As leader of the Golekh troops, he offers Oliver Cromwell, champion of the Parliamentarian forces, a chance to surrender before more Golekhi "come and keep coming... until the people of this island are extinct or driven into the sea." The Holekhor troops not only possess automatic weapons, but they arrive in airships, making them seem unstoppable. But Cromwell has Khonol Le, a female Holekhor with weapon-making skills, on his side-thanks in part to her hatred of Dhon Do. Donder (aka Dhon Do), for his part, must also come to terms with the half human/half Holekhor son he sired nearly 13 years ago, who suddenly figures prominently into the battle. The plot grows more complex from there, and the narrative may appeal most to history and military buffs (although a postscript helps to orient those less familiar with the events). Despite a rather frothy happy ending that seems out of step with the rest of the book, overall, Jeapes's novel is an admirable achievement on a technical and imaginative level. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Gr 7 Up-This historical science-fiction novel opens on a May afternoon in 1645. The bloody civil war between King Charles I and Parliament is wreaking havoc on England. John Donder, a war-weary general traveling incognito, returns to the village where he was fostered as a young man and where he unknowingly left behind a son. The pair quickly become allies in a political landscape of warring armies, guerilla warfare, and dubious alliances. The stakes, of course, are nothing less than history as we know it. The two befriend Charles I and his son and ultimately make common cause with Oliver Cromwell, for John Donder is neither Loyalist nor Parliamentarian. His true identity is Holekhor and he has come from a parallel universe that enjoys technological advances not yet known in the 17th century. He heads an alien invasion that will make Britain a tribute colony subject to exploitation by the greedy Holekhor overlord. This colonizer/colonized reversal is the central conceit of the book and its most intriguing feature; John Donder and his son, with their divided loyalties, sit uncomfortably at the crux of it. The rest-invaders with machine guns and dirigiblelike warships, train derailments, mastodons outfitted for war, betrayal in high places, and the awful stench of battle-have all been seen before. Enjoyment of the alternative-history elements requires some prior knowledge of the period. This fast-paced adventure will appeal to action-oriented readers who may skip over the Royalist/Roundhead intrigue to get to the big explosion that conveniently cuts England-and John Donder and his son-free of Holekhor rule.-Carolyn Lehman, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
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