Child of the Light: Book One of the Madagascar Manifesto

The Madagascar Manifesto #1

by Janet Berliner, George Guthridge

This remarkable book follows the lives of three friends, Solomon Freund, a Jew, Erich Wiesser, his Catholic neighbor and “brother in blood”, and Miriam Rathenau, whom both boys love, and who happens to be niece of Germany’s foreign minister Walther Rathenau. From their youth helping at their parents’ co-owned tobacco shop, the boys find their relationship strained, as was all of Germany, by the growth of the National Socialist party and the descent of Germany into a Nazi hell.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy

437 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1991

Reviews

[Repix Pix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutal y terrorífico.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first volume of a trilogy of horror/historic fiction that has me quite gripped. This first book spans the years between the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II and revolves around two boys (well, men by the end of the book) living in Berlin, who both have supernatural abilities.

Erich has the ability to telepathically communicate with dogs, while Solomon has uncontrolled precognitive visions of the future. It's from Solomon's visions that the horror element creeps in... well, that and the rise of the Nazi party, obviously. Solomon's visions show him disconnected scenes of atrocities that can't possibly come to pass... or can they? From our perspective, with the hindsight of history, Solomon's horrifying visions are all too easy to believe, but it's easy to see how from his perspective they seem like a demonic possession.

I found this book really engaging and very horrific in places and am very much looking forward to continuing with the trilogy.

[Jodi Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a creepy, complex, epic work of dark, dark, horrible things. More horrible in its historical setting and extra horrible in its bit of extra supernatural additions.

My ONLY complaint is it seems like a REALLY long, but awesome prologue... as in the part at the end is about where I thought I'd be at the middle. But there are two more books...

So, that makes it OK.

[Margo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book follows the lives of three friends, Solomon Freund, a Jew, Erich Wiesser, his Catholic neighbour and " brother in blood", and Mariam Rathenau, whom both boys love, and who happens to be the niece of Germany's foreign minister. From their youth helping at their parents' co-owned tobacco shop, the boys find their relationship strained, as was all of Germany, by the growth of the National Socialist party and the descent of Germany into a Nazi hell.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew this would be great, and it really was. I love WWII speculative fiction! I really wish I could find the other two books in the series, but I can't find them anywhere! I feel like the first book was mostly to set up the story for the next one, but it was really good none-the-less.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dark novel.