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MARI: A Keeper Must Be Found
All girls in Chaimara are born with the right to be shamans, Keepers of their world, a power that arises on their thirteenth birthday. Yet believing such protection was no longer needed, that the land was safe and flourishing, the elders, men and women both, decided to suppress the emergence of such Keepers through a ritual called the hareya. So it has been for five hundred years.
On the day she turns thirteen, Mari is visited by a Storyteller, who hands her a gift. Hours later her guardian has given away all their possessions and taken the girl into the desert. The gift is a signal from Mari’s mother, warning of an enemy that seeks to destroy them both. There can be no hareya. Mari begins a journey into a Chaimara she never knew existed, one filled with alternate dimensions, and the bridges between some are fragile and easily severed. Strangers help her, some intense and some frightening, all of them unpredictable. Still others she encounters seem already aware of her purpose. Those hunting her want what she has and will not stop until they get it.
When Mari bands with a small group of rebels who live in the mountains of Dromgorden, the truth of the gift and why her mother sent it to her is revealed, and so is the path she must claim as her own.
On the day she turns thirteen, Mari is visited by a Storyteller, who hands her a gift. Hours later her guardian has given away all their possessions and taken the girl into the desert. The gift is a signal from Mari’s mother, warning of an enemy that seeks to destroy them both. There can be no hareya. Mari begins a journey into a Chaimara she never knew existed, one filled with alternate dimensions, and the bridges between some are fragile and easily severed. Strangers help her, some intense and some frightening, all of them unpredictable. Still others she encounters seem already aware of her purpose. Those hunting her want what she has and will not stop until they get it.
When Mari bands with a small group of rebels who live in the mountains of Dromgorden, the truth of the gift and why her mother sent it to her is revealed, and so is the path she must claim as her own.
197 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 13, 2014
6 people want to read
About the author
Regina Clarke
59 books20 followersMy intent is for the stories and books I write to bring others a good read, a respite from the frenetic pace we sometimes live, and most of all, a path into other ways of seeing.
RIA QUINN MYSTERIES is my cozy mystery series, beginning with "Hidden In Stone"... An amateur archaeologist transplanted from London to upstate New York discovers more than prehistoric artifacts when she settles into the small town of Shokan Falls, having a murder occur on the very day she arrives. I am writing Book 4 now, still to be titled...
The Standalone books--Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Mystery:
In MARI a young girl searches for her mother in a fantasy world that brings her knowledge of herself and a way out of darkness ~ A homicide detective in The Magic Hour faces mental collapse that sends him into a backwater town and a parallel dimension at the same time, and each one teaches him about love ~ In Retrieval a woman who manages a cafe in the desert encounters an alien presence that is both dangerous and familiar ~ The university town in Gene Pool becomes the target of a pact between the government and an unknown entity, while four friends race to unravel the doomsday scenario ~ In The Gatekeepers of Genthor, a brother and sister must fight an unseen enemy in a virtual world to save those they love ~ STOPOVER and Other Stories for a Rainy Night, is a collection of short mystery stories ~ My other books explore more alternate worlds, both in fantasy and science fiction, and all the books seek to explore matters of the heart. I hope indeed you enjoy them.
My stories have appeared in Thrice Fiction, Kzine, Bewildering Stories, Subtle Fiction, Mad Scientist Journal, Over My Dead Body!, T. Gene Davis's Speculative Blog, tNY Press, and NewMyths, among others.
I was a finalist in the Hollywood SCRIPTOID Screenwriter's Feature Challenge for my script about a mother seeking the disabled child she had abandoned, in "Second Chances." My book MARI was a finalist in the ListenUp Audiobook competition.
Life includes creative friends and a brilliant, talkative, and very green eclectus parrot named Harry. Home is in the evocative and hauntingly beautiful Hudson River Valley.
RIA QUINN MYSTERIES is my cozy mystery series, beginning with "Hidden In Stone"... An amateur archaeologist transplanted from London to upstate New York discovers more than prehistoric artifacts when she settles into the small town of Shokan Falls, having a murder occur on the very day she arrives. I am writing Book 4 now, still to be titled...
The Standalone books--Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Mystery:
In MARI a young girl searches for her mother in a fantasy world that brings her knowledge of herself and a way out of darkness ~ A homicide detective in The Magic Hour faces mental collapse that sends him into a backwater town and a parallel dimension at the same time, and each one teaches him about love ~ In Retrieval a woman who manages a cafe in the desert encounters an alien presence that is both dangerous and familiar ~ The university town in Gene Pool becomes the target of a pact between the government and an unknown entity, while four friends race to unravel the doomsday scenario ~ In The Gatekeepers of Genthor, a brother and sister must fight an unseen enemy in a virtual world to save those they love ~ STOPOVER and Other Stories for a Rainy Night, is a collection of short mystery stories ~ My other books explore more alternate worlds, both in fantasy and science fiction, and all the books seek to explore matters of the heart. I hope indeed you enjoy them.
My stories have appeared in Thrice Fiction, Kzine, Bewildering Stories, Subtle Fiction, Mad Scientist Journal, Over My Dead Body!, T. Gene Davis's Speculative Blog, tNY Press, and NewMyths, among others.
I was a finalist in the Hollywood SCRIPTOID Screenwriter's Feature Challenge for my script about a mother seeking the disabled child she had abandoned, in "Second Chances." My book MARI was a finalist in the ListenUp Audiobook competition.
Life includes creative friends and a brilliant, talkative, and very green eclectus parrot named Harry. Home is in the evocative and hauntingly beautiful Hudson River Valley.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 20, 2018
Mari by Regina Clarke is a beautifully written book. I’ve never read anything quite like it. It reminded me of the video game Journey in which the artwork, the incredible scenery and the experience of the journey itself are the most important elements. It also reminded me of the mysticism within Paolo Coelho’s books, most notably The Alchemist and The Witch of Portobello.
Mari is a thirteen-year-old girl troubled by vivid dreams. We soon learn that these dreams aren’t ordinary. She experiences them because she is a Keeper. When her village is attacked, an old woman named Marta guides her through the desert toward the mountains of Dromgorden. As they travel through the desert and then on through other places, meeting all kinds of people and creatures, Mari discovers herself and her mission.
Regina Clarke is an incredibly gifted writer. Many of the scenes in Mari are mystical and poetic. Clarke’s use of language draws the reader into an experience not unlike synesthesia. While reading words, the reader is imagining the sounds, colors and feelings brought to life in one beautiful passage after another. At the same time, the book revolves around a high-adventure plot in which Mari and those she loves are forced to confront many life-and-death situations.
I highly recommend this book.
Mari is a thirteen-year-old girl troubled by vivid dreams. We soon learn that these dreams aren’t ordinary. She experiences them because she is a Keeper. When her village is attacked, an old woman named Marta guides her through the desert toward the mountains of Dromgorden. As they travel through the desert and then on through other places, meeting all kinds of people and creatures, Mari discovers herself and her mission.
Regina Clarke is an incredibly gifted writer. Many of the scenes in Mari are mystical and poetic. Clarke’s use of language draws the reader into an experience not unlike synesthesia. While reading words, the reader is imagining the sounds, colors and feelings brought to life in one beautiful passage after another. At the same time, the book revolves around a high-adventure plot in which Mari and those she loves are forced to confront many life-and-death situations.
I highly recommend this book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review