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The Seeking
The Seeking
- GenresHistorical Fiction
397 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
16 people want to read
About the author
Robert S. Elegant
38 books14 followersRobert Sampson Elegant (born March 7, 1928) is a British-American author and journalist born in New York City. He spent many years in Asia as a journalist. The Asian settings of all but one of his novels reflect that experience. He covered both the Korean and the Vietnam Wars, as well as four or five lesser conflicts.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 23, 2022
This seems to be one of Elegant's more obscure works, perhaps because it deals with a place and time period unfamiliar to most readers. Also, the cover's just not very interesting - white doesn't work as a background color for the cover, and the axe doesn't really tell you anything about the characters or themes of the book, only a hint that it's not set in the west. However, the Seeking is an interesting tale of war and wandering along the ancient Silk Road, from a kingdom in North India through Central Asia and back around the 1st century A.D.
The protagonist is the right hand man to an ambitious prince who talks his father into performing the asvamedha rite, a horse sacrifice that signals the performer's claim of sovereignty over an empire. All rulers of the lands where the sacred horse goes over a year of wild wandering must submit to the asvamedha's performer or be conquered.
In its exploration of a distant and exotic corner of the world that we don't get to see many novels or films set in, The Seeking was a gem for me and one of the inspirations for Swords of the Four Winds. It reads like a blend of a Crusader tale and the memoirs of Marco Polo.
While Elegant has more complex characters and character development in his other novels, I recommend The Seeking for readers who want a taste of world that's really different.
The protagonist is the right hand man to an ambitious prince who talks his father into performing the asvamedha rite, a horse sacrifice that signals the performer's claim of sovereignty over an empire. All rulers of the lands where the sacred horse goes over a year of wild wandering must submit to the asvamedha's performer or be conquered.
In its exploration of a distant and exotic corner of the world that we don't get to see many novels or films set in, The Seeking was a gem for me and one of the inspirations for Swords of the Four Winds. It reads like a blend of a Crusader tale and the memoirs of Marco Polo.
While Elegant has more complex characters and character development in his other novels, I recommend The Seeking for readers who want a taste of world that's really different.
Displaying 1 of 1 review