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Eel's Reverence
The Eel is a place. The reverence is … complicated. With all sides bracing for battle, Aunt Libby wins the hearts and minds of some of the humans and mermayds around her. If they aren’t enough, if they fail her under pressure, the best the people of The Eel can hope for is a brutal suppression. The worst is a bloodbath that will made the sea run red.
292 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 18, 2010
10 people want to read
About the author
Marian Allen
58 books96 followersFor as long as I can remember, I've loved telling and being told stories. When, at the age of about six, I was informed that somebody got paid for writing all those books and movies and television shows, I abandoned my previous ambition (beachcomber), and became a writer.
I've worked as a high school teacher, an executive secretary, a soda jerk, a bank clerk, an accountant, and in Red Cross Youth Services. While working for the Red Cross, I met my husband, a widower with three young daughters. We married and had a fourth daughter. Their names are #1 Daughter, #2 Daughter, #3 Daughter and #4 Daughter.
Small town life agrees with me. I like the interconnectedness of everything and everybody. The internet is a little like a small town: I frequently "run into" an old friend in a new venue. I like connecting and reconnecting with people, meeting new friends and keeping in touch with the friends I already have.
My writing reflects this love of network. I try to remember, in my books and stories, that no one exists in total isolation, but in a web of connections to family, friends, colleagues, self at former stages of maturity, perceptions and self-images. Most of my work is fantasy, science fiction and/or mystery, though I write horror, humor, romance, mainstream or anything else that suits the story and character.
I've had stories in anthologies, on-line and print publications, including Oceans of the Mind and Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress anthologies 22 and 23, on coffee cans and the wall of an Indian restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky.
Professionally, I'm a member of Southern Indiana Writers and Green River Writers.
I've worked as a high school teacher, an executive secretary, a soda jerk, a bank clerk, an accountant, and in Red Cross Youth Services. While working for the Red Cross, I met my husband, a widower with three young daughters. We married and had a fourth daughter. Their names are #1 Daughter, #2 Daughter, #3 Daughter and #4 Daughter.
Small town life agrees with me. I like the interconnectedness of everything and everybody. The internet is a little like a small town: I frequently "run into" an old friend in a new venue. I like connecting and reconnecting with people, meeting new friends and keeping in touch with the friends I already have.
My writing reflects this love of network. I try to remember, in my books and stories, that no one exists in total isolation, but in a web of connections to family, friends, colleagues, self at former stages of maturity, perceptions and self-images. Most of my work is fantasy, science fiction and/or mystery, though I write horror, humor, romance, mainstream or anything else that suits the story and character.
I've had stories in anthologies, on-line and print publications, including Oceans of the Mind and Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress anthologies 22 and 23, on coffee cans and the wall of an Indian restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky.
Professionally, I'm a member of Southern Indiana Writers and Green River Writers.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 13, 2011
In Eel’s Reverence, Marian Allen has created a delightful fantasy world and a great cast of characters. The "Eel" is similar to our world in more agrarian times. Battles are fought with knives, fists, clubs, and crossbows. Travel is by horse or cart. Humankind and mermayds come into contact and conflict with each other in a complex, prickly relationship. The complexity of relationships is not confined to race. Aunt Libby unwittingly stumbles into the role of foil to an alliance of reaver priests who have taken over the Eel. She and the belligerent, brooding “tad” who befriends her must sort through a tangle human and non-human agendas.
I enjoyed following the adventures of her protagonist, Aunt Libby, an aging "true" priest of Micah, who grows tired of watching parishioners abandon the true faith for the showy temples of reaver priests. She intrigued me because she is not in the usual vein of the scantily clad and beautiful heroine. Aunt Libby’s naiveté, her adherence to the true faith, and her age are both strengths and weaknesses in the struggle to peacefully resolve differences between races and faiths.
In Marian’s world, nothing is quite what it seems. The machinations of the rich and powerful to control the masses is one of the oldest, but Eel’s Reverence gives it a fresh and inviting treatment. In the Eel, everyone has their own agenda and Aunt Libby is pushed to both resist and collaborate with the revers. Often her faith is tested. Her friends and enemies shift allegiances and forsake her at the most inopportune moments. Through it all Eel’s Reverence shines with humor, great pacing, and plot that is filled with mystery and tension. I highly recommend you read this book. Better yet, have someone read it aloud to get the full impact of Marian’s skill with language.
I enjoyed following the adventures of her protagonist, Aunt Libby, an aging "true" priest of Micah, who grows tired of watching parishioners abandon the true faith for the showy temples of reaver priests. She intrigued me because she is not in the usual vein of the scantily clad and beautiful heroine. Aunt Libby’s naiveté, her adherence to the true faith, and her age are both strengths and weaknesses in the struggle to peacefully resolve differences between races and faiths.
In Marian’s world, nothing is quite what it seems. The machinations of the rich and powerful to control the masses is one of the oldest, but Eel’s Reverence gives it a fresh and inviting treatment. In the Eel, everyone has their own agenda and Aunt Libby is pushed to both resist and collaborate with the revers. Often her faith is tested. Her friends and enemies shift allegiances and forsake her at the most inopportune moments. Through it all Eel’s Reverence shines with humor, great pacing, and plot that is filled with mystery and tension. I highly recommend you read this book. Better yet, have someone read it aloud to get the full impact of Marian’s skill with language.
November 24, 2010
Eel’s Reverence is a story about peace overcoming violence, as well as an exploration of a fantasy world of “mermayds” (who all seem to be male), and a society where men give birth and couples start families at the age of ten. It’s an interesting place to visit and a story with a worthwhile message.
I wish the author had developed this world more fully, however. I finished the book with many questions. For example, what are the consequences of men experiencing pregnancy? (and women not experiencing it?) As far as I could tell, the men and women in this world behave the same as they do in ours, which seemed like a lost opportunity. I also wanted to better understand the religion of Micah at the center of the conflict, and why the people of the city were so helpless against a handful of bullies.
I wish the author had developed this world more fully, however. I finished the book with many questions. For example, what are the consequences of men experiencing pregnancy? (and women not experiencing it?) As far as I could tell, the men and women in this world behave the same as they do in ours, which seemed like a lost opportunity. I also wanted to better understand the religion of Micah at the center of the conflict, and why the people of the city were so helpless against a handful of bullies.
January 21, 2012
As a pacifistic elderly woman, Aunt Libby is not your everyday fantasy protagonist. That's what first caught my eye about Eel's Reverence and it's what I enjoyed about the story. As a true priest, Libby offers kindness and forgiveness to everyone, even people who have made attempts on her life. She inspires the characters around her to do what's right, which drives the entire story. A lot of characters turn from enemies into friends regardless of whether they're religious themselves. One character seemed like a cliched, cardboard villain at first, but they turned themselves around thanks to Libby's inspiration -- and I found them a downright endearing character by the end. Basically, there's a lot of violence and scheming to liberate the Eel, but Libby and her genuine faith provide a lot of positive themes to balance out the blood.
I did have a few quibbles with the writing. The characters never seem to look after for their horses or think about the horses' needs, even when riding them all day and night through the desert. I doubt this was a conscious choice on the author's part (because the horses show no ill effects), but it still bothered me that those poor horses were being driven like cars. I also found scene description a bit lacking at times, summing up significant actions in a simple "X did Y" manner that didn't capture as much feeling as it could have.
More significantly, Libby's point of view is used at all times, even for scenes she wasn't present in. This became jarring sometimes when Libby hadn't been onscreen for twenty pages and the narrative suddenly referred to "me". Then I'd remember that this is Libby's narration and I'd wonder how she knew all the tiny details of the scene. Did someone tell her all the details she herself would have noticed ...? It would have been more effective to use the POV of someone who was actually there, especially when Loach the mermayd was the focus character. Fair treatment of mermayds was an important issue in the story, and I thought they were an interesting race in general, so I was disappointed that the mermayd worldview was always filtered through a human POV.
But like I say, those are quibbles. They weren't enough to stop me from enjoying the story, and I'm glad I found this book.
I did have a few quibbles with the writing. The characters never seem to look after for their horses or think about the horses' needs, even when riding them all day and night through the desert. I doubt this was a conscious choice on the author's part (because the horses show no ill effects), but it still bothered me that those poor horses were being driven like cars. I also found scene description a bit lacking at times, summing up significant actions in a simple "X did Y" manner that didn't capture as much feeling as it could have.
More significantly, Libby's point of view is used at all times, even for scenes she wasn't present in. This became jarring sometimes when Libby hadn't been onscreen for twenty pages and the narrative suddenly referred to "me". Then I'd remember that this is Libby's narration and I'd wonder how she knew all the tiny details of the scene. Did someone tell her all the details she herself would have noticed ...? It would have been more effective to use the POV of someone who was actually there, especially when Loach the mermayd was the focus character. Fair treatment of mermayds was an important issue in the story, and I thought they were an interesting race in general, so I was disappointed that the mermayd worldview was always filtered through a human POV.
But like I say, those are quibbles. They weren't enough to stop me from enjoying the story, and I'm glad I found this book.
August 25, 2011
Mermayds and humans oh my!
A great story with conflict, peace vs violence and an excellent look into human (and not so human) character.
Love Marian's writing style and voice. If you haven't checked out her new book Force of Habit you better go read it too!
A great story with conflict, peace vs violence and an excellent look into human (and not so human) character.
Love Marian's writing style and voice. If you haven't checked out her new book Force of Habit you better go read it too!
August 11, 2011
I loved Eel's Reverence by Marian Allen. She has a way with words and puts them to good use in this book. The characters were wonderful. My favorite thing about this book is the cover. Magnificent cover for a magnificent book. Good job, Marian. I highly recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews