Shiva: An Adventure of the Ice Age

In this one book for young adults, Herbie Brennan melds the genres of fantasy and prehistoric fiction with a skillful pen. Unlike other works in the prehistoric fiction genre, this book does not forget that character developement, imagination, and an original plot line are even more important than the relation of theories on prehistoric culture. Though Brennan takes great care to make the society of the Cro-Magnon's realistic and believable to even those who are familiar with current archeological and anthropological knowledge, he does not dwell needlessly on the exact minutaie of every little action that his characters take (like Aule and others do), and hence his work is much more enjoyable. It is true that his portrayal of the ogre-neanderthals is somewhat dated (they are stooped, hairy, and at least as tall as the Cro-Magnons), but his characterization of them is profound. Unlike many other writers in the genre, he recognizes the fact that neanderthals were several times as strong and powerful as Cro-Magnons, and had an equal though alien intelligence. His descriptions of the wild and barbaric Ogre Chief Thag are some of the most exciting reading I have enjoyed in years. Thag is probably a bit dumber than any neanderthal chief that ever lived, seeing as how they had bigger brains than any living human. But still the characterization of him is highly articulate and well thought out. The interaction between this leader and his mate makes for fascinating reading, and Brennan does a great job of empowering his female characters in a believable way without turning them into scantily clad superhuman warrior women. The growth that Shiva goes through is also quite well crafted, and during the course of the 180 or so pages you actually feel like you've gotten to know her, as well as her friend Hiram and the ogre boy Doban (though he almost never talks, the boy comes strikingly to life through Brennan's vivid descriptions). At the end of the book there is an Epilogue in which Brennan conveys that his descriptions of Neanderthals are somewhat out of date, and suggests that his ogres are more like "Ginganthropithecus" than neanderthals. He states that ogre legends come from encounters with real creatures, but that he now believes that they weren't neanderthals but probably an earlier form of hominid or man-ape. I disagree; though neanderthals weren't as primitive as they were being portrayed by science at the time of the writing of this book, they were still very much like the descriptions of ogres, trolls, and Norse dwarves in ancient legends. Their faces and heads were totally alien to us and most likely very ugly to us, they were shorter than us, and they were much stronger. They were also more primitive than cro-magnon, though they did indeed have a superior technology to the ogres in this book. I think it's highly probable that this race was indeed the impetus for troll and ogre legends, and I've thought so for a long time. It's a shame that

This book is one of the best I've read. Once you start to feel the adventure you just want the book to never end. I highly recommend this title.