The Left Hand of God

It was hard for me to decipher the author's intentions of this book, which is not really a bad thing. The story telling is quite unique, though at points the flow feels quite incoherent and broken up. At times I felt like I was reading a dark comedy, other times it felt like the author was trying to be a sort of Dr. Seuss with his descriptions, and at other points it felt like a trip into a disturbingly graphic gore novel. Although the flow of the story seemed very multi-faceted and unpredictable, it was also an extremely captivating book, making me want to keep reading just to see what was going to happen next. I was actually disappointed by the time I finished the book, not in the story itself, but that there was no more of the book left to keep reading. The Left Hand of God may actually be one of the few books I will enjoy rereading a few times.

This is an amazing book, the first one written by Paul Hoffman. He is no beginning writer. He knows the craft of writing very, very well. His plot, characters, settings, and the action are all wonderfully described. And the story is immensely gripping. I was totally drawn into the actions surrounding the main character, a 15 year old, raised from childhood in a monastery prison, ruled by savage monks. All the children are brutally treated to become insensitive, brutal soldiers, an army of cold killers, and in the process, they are killed if they do not obey the least command of their masters. However, Cale, our protagonist, does escape with 2 others, and, avoiding a brutal search for them, make their way to the main city of Memphis, in this make believe world. Soon he is the pawn of the ruling class but, possessing superior powers in fighting, becomes a favorite of the monarch, protecting his beautiful daughter. Soon however, war breaks out between the Redeemers, the cruel monks, and the army of Memphis. Cale is very instrumental in the planning and action of this war. But, as this is Book I of three volumes planned by the author, the ending is a cliffhanger. I can barely wait to get my hands on Book II!!!!

I had no idea what to say about this book. Not science fiction, not a fantasy, not any recognizable moment in history, with a jumble of devices and borrowing from everything from sword-and-sorcery to all sorts of fashion eras, no real beginning, and an end that seems to point to sequels. Thomas Cale is a young man, 14 years old though he seems older, raised by a very strange sect of monks who train their acolytes in various forms of warfare. The Redeemers, as the sect is called, are engaged in a war with another group, the Antagonists (never encountered) and relentlessly trains the young boys they have collected over the years, unceremoniously disposing of the ones who don't survive the rigorous programs and ruling them by fear. Cale and his friends, imaginatively named Vague Henri and Kleist, manage to escape from the monk's compound and make for a place called Memphis. They barely beat the pursuing Redeemers and are taken in as whipping boys for the ruling class of Memphis, who all seem to be named Materazzi and are a sort of uber-warrior Mafia. The leader of the town is called the Doge; women are expected to despise and belittle the men, who take it; and the military running of the town is left to a bunch of guys who wear derby hats. Everything springs from the fertile mind of the author, Paul Hoffman, and to tell you the truth, I really have no idea what's going on here, other than it's a good read. You are absorbed into this strange world - I've never seen the movie, but all I could think of was 'A Clockwork Orange' - full of characters that you might encounter out on the street (there is some trouble with Norwegians as well) and the way the plotline zips from here to there and employs so many unforgettable characters is almost poetic in scope. I never lost interest, even when I didn't know what was going on. And the character of Cale is well-drawn and given life in a way that makes you at once fear him, pity him, and emphathize with him. The end of the book succeeds in tying up one of the big questions, and it is from this that I gathered that we may hear more about Cale in the future. A reread may make things a little clearer for me, but I was not disappointed in the story, and the character of Vague Henri especially - who gets out of tight situations by appearing stupid so cleverly that each time he did it, I had to laugh - made me think that, not too far down the road, I will reread it, just to get acquainted with him again. Not for people wanting a straightforward novel, perhaps, but a thought-provoker from an author who can take ideas out of the air and make them fit.

I mean no respect for this excellent new book by Paul Hoffman called, THE LEFT HAND OF GOD. It is well written, exciting, and a book that is hard to put down once you start it. It is also going to be very popular with adolescents the world over. However, there are similarities to Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter : 1. Three good friends must go on a perilous journey and endure hardships in a quest for freedom and truth. 2. One of the three friends is more special than the other two and it is his life we care most about. 3. It is the first in a unknown number of sequels to follow and the story lines, mysteries to solve, further adventures are set up in the first book. 4. Girls are more of an afterthought in this book than strong characters. Maybe there will be more heroic female figures in the books to follow. I wouldn't recommend this book to any readers under 14 due to the many violent and explicit passages of torture, child abuse, sexual abuse, combat, and death. The Sanctuary of the Redeemers where the main character, 14 year old Cale, and his two companions escape from, is a horrible place of brutality towards children. They rescue a young woman who is about to be dissected alive by one of the more evil Redeemers. Riba has been overfed and pampered since she was a young girl in a secret area of the sanctuary in stark contrast to the boys who have been beaten and starved since arriving at 6 or 7 years of age. The Sanctuary is supposed to be run by monk like men and their religion seems to share dogma with Christianity but it has been terribly corrupted and is very cruel. The setting appears to be medieval as there are horses, crossbows, swords and spears used. There is no magic used in this first book but Cale has extraordinary abilities and the book ends with him back at the Sanctuary, no longer being tortured and leaving on a mission with a Redeemer and his army. I will definitely want to read the second book when it comes out and I"m sure the wait will be too long!

The only bad thing about this book is knowing that I'll have to wait for the sequel. Given that I read a pre-publication reviewer's copy it could be a while, unfortunately... Have you every started to read a book and been riveted and enthralled with it, losing track of time? This is that kind of book. I am an avid reader of science fiction and this is the best book I've read in years. The characters are fascinating, well developed, and interesting. The society is unlike anything I've ever seen or read about before. It is well thought out, complex and interesting. It makes you wonder why things in the society are as they are. The characters are complex, not cookie-cutter heroes or villains. It is a coming of age story; it is an epic, a story of a clash between world-views and societies. You will be sad when you finish it and mourn that you have to wait for the sequel. I cannot think of enough superlatives to describe this book. I cannot recommend it more highly.