The Ropemaker

Almost two years ago my boyfriend started an obsession with used book stores. As I perused the shelves with him I started thinking back on all my favorite books from my childhood. I read a book, possibly called "The Dream Weaver's Tale", it made a strong impression on my imagination when I was about 12, and I really wanted to read that book again. I was wandering through Barns and Noble and "The Ropemaker" caught my eye. The look of the book, and introduction reminded me enough of my childhood book, so I bought "The Ropemaker." I was beyond impressed with the story, enough so to start collecting all of Peter Dickinson's works. I have highly recomended this to friends as a well written tale, not just for children, but for anyone with an imagination and an intrest in magical worlds. I love the story, and secretly wish it was longer, or had a part two in the works telling of the future when Tilja returns to the empire. . .

Ropemaker is the mainly the story of Tilja and her family, who for generations have carried out a ritual supposed to keep their valley in peace- the only proof they have of this coming from a story from long, long ago.There is no magic in the valley, and what magic there is belongs to Tilja and Tahl's familys. Their ability to listen to the waters and trees has been in them for generations, only Tilja discovers that the ability seems to have skipped her.But when something goes wrong in the valley, she and her grandmother are the ones that are sent to travel to an unknown place in search of help, along with Tahl and his grandfather.Though at times confusing, Ropemaker is beautifully written with exciting turns of the plot. Tilja becomes more important than she ever could have realized, and her grandmother undergoes a transformation that makes Tilja realize how precious youth is.Any fan of fantasy will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Young adult fantasy is one of my favourite genres and The Ropemaker fits in perfectly. The heroine of the book feels lost and alone as everyone around her, everyone she loves has some sort of magic and she doesn't. Only to find out later that she does have magic, different but extremely powerful. She sets out on a journey to save her valley and in the process finds herslf. An excellent read. Lots of twists and turns. Nothing happens when you expect it but everything works out in the end. :)

The Valley is the only passage between the horsemen of the plain and the Empire, which means that it is constantly under attack. The residents of the Valley can¡¦t withstand all these killing and raiding; therefore, they send some of their people on a long, difficult journey to find a magician powerful enough to get them some peace. Two people, Reyel Ortahlson and Dirna Urlasdaughter, found a powerful magician, Faheel, and he promised the people of the Valley peace for twenty generations. After twenty generations the magic wore off and the Valley fell again in turmoil. Tilja, Tahl, Meena, and Alnor decided that the must find the magician again to restore peace. With extraordinary luck and many breath-taking adventures, they found Faheel on an island. However, Faheel is too weak to do what they asked for, he is already on his deathbed. Before he passed away, Faheel gave them a magical ring and told them to give it to another powerful magician, the Ropemaker, who can restore peace in the Valley with the help of the ring. I had a great time reading this book. Every book that has to do with magic has to have an explanation of how magic works. The explanation in this book is very reasonable and makes perfect sense. This makes the book a lot easier to understand and enjoy. The author tells of how magic is flowing everywhere, and only gifted people can make use of this magic. When a person is more gifted than others, he/she in turn can take control of larger amounts of magic at a time. Nevertheless, when a person is overwhelmed by the magic of another, he/she will lose their gift to use magic and can very possibly die at the same time. My favorite part of this book is when Tilja realized the power she possesses. Before, she had thought that there were only two kinds of magicians: ones that remake the magic in the air before they use it and ones that simply use the magic in the air without remaking it. When magic is remade it becomes more powerful. On her journey to find Faheel, Tilja discovered that whatever remade magic makes contact with her is reversed into natural magic. With this power Tilja is able to protect herself from all remade magical attacks. Not only that, she can also suck away all the magic in any magician without getting hurt. Tilja decided that she must be the third kind of magician.

This is a startlingly good example of the kind of gems that can get hidden in the YA section of bookstores and libraries. The author proves himself very adept at word use, world-building and storytelling in an amazingly rich story.The young female protagonist of this story lives in a peaceful valley that has remained sheilded for generations from the depredations of those who live on either side of the valley. But when the magical defenses begin to fail, it is up to Tilja, her grandmother and a young man and his grandfather (along with one ornery horse) to venture beyond the valley and seek the one person who might help them.The bare bones plot is not new, but this author is a master--he handles the adventure of these four and brings the tale full circle with care and precision. The images are powerful and for anyone who recognizes the power of stories, the author's underlying message will ring true. Being a YA book there is some limit to the adult reader who might desire an adult protagonist, or more mature themes explored that are not dealt with in this story. Beyond that, I highly reccomend this book to any fantasy reader as an example of high caliber story telling. Enjoy!