Review: The Warrior Who Carried Life

The Warrior Who Carried Life by Geoff Ryman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Fantasy (Epic/Mythological)
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: fans of mythology, epic fantasy
Trigger Warnings: torture, mutilation, killing, mass murder, slavery, murder of children, cannibalism
Animal Abuse: Several dogs are killed

My Thoughts: This book was originally released in 1986, and was re-released earlier this year by ChiZine. This is a very strange story, designed in homage to both the creation mythology of the Bible and of the epic of Gilgamesh, among other things. It's long-term, sweeping nature is sometimes a bit hard to follow, but in the end, it is very much worth it. I do recommend that if you read this book, you take the time to focus and concentrate on the story. I read most of it in short bits and pieces and that made it a bit hard to follow.

While there wasn't a lot of it, I really liked the part of the book written from Galo's point of view. Everything to him is strange, including pain and water and cold and light. It was fascinating, and I can guess that the section was short due to the very strangeness that the author had to inhabit to write it.

There is plenty of bitter with a bit of sweet. The Wordy Beast (which I think was a griffin) was really neat. There is a great deal of metaphor is vagueness in this, which leaves the reader to interpret things as she likes. I think a lot of people will enjoy this, especially if they like mythology and epic fantasy.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from ChiZine in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: To defeat her enemies . . . she must make them immortal.

Only men are allowed into the wells of vision. Cara’s mother defies this edict and is killed, but not before returning with a vision of terrible and wonderful things that are to come . . . and all because of five-year-old Cara.

Years later, evil destroys the rest of Cara’s family. In a rage, Cara uses magic to transform herself into a male warrior. But she finds that to defeat her enemies, she must break the cycle of violence, not continue it.

As Cara’s mother’s vision of destiny is fulfilled, the wonderful follows the terrible, and a quest for revenge becomes a quest for eternal life.



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