Antiquitas Lost: The Last of the Shamalans

Antiquitas Lost has been a unique experience for me. The limit of my comic book education came from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, but Antiquitas Lost is full of gorgeous illustrations from Geof Isherwood, genius illustrator of many Marvel Comics. It¿s definitely a novel, not a comic, but it was wonderful to see scenes brought to life by the highly detailed drawings. The outside cover, itself, is a fabulous work of art only surpassed by the thick-papered colored map on the inside cover.Mr. Louis creates a new world with Pangrelor. Instead of being based on European fantasy like many other novels, he has based the myths and lore of Pangrelor off an amalgam of the New World. Mr. Louis himself states, ¿Over time, I have come to think of Antiquitas Lost as more of a `North American¿ tale, with many references to new world mythologies, as well as a hint of Native American influence.¿ To this new world comes new races such as the shamalans, greyfarers, serpans, gimlets, susquatanians, and darfoyles. While the terms are new, the concepts might not be. As an example, on page 75: "Elliot nodded and smiled. Gargoyles, he thought as they wended their way up a boulder-strewn slope. Grayfarers are gargoyles."Elliott is the main character of the novel. He¿s a lonely boy now living with his crazy old coot grandfather in New Orleans. He¿s unusually scarred and has been mocked and bullied throughout his short life. His mother has cancer and his grandfather tells him he has to go to the basement and look around. Elliot finds a crazy diary, paintings, a knapsack, and jewelry. He puts on the jewelry and knapsack, reads the diary, and looks at the paintings. Soon, while bumbling around, he is transported to a parallel world where he has to save the world¿ or maybe, he¿s just trying to save his mother.Like the Chronicles of Narnia, Dreamseeker¿s Road, and The Magic Kingdom of Landover, Pangrelor is a parallel world accessed from our own. The people who stumble in are generally considered normal and could be either you or me. This is one of the charming qualities of the book. It could be me. It could be you.Throughout the novel there is a great and perfect amount of dialogue, description, and action. The prologue was incredibly action-packed and as reader, we are thrown into a new world with new terms. It certainly gets your attention. Often times throughout the novel I thought of others, but always it was a fresh and new slant. Slipher and Pongo made me think of Don Quixote. The testing chamber in chapter seven was reminiscent of the Aes Sedai testing chamber in The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time, Book 2). I already mentioned three other books based on the parallel world theory, as well.What it comes down to, for me, is this: two questions. How could I not love a book with Hooks in it? How could I not love a book with passages like this (pages 248-249): "Then the salax leaped across the encampment and sat Marvus back up against the tree. Holding him there with one claw, it opened its mouth and spat a glob of sticky saliva onto Marvus¿s chest. The glob quickly solidified into the weird silvery webbing. The creature spat again and again, contorting its stomach and neck with each effort, as if working the material up from deep within. With each spit, another swatch of silvery glue matted Marvus to the tree. When finished, the creature lumbered back to the cauldron."If you¿re not convinced that you need to read this book, you should be.Thank you Robert Smith.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received Antiquitas Lost: The Last of the Shamlans by Robert Louis Smith free from Medlock Publishing through the FSB Associates review program. I was not required to write a positive review and did not receive any other compensation. The opinions I have expressed are my own and no one else¿s. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission¿s 16 CFR, Part 255 : ¿Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.¿

Antiquitas Lost: The Last of the Shamalans turned out to be a pretty great book. I say "turned out to be" because I almost gave up on it around page 50. The beginning is slooooow. Because this was sent to me for review, I decided to power through to at least page 100, and I'm so glad I did. Once Elliot left his "normal" life in New Orleans and headed off through the secret passage in his grandfather's basement (I'm a sucker for secret portals to other realms hidden in an old houses), things really started to pick up. Elliot's adventure in Pangrelor quickly takes on a very LOTR feel, complete with a large cast of important characters from various fantasy races. Smith did a wonderful job at not only introducing these different characters without overwhelming me as a reader, but he also wove in important information about the cultures and customs of all of his creatures without turning his book into a fantasy anthropological venture. Similarly, he withholds information about the history of the war (and the world) in which Elliot finds himself, something that usually bothers me to no end, especially when the characters who are "in the know" sit around whispering about it. Because Hooks, Woolf, Marvus and Jingo, Elliot's companions and friends, are doing their best to protect Elliot as he figures out how he fits into their world, this withholding of information worked. When everything fell into place at the end leaving Elliot free to save the day, it didn't seem trite or too convenient (for the most part) because Marvus and Jingo were there to show how it had been prophesied all along.Now, about the illustrations by the famous Geoff Isherwood... I could have lived without them. The illustrations in the book are good, but I don't think they added to the story. Some crossed that horrible line where they became distractions from the text rather than an addition to it, but for the most part, they were just pretty pictures about what I was reading. They did not, as I had hoped they would, add any emotion to the characters, and without the captions underneath each one, it was sometimes hard to tell which character they were supposed to be depicting. And that cover. Don't let it keep you from picking up this book. Antiquitas Lost really is a LOTR fantasy quest type book, not a book about superheroes in space.Book source: Review copy provided by publicist for review.

This book is perfect to pick up and put down. (Well...Maybe not so easy to put down...) ;) Where everyone seems to be describing 'what' the book is about, the forget the main part most people look for 'In' a book. Style. Antiquitas Lost, doesn't drag, it doens't lack anywhere, it is the perfect book for someone who is wishing Tolkien could write more book, sadly they don't want to face facts and realize he 'can't' write another book, so desperatly we search to find a new book, and Antiquitas Lost is that book. It isn't following the LOTR overly used plotline, though it holds the greatness of the LOTR. I cannot wait till Robert Louis Smith brings out his next volume! I will be waiting 'not' so paitiently for it. :)

Fifteen year old Elliott worries about his mom Mary who he believes his dying. They moved to New Orleans to live with her elderly father in his home built in 1796. The kind old man tells him about the house's history and sadly informs his grandson that his mother has breast cancer. Hi grandfather sounds as crazy as his dad claimed him to be with talk of the cause of the cancer and artifacts in the basement. Elliot explores the basement where he finds strange paintings and hears whispers. He soon finds himself in the Forest of Ondor in war wracked Pangrelor where two tiny gimlets (Marvus and Jingo) believe he is a Shamalan. They explain his species once ruled the realm, but due to ethnic cleansing are down to Princess Sarintha, prisoner of the Serpans at war with the Shamalans, Gimlets and the Grayfarers. They take him to the ruling council who plan to execute Elliot and Hooks the Susquatanian, but Jingo and Marvus rescue both. The quartet tries to prevent a Serpan attack, rescue the princess and elude the Council; while the hero needs to be with his mom. This is an entertaining quest fantasy with unique species that bring a brisk freshness to the tale. The story line is fast-paced with vivid illustrations enhancing the good vs. bad guys plot. The Serpans who seem to be winning the war come across as incompetent in battle scenes (even their pictures make them look like losers). Mindful of the NeverEnding Story, young adult readers will appreciate this engaging thriller starring heroes with histories and allies with nebulous motives not as lucid as they first appear. Harriet Klausner