I love me a good adventure story.
Add a precocious girl protagonist and that
usually makes it better (though I've read the occasional exception wherein I
dropped my head in frustration at the utter nauseating perfection of some tailored
characters. *sigh*). So far it's only a gut feeling, but I wager that
The Scorpions of Zahir, by Christine Brodien-Jones,
will not disappoint. I've only just begun this harrowing adventure of a young
girl and her family on a suddenly-thrust-upon-them-by-a-flourish-of-fate quest
to find and save a sacred lost city in the deserts of Morocco. Still, it leads me
to ponder over the answers for many questions: How will the author choose
to depict Morocco, its people, its culture? Will the girl, Zagora, begin as
a tomboy and "blossom" into something more, or will her inherent qualities be good
enough to last? Race, gender, and storytelling. Fun stuff!
In considering this novel as my next adventure, I stumbled
upon the author's blog itself:
Owl Tracks, and with rapid interest read the a post detailing her
inspirations for writing The Scorpions of Zahir. In it, Brodien-Jones reminisces about her own
journey to Morocco with her family, a voyage that may have lacked tribal myths
and extinct supernatural animals but was rich with culture, indelible
experiences and most likely sensational food. And so it seems that great tales are
born from equally magnificent life experiences.
