The Days of the Deer - Liliana Bodoc

It is known that the strangers will sail from some part of the Ancient Lands and will cross the Yentru Sea. All our predictions and sacred books clearly say the same thing. The rest is all shadows. Shadows that prevent us from seeing the faces of those who are coming.

In the House of Stars, the Astronomers of the Open Air read contradictory omens. A fleet is coming to the shores of the Remote Realm. But are these the long-awaited Northmen, returned triumphant from the war in the Ancient Lands? Or the emissaries of the Son of Death come to wage a last battle against life itself? From every village of the seven tribes, a representative is called to a Great Council. One representative will not survive the journey. Some will be willing to sacrifice their lives, others their people, but one thing is certain: the era of light is at an end.

My thoughts:

This was different because at times it frankly just felt..well too real. Like yes that could have happened, those people could have lived in the Americas. Some fantasy books are just too easy to put in a special country or place. But it still worked because in the end, yes in the end it was different. So very different.

I already told you this is a fantasy world set in a sort of America, both the south and northern part is here. All mixed into one where different people live. There is also magic and a strange creature of some sort that live among them. Across the sea in the Ancient Lands lives the North Men and there also lives a darkness. Which is what this book is about. Darkness is coming, or is it? Messengers are sent out to gather "ambassadors" from all the tribes, clans and lands to talk this over.

There was this sort of magic shimmer of the story. I was never truly there, more sort of in the air above them looking down (ok that makes no sense but it's hard to explain.) I was never in their hearts or heads. It's not like any fantasy I have read, well except for this one strange cool one, because yes it was different and strange at times. The language more poetic somehow. And she does begin and end like this was a saga told now, from a time long long ago.

I had to check, yes this is the only one translated to English so I had to read a blurb in Spanish to see what's next. Because even though it is a series it all came to a fine conclusion. But more is to come.

Conclusion.

Different sort of fantasy

cover

eh

Paperback, 318 pages
Published January 2nd 2014 by Atlantic Books (first published 1999)
original title: Los días del venado
La saga de los confines #1, Saga of the Borderlands #1
Fantasy
For review