Book 120: Hmong People/Laos (English) – Forest of Souls (Lori M. LEE)

 

Magic races along my skin, eager to be used, but I hold back. Faces surface from every tree, screaming noiselesly. It takes a moment for me to realize they’re all moving in terrifying unison: Run.

 

Well, in the end, I was saved in the nick of time in my quest to find someone who could count as a native Lao novelist. Not long before it was time for Laos to appear, I decided to do one last check for someone who could count as a Laotian novelist. Once again, I had no luck, until a bit of lateral thinking came to the rescue. One of the many “Hill Tribes” in Laos and neighbouring countries is the Hmong, many of whom supported the Americans during the Vietnam War and fled to Western countries after its end. And… bingo! I found the Laos-born American, Lori M. Lee, and her novel was published this very year! So here we go!

Forest of Souls is a fantasy novel. Now, I have to admit that I no longer read fantasies as a rule, much as I used to be a fan of the genre. I fell in love early with The Lord of the Rings, but never found another fantasy novel anywhere near as good. (If you know of one please let me know!) I’m afraid that, for me at least, Forest of Souls isn’t one either, which is not to say that it’s bad! There is the usual fantasy mix and match of magic, war and violence, exotic creatures (though self-confessed unicorn aficionado doesn’t put any of those into this story), solving the puzzle, the quest… In place of the usual Medieval European ambience there is an interesting Asian tinge (rice cakes, ylang ylang trees, longan, sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves – how I loved eating sticky rice in Laos! and somewhat Asian sounding names) but it seems little more than a tinge.

The heroine, Sirscha, is feisty, troublesome, impulsive, sometimes unethical and seems to have anger management issues! To tell the truth I wasn’t really able to identify with her. The villain Ronin somehow didn’t seem evil enough – on the contrary, rather reasonable! (There’s no pleasing me – even more I can’t stand cardboard cut-out villains who have no redeeming features, justifiable motives or shades of grey…)

The plot reads like an action movie, with lots (too much for me) of description of the struggles. I liked the occasional flashes of humour.

So – while it didn’t particularly grab me, I’m sure many fantasy fans will enjoy this one, and if its intended audience is young adults, it would definitely fit the bill.

 

Lee, Lori M., Forest of Souls (Shamanborn series book 1), Salem, MA, Page Street Publishing Co., 2020, ISBN 978-1-62414-924-5