Book Review: Red Moon and Black Mountain

Book Review: 'Red Moon and Black Mountain' by Joy Chant 

3 / 5 Stars

 

'Red Moon and Black Mountain' first was published in the UK in 1970. This mass market paperback edition (268 pp.) was issued by Ballantine / Del Rey in April, 1977, and features cover art by the brothers Hildebrandt.

 

Joy Chant is the pseudonym of the English author Eileen Joyce Rutter. 'Red Moon' was her first novel, and is succeeded by 'The Grey Mane of Morning' (1977), and 'When Voiha Wakes' (1983), the three books making up what is known as the 'House of Kendreth' trilogy.

 

I picked up 'Red Moon' after spending a good eight weeks reading nothing but horror fiction, in association with the custom of highlighting such literature at this blog, during the Fall months. A steady diet of horror content can be a little depressing, so with 'Red Moon' I was hoping for something a little lighter in tone.

 

'Red Moon' starts off on a fine early Spring day in the UK in the early 1970s. The three Powell children, Penelope, Nicholas, and Oliver, are enjoying a walk in the woods when suddenly a mysterious entity transports them to the world of Vandarei, a fantasy world where life operates at a medieval level and supernatural and magical phenomena are commonplace. 

 

Oliver, the eldest Powell sibling, winds up in the company of a tribe of plains nomads (modeled on American Indians) called the Khentorei. For their part, Penelope and Nicholas are set down amid a group of nobility called the Harani.

The reader quickly learns that Vandarei is threatened by a Dark Lord called Fendarl. A fearsome personage, Fendarl has spent years strengthening his power, and now he intends to conquer and enslave all who dare defy him. Both the Khentorei and the Harani are among the polities mobilizing to resist the rise of Fendarl.

I won't reveal any spoilers, but I will disclose that the three English children have their roles to play in the efforts by the free peoples of Vandarei to resist subjugation. Oliver in fact may be the incarnation of a mythical warrior who, it is foretold, will bring the battle directly to the Dark Lord. But Oliver has his doubts and fears about fulfilling prophecy; is a teen-aged British lad indeed destined to be the savior of an entire world ?

I read 'Red Moon' aware that it is a Young Adult novel and not necessarily designed to appeal to adults. The author is very earnest about imbuing her narrative with emotional depth and resonance. The problem is, the excursions into melodrama and characterization so encumber the narrative that the first moment of true action doesn't come along until page 146, almost half-way through the novel. 

 

It doesn't help matters that the world-building gets ponderous. For example, there is the land of Kendrinh, ruled by Kiron, on which reside the tribe of the Khentorei, also referred to as the Khentors, whose adversaries are the Kelanat; then there is another tribe called the Kunoi; and somewhere, I read about someone called Kendretheon.........

The plot does pick up momentum once the final confrontation with Fendarl draws near, and the description of this confrontation has the quality of the best corresponding moments in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. However, the final quarter of the novel abandons this 'widescreen' presentation of epic fantasy, and focuses instead on a personal dilemma involving one of the protagonists. There is much angst and emoting, but the closing chapter subverts all of this drama with a pat, almost glib, ending.

I give 'Red Moon and Black Mountain' a Three-Star rating. In a real sense the Young Adult audience it was appropriate for in 1970 has become greatly attenuated, having been transmogrified into a postliterate generation that will find the novel difficult going.