The Start of Magic

Kate Saundby is a multi-published fantasy author. This is what she had to say about The Start of Magic: "Elves? Pre-history? Epic? Ever since Tolkien, these have been stock formula fantasy fare. Right? Instantly hooked by Bob Rich's poetic opening sentences, the next thing I knew it was three a.m. The only creature to get the benefits of my electric blanket that night was the cat. Worse yet, I had to be up at seven. Like a rabbit caught by oncoming headlights, I was totally mesmerized by this glorious tale of three incompatible peoples and their conflict's tragic outcome. Blinking back to reality from The Start of Magic's vivid world, I was cramped, stiff and cold, and sorry it was only a story. While there will be inevitable comparisons drawn between The Start of Magic and Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear, in this reviewer's opinion, there's no contest. Between its story's elegant grace and the deceptive simplicity of Bob Rich's lyrical writing, The Start of Magic wins hands down, and I look forward to more such prehistoric epics from this masterful Australian talespinner." Vicky Delany is an award-winning writer herself. Her opinion: "Start of Magic is a perfect title for a book that is magical-not in the way of wizards and spells and mages, but the magic of people faced with overwhelming odds and not only winning, but keeping their values strong. Heather is a young woman of the Ehvelen, a nation of tiny people living deep in the woods around 700 BC. Her people didn't know that one human could be the enemy of another. So when strangers arrive in their woods they step forward to offer greetings. Heather is taken prisoner and her friends killed by the warlike Doshi. Not only is Heather now faced with a life of slavery, both physical and sexual, a value previously incomprehensible to her, but she is forced to confront the reality of a world her people can't imagine exists: a world in which one human being can own another, kill or mutilate another. As Heather struggles to keep her spirit alive under the crushing weight of slavery, she realizes that the Doshi are a threat to much more than she, herself. That they intend to return to her lands and enslave all her people. Only Heather has the knowledge to save them. Dr. Bob Rich has created a rich world. He writes beautifully about the life of the tribes, the simple day to day practices of travelling, healing, giving birth, cooking, their tents and their mud huts. He manages to effectively interweave such commonplace things of all our lives with a great and ancient human dilemma: when a peace loving people unwittingly come into contact with warlike nations, can they survive? Or is their only choice to become equally vicious, or to die? Both the battle scenes and the life of the peoples as they gather around the fire are effectively and realistically drawn. Dr. Rich clearly has a love of the Ehvelen equal to that of Tolkien for his Hobbits. The book