Mauria by Steve North

Ever wonder why we humans are constantly torn by love and hate, trust and fear, peace and war? Did all of our ancestors come from Mauria?

In the spirit of Lord of the Rings and Avatar, author Steve North weaves an incredibly original, fascinating, and complex story of love, power, life and death --- that takes place before we existed on Earth.

Mauria is.....

A gripping tale of two races, the Maurians and the Vuervee -- one a food supply to the other -- and so different there can be one shocking conclusion.

An amazing and complex cast of characters, all unknowingly marching toward the same precipice. A wild ride on a cyclone of love, power, beauty, hate and greed -- tamed only by fate....Ours.

I could not wait to read Mauria, Steve North's first novel. The idea that it would be influenced by Avatar, with a smackering of a Lord of the Rings influence tossed in, highly appealed to me. As I began to read, however, I was sorely disappointed.

I believe the storyline is an intriguing one, and I love the contrast between the two races. The Maurians are city-dwellers, more human in appearance and behavior, and more focused on technology, power, and they use the Vuervee as food. They believe life is more a "line". The Vuervee, on the other hand, are more animal-like , live in nature, and believe to kill another is to kill yourself. To them, life is a circle. As I read the story, I began to enjoy the passages that featured some of my favorite characters, such as the half-breed female, Trebel, and the half-breed Dillon, even if I didn't fully understand every single thing they were talking about.

The author invented his own language for this book, for the characters, and throughout the book they are using certain terms that are never really given an explanation or definition of. And so, I felt like I was left guessing, scratching my head and trying to figure out what a certain term means in relation to the story. An example of a short passage is:

"To the Vuervee, the tree was a center of Signs. Many times Tedrin had Mented to the line of this tree that he might sense the ways of the Mauria."

Now, at first glance, that may be confusing. But, by the time I finished the book, I felt like maybe I had a better understanding of what certain terms (like some of those above) meant. And so, I feel with a second reading, my pace would be faster and I could enjoy the book more. My problem is that I want to thoroughly enjoy it the first time without having to stop and do a little homework. It's a nice world that the author has proposed here, but it just isn't painted as nicely as it could have been.

I do not believe this book is "terrible", only that it is "select", and it is not one written for me.

1.5 Stars

You can buy Mauria here at Amazon.