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Bear Goddess

by David Artuso

     

David Artuso's realm usually involves producing games. He has created console, handheld, PC, and DVD games for Mattel, Disney, Nickelodeon, and Knowledge Adventure. Some of his properties have included such licensed entities as Disney's High School Musical, Toy Story, and Finding Nemo, as well as Spongebob Squarepants, Dora the Explorer, Muppets, Casper, Land Before Time, and Masters of the Universe. Artuso slipped into the print fiction world in the late 1990s with a couple of fantasy short stories and then a graphic novel, Pryzm - The Beginning: A Costly Peace, that was picked up by DC Comics. His debut fantasy novel, Bear Goddess, shows his growing skill with world building and the written word.

This is an heroic tale of the god Maydeus and the goddess Puldea trying to find revenge or redemption through the acts of their offspring on earth. As the backstory to this tale goes, Maydeus and Puldea had two children: a daughter, Eldea, who gave rise to a race of tall elves, and Dwardeus, who sired the dwarves. The children vied for their parents' affection and offered each of their races as a test of who was most favored. Maydeus and Puldea found both pleasing and equal. Infuriated, the children took their races to a war with each other that rendered a rip in the void, destroying the children and sucking in Puldea and her black cloak, and reducing Maydeus to atoms within this world. In the midst of these wars, an elf and a dwarf fell in love and their children produced the race of humans.

Onto this landscape comes Awna, a human sorceress, who seeks out the Staff of Eldea and the War Hammer of Dwardeus. She is accompanied by the elf Suepa, the Dwarf Idus, and a mysterious human named Tayus. Her mission is to destroy the Bear Goddess, an evil shapeshifter, who has raised an army of the undead to wreak havoc on the world and plunge it into darkness. As the tale unfolds, there is more to each of these characters than being a part of a noble quest.

Normally, I have trouble with zombies and the undead (and usually avoid movies or books about them). However, Artuso's treatment of them in Bear Goddess is well done and doesn't intrude into B-movie clichés. They are part of a series of seemingly insurmountable obstacles that Awna's party must deal with.

Artuso also uses an unusual technique to weave lore into the story, through Awna's tales to Suepa, who wants to become a Lore Mistress, and the flashbacks at the beginning of some chapters that tell the history of the world through the eyes of the god and goddess. Writing in a different style for each of these treatments, Artuso tells the story of the god and goddess with flowery description and an epic feel, while presenting Awna's tales as a storyteller or teacher would, relating history and notable deeds in a classic manner. This is in contrast to the style of the regular story that read—well—like a novel.

I really liked Bear Goddess. It has heroic characters, an adventurous journey, an interesting quest, and a very unusual ending. Now that David Artuso has found novel writing, let's hope that he continues to bring readers more adventurous tales such as this one.

The Book

Swimming Kangaroo
August 1, 2008
Trade paperback
1934041548 / 978-1934041543
Fantasy
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE:

The Reviewer

Janie Franz
Reviewed 2009
NOTE: Reviewer Janie Franz is the author of Freelance Writing: It’s a Business, Stupid!and co-author of The Ultimate Wedding Reception Book and The Ultimate Wedding Ceremony Book.
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