Shiva Accused: An Adventure of the Ice Age

Shiva #2

by J.H. Brennan

As the major ceremony the Star Jamboree approaches, political rivals from another tribe falsely accuse the Shingu girl Shiva of murdering the Hag, the leader of all the tribal witch women

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fantasy

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

James Herbert "Herbie" Brennan is a lecturer and the author of over one hundred fiction and non-fiction books for adults, teens, and children.

His works have been translated into approximately fifty languages, he has also written books on the Occult and New Age. He initially trained in esoteric teachings and Qabalah with the Fraternity of the Inner Light, and later became associated with Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki and the Servants of the Light.

In 1995 he contributed two novels to the Horrorscopes series under the house pen name Maria Palmer.

In 2003, Brennan published the children's book The Book of Wizardry: The Apprentice's Guide to the Secrets of the Wizards' Guild under the pseudonym Cornelius Rumstuckle.

Reviews

[ambyr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, that was a slog.

I picked this up because the series was a favorite of mine from childhood, and this was the only book my local library had. Sadly, it's not one of those books that stands up well to adult reading, mostly because of the clunkiness of the writing. (Some samples: "She froze into immobility." "The air was filled with a scent of excitement expressed from a thousand adrenal glands.") The pacing is also rather odd, and the titular main character ends up doing almost nothing until the book's final chapters. I'm tempted to look up the earlier books in the series to see if they hold up better; I could have forgiven a lot if only the protagonist was protaging. But on the balance, it's probably better not to.

[MacKenzie Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

When she finds the body it is just so in depth and coming from a 12 year old I genuinely don't believe this part could be any better than it was. I loved this book even though it only took me 3 days to read it.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story and these characters. People have never changed and they never will. We can only be better when and where we are. Nice interpretation of the age of mankind, clever enough for readers of late elementary and up.

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

One morning, Shiva finds a body floating in the water hole. When Shiva pulls the old woman’s body from the water she finds that she was killed by a blow to the head. Knowing that she can't carry the body to camp, she finds a cave in which to hide it from predators. Barradik warriors see her doing this and accuse her murdering the old woman who is their Hag. They take Shiva back to their camp for trial. It happens to be the eve of the Star Jamboree. The Shingu tribe hopes their Saber skull will replace the Barradik's giant's thighbone as the star totem. Greffa, the Barradik chief, vows this will not happen and hopes that Shiva's "crime" will discredit the Shingu. Hiram, who has gone to the water hole looking for Shiva, sees the signs of struggle and knows that the Barradik have her. He tracks Shiva and arrives just as the Barradik prepare to stone her. At that moment, a mammoth herd stampedes the Barradik camp, and Shiva disappears. Hiram thinks she was trampled. Shiva, however, manages to outrun the herd. Thag finds her and takes her to the ogre camp. There she learns the truth about the old hag’s death. Shiva, Heft, and hundreds of ogres go to the Star Jamboree to confront the real murderer.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com