The Sorcerer's Trap

by Fay Sampson

In a parched region, the Yadu have conquered the desirable fertile land of their Xarappan neighbors. The powerless Xarappans are exiled, kept out by a sorcerer’s fence. Their only weapons are primitive and useless, but they do have one crucial asset: jerboas—creatures who can read minds and advise the Xarappans. Novan is a Xarappan freedom-fighter, desperate to reclaim his people’s land and to be a hero. Given the opportunity to do so, he knows it will be at the expense of many lives. How much is his people’s land worth? This compelling story has powerful resonances with modern times as a people under colossal pressure confront agonizing moral choices.

222 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Fay Sampson graduated in Mathematics, and trained as a teacher. Combining teaching with writing, Fay's children's books were frequently featured in 'Children's Books of the Year'. When she became a full-time writer, she turned to writing novels for adults, based on history and legend. She now lives with her husband in a Tudor cottage in mid-Devon.

Reviews

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I immensely enjoyed Fay Sampson’s Pangur Ban, The White Cat series many years ago but found most of her adult books deeply disappointing – so, had not The Sorceror’s Trap been in the bargain bin at a mere $3, I probably wouldn’t have risked it. Had I known it was not a stand-alone story, I probably wouldn’t have bought it even then. There is nothing worse than really getting into a book and realising, as the end rapidly zooms up, that there’s no way the story can be wrapped up in the few remaining pages. But apart from that, The Sorceror’s Trap has Sampson rising in my estimation once more. Not as delightful as Pangur Ban, but getting there.

Novan is a Xerappan boy compelled to work for the Yadu overlords. He controls the leopards which pull the chariots of aristocracy amongst the invaders. And he has a secret: it’s not his mind-control that the leopards respond to but that of his tiny jerboa, Thoughtcatcher. Novan is sent on a desperate mission to the sacred mountain on which the Yadu High Sorceror has erected a temple and home. He is to kill the High Sorceror and free his homeland. When he realises that innocent people will die as a consequence, he decides he would become too much like the Yadu if he went through with the assassination. Novan is not the only one who faces a difficult decision in the course of events: so does Alalia, the Yadu girl about to be betrothed to the High Sorceror’s nephew and so does Balgo, her arrogant brother. The escape from the High Sorceror is at one point so incredible that it almost spoils the whole book - the resolution seems too pat and easy - but fortunately it’s not as straightforward as it seems to begin with.

The telepathic jerboas are a really cute idea, but they strive so hard to be the comic counterpoint that they don’t really achieve it. They leave the feeling that they’re supposed to be funny rather than that they are funny.

Interesting enough, however, to make me consider reading the sequel.