The Red Judge

Plynlimon

by Pauline Fisk

This novel interweaves a gritty real-life story of homelessness and belonging with myth, legend and magic.

Genres: Young Adult

1 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Died January 25, 2015.

Pauline Fisk is the author of eleven novels for young people of all ages. More can be found about her by going to her website.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pauline Fisk writes beautiful but also quite strange books. These are books for young people that are meant to stretch them and make them think. Like David Almond, she incorporates "Magical Realism" into her stories, and like Susan Cooper, she uses a sense of place and an associated mythology to add a depth to what she writes. But the result is still a little strange, and so she does get mixed reviews.

The Red Judge is one of a set of three books referred to as "The Children of Plynlimon," the second in the series that I have read, and I appear to be unintentionally reading the series backwards! I very much enjoyed "Mad Dog Moonlight," the third of the series, set in and around Aberystwyth. This book, set in Llangurig and Shrewsbury (the latter called Pengwern in the book), still revolves around legends of the mid Wales Plynlimon mountain, and one of the rivers that flows from it - the Wye.

But the book is primarily about Zed, and his relationship with his family. There is an accident and his sister is critically injured. Zed is the black sheep of the family and is blamed (and not entirely without cause). Can he appeal to the Red Judge of Plynlimon for mercy for his sister?

The book is about loneliness, guilt and recriminations, good and evil and much more.

Although there is some mythology about Plynlimon in this book, much of it appears to be the author's invention. The cwn y wbir (magical dogs of the red judge) are one such invention I think. The hint is in the name. Good welsh would be "cwn yr wbir" with an r, even if there were a feminine noun, "gwbir" that makes sense there (and there isn't!)

The geography is also adjusted for the book. Although Llangurig is accurately described, it is some 10 miles from the Plynlimon summit, and I am not aware of anywhere in the vicinity where the summit can be seen, even though the book suggests it can be.

But those are both fine. The story never says it is fact, and that is what good storytellers do, and this is a good story... but once again, it is a strange one too. Recommended to readers who are okay with some magical realism.

[Molly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very dull

[Jacob Lange · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read is titled The Red Judge following the story of an orphaned child named Zed, who not only lives with a family that does not see eye to eye with him but denounces everything about him. The author Pauline Fisk does a great job of describing the hardships of Zed and the journey that he takes throughout the story. She really blends the line between what you think is real and what is not. The story also does a fantastic job of detailing things without overexplaining the conflicts in the story which makes the book a very easy read.
There were many features of the book that stood out to me while reading, one of which was the blend between imaginary and real. The main character has a lot of run-ins with characters that may or may not be real, and these characters´ image is left up to the reader to decide which is real and which isn´t. The book could be read in two very different ways depending on the ways that the book is interpreted.
Another feature of the book that was interesting is the lack of filler. One thing that tends to happen in books of a similar genre is the time in between major conflicts is full of filler, and they tend to drag on for what seems to be forever. However, this book does a wonderful job of keeping the reader engaged by sprinkling in little conflicts throughout the story without taking away from the main conflict that Zed faces.
I would definitely recommend this book to any reader that is interested in mystery/fantasy drama. It was a very easy and smooth read all the way through the book which made it hard to put it down. There is only one critique that I had, and that is that I wished there was more than one perspective throughout because there were a few spots in the story where more insight would have made it better in my opinion.

[Victoria Fuller · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 50%
I just couldn't deal with this kids attitude to be honest.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I would have enjoyed it if I'd had more background knowledge on Welsh mythology.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a race through the landscape! I could hardly keep up. And I read the book in less than a day. A good read