Ancient Enemy

Books of Arna #1

by Christopher Rowley

Young watermot Thru Gillo left behind the life of a farmer and became a student of the Assenzi, a race of scholars. Among them, he learned the history of his race and of how Man the Cruel destroyed the world before disappearing into the mists of time and legend.Or have they disappeared..?

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction

436 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 2000

About the author

Christopher Rowley is a prolific writer of both science fiction and fantasy novels. He was born in 1948 in Lynn, Massachusetts to an American mother and an English father. Educated for the most part at Brentwood School, Essex, England, he became a London-based journalist in the 1970s. In 1977 he moved to New York City and began work on The War For Eternity, his first science fiction novel. He currently lives in upstate New York.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a 3.5 read. Rowley wrote the excellent Vang series (see Starhammer for example) but I never read any of his fantasy, in part because he usually picked a YA angle (which is not my bag). The Arna series however, of which Ancient Enemy constitutes the first installment, caters to a more adult audience, at least to a degree.

I could not stop thinking of The Planet of the Apes when reading this! Apparently, many 1000s of years ago, humanity colonized this world and 'uplifted' monkeys and some other animals. Primarily because of humanity's rapacious overuse of resources, Men died out and that just left the Uplifts. From the title and the blurb, we know Man will be coming back! "Men the cruel" is something of a motto for the 'apes' and stories of Man still reside in holy books.

Rowley spends the first half of the novel developing the world the 'mots' build (e.g., the uplifted monkeys). There seem to be a variety of monkeys that were uplifted besides the mots, but Rowley does not give much info here. Fun plays with language (motkind, etc.) abound in the tale and the story possesses a rather simple plot. We follow our lead, a mot named Thru, as he undertakes some adventures and his trials and tribulations. Fairly standard fare all around, but Rowley does it nicely. The Men are really cruel and nasty while the Mots are kind and respect the earth. Kind of a yin/yang type deal. Fun stuff, but it will not tax your brain. 3.5 monkeys, rounded down for the black and white characterizations of the 'races' and the simple narrative.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book of Arna by Christopher Rowley. I have read most if not all of Mr. Rowley's science fiction but this is the first fantasy book I have read by him. I am glad I decided to read it. In this one Mankind is thought to have disappeared thousands of years before. He has left behind several races of intelligent species which he had modified to use as slaves and domestic help. These races are the Mots, the Mors, The Brilbies, the Chooks and the wise and very long lived Assenzi. These races haven't forgotten Mankind. They remember him as Man The Cruel and use mankind as the source of bedtime stories to tell to misbehaving children.
Mankind however is not gone and his ships appear suddenly and attack the peaceful races he had left behind. The Mots and the other races must learn to fight and soon if they are to survive and remain free.
Thru Gillo, a Mot, and his lover and her friends organize a resistance and with the help of a human woman they fight back. This book is a very good read and I recommend it.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was engrosed, but also kept thinking of the similarities of the planet of the apse. Sorry if this upsets any fans. Still I had to read the next two in the series and once you knew the charactors they really are great easy reads.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book, very enjoyable description of the characters' lives.
Rowley writes good battles and excels at character development.

[S. A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love his non-human culture. This is a really interesting take on looking at humans through alien eyes.