Young Zwane

by Terry Taylor

As Zwane is rolling his dung ball home, a mortally wounded bulbul crashes into the dust ahead of him. A member of his community who understands the bird’s language listens to its last gasps. Solemnly he turns to Zwane. “I am sorry to tell you your father is dead.” Zwane’s father, Mandla, was killed on the shores of Lake Ukufa, the Lake of Death, far to the north. He had been seeking a sacred Seed that, if planted, would grow into a great Tree similar to the one where scarabs had dwelt in the distant past in a state of bliss with Ilanga, their deity. Zwane is shattered at the news of his father’s death. Soon, however, he resolves to fulfil his father’s mission which is nothing less than to re-establish paradise. He knows he will need companions to help him, but how will he convince anyone to accept him as the leader of this momentous quest? After all, he is a mere dung roller, greatly outranked by warriors, priests and artificers.
Young Zwane is the first book of The Baobab Tree trilogy. It is an epic adventure tale, but also chronicles a spiritual journey – a page-turner of note.

Genres: Fiction

316 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 24, 2010

Reviews

[Sinjohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book! The first in a series of books that deserves way more popularity. Book 1 of the Baobab trilogy start off incredibly strong. I would describe this book series as the African equivalent of the Lord of the Rings. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a spiritual adventure in an African setting.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully written book that kept my interest throughout

[Deane Spaulding]

I won this book through a Goodreads give away. I am currently reading it. So far I love it! I will update my review when I have completed the book.

[Fredonna Walker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won a Kindle copy of this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. This was one I read a quarter of and gave up on. The style of storytelling (a moral tale from the POV of animals) reminded me of the first book in the Warriors series by Erin Hunt, but Young Zwane is far more preachy in tone and tedious in its anthropomorphism. Even thinking of it as a spiritually and socially instructive children’s story didn’t make me want to finish.

[Billy Buttons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: Young Zwane
Author: Terry Taylor

Star Rating: 3.5 Stars
Number of Readers: 17
Stats
Editing: 6/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Content: 7/10
Cover: 7/10
Of the 17 readers:
10 would read another book by this author.
8 thought the cover was good or excellent.
14 felt it was easy to follow.
10 would recommend this story to another reader to try.
9 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
8 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
6 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
10 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.

Readers’ Comments
‘A rather ‘different’ sort of adventure. Although it is a very slow read, the dung roller, Zwane was an interesting character. I did enjoy the story, but it was just too slow.’ Female reader, aged 50.
‘The author works well with the setting, an important aspect in this novel. Also, he/she works hard to help the reader get to know Zwane and to understand what is motivating him. The cover, I felt, was not amazing – and the pacing plodded here and there. Also, there are a number of clumsy paragraphs that need re-writing, particularly in regard to the comma.’ Male reader, aged 62
‘A very unusual story populated by very unusual characters. The author works hard to help the reader get to know all of the characters, even the secondary. The cover is okay too. I was gripped until the very end. I suspect a good editor might re-write the odd sentence and make cuts here and there to improve pacing.’ Female reader, aged 47
‘Cool story. Too slow, but I’m glad I finished it. The ending was worth it. For me, the biggest problem was trying to relate to a dung beetle. Difficult.’ Male reader, aged 37
‘Fascinating setting. I felt that was the most interesting element. The author is adept at descriptive writing. The author is not so adept at pacing.’ Female reader, aged 64

To Sum It Up:
‘Fascinating characters in a fascinating setting. Who knew a dung beetle could have such an exciting adventure!?’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zane the Beginner

Zwane crawled out of his nest to greet the Sun God for the first time. Little did he realize that it's warm and generous function would focus his life forever. Hearing of his father's journey to find the Seed of the First Tree and bring back the world they had lost when The Tree died. Adventure means more than being a dung roller for this young untested scarab. Leaving caution aside he travels to free the bluebush scarabs from the web spiders. Meeting an old scarab along his journey he fine tunes his skills,fulfilling his mission. Back home he now prepares to follow his father's mission knowing that his father's life was forfeited. Great reading and filled with knowledge about the world of Zwane in Africa. Names, description of objects increases the mysterious land from a small scarab's viewpoint. I won this book and do not have any connection to anything involved. I look forward to reading the next book in series.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very...unique. I had no idea it was written from the perspective of a scarab beetle until I started reading it. I loved the creativity. The scarabs have their own religion and society. The world building was pretty cool and the characters were interesting.

On the other hand, I did not like how repetitive some things were. It just seemed like everything was explained and then beaten to death over and over until I could practically memorize it. I also thought the extreme detail to certain contraptions and traps was a little overkill at times.

I *might* delve into the second one. It's left on a cliffhanger so I feel like since I invested so much time into reading this one, I should probably give the second book a try.

[Lora Desrosier · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved the premise of this book, & I think I would enjoy the story itself. However, I tried starting this one over & over, but I just didn't like the style of narrative. I won this in a Goodreads giveaway, & was so excited by its potential. I planned to force myself to read it through before writing a review. I very rarely quit reading a book once I've begun it, but I could not get beyond the beginning of this one.

[Alicia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Won the book from Goodreads giveaway. I couldn’t finish the book. It repeats information over and over again and the whole time I felt like I was being preached at. i don’t really know when it happened but by the time I made it to chapter 2, my head voice sounded hostile in my head. I made it to the 2nd chapter and had enough.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found 'Young Zwane' a bit hard to get into, at first, but it's uniqueness intrigued me enough to continue. It was worth pursuing. Great detail and thought went into the writing of this story and it is well worth the read.

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book through Goodreads Giveaway.

So this is an unexpected but interesting surprise. Told in the second person, Young Zwane is a dung beetle (but the narrator prefers the term sacred scarab) whose quest is told by the narrator to us, the reader.

Zwane was born in a dung beetle community where every beetle has a role to play in order to maintain and defend their settlement. Before he was born, his father had left for a quest to seek out a seed that will regrow the Great Baobab Tree and where their beetle god Ilanga will return to them their original paradise. However, Zwane's father died while out on the quest and Zwane never got to meet his father but is determined to complete his father's quest. First, he needs to prove himself with the other beetles of his community. This is a quest adventure, pure and simple. But told from a dung beetle's point of view.

What kept me from really enjoying this book to the fullest is that I found it hard to settle into the story. I think in order to really enjoy a story, you have to first be able to relate on some levels with the characters. And I found it difficult to do that with a dung beetle. I did give it a try but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I think readers will enjoy this book if they are looking for new perspectives amongst the other species we share the world with. There are an awful lot of adventures about dragons and unicorns and elves out there, maybe a break will be nice and we can try out a more down to earth adventure on the other end of the size spectrum.

This is how I would rate my reading experience:

Story: 3 Stars - Like it
Writing: 3 Stars - Like it
Enjoyability: 2 Stars - Just ok

I have respects for the author's creativity and imagination.

[Clipinchick]

I received this book for free from the author/publisher in response for an honest review of the book. I have not had the opportunity to read this book at this time. I will add my
review of this book once I have read the book. Thank k you for allowing me the optometrist review your work. I look forward to reading this book.

[Lavender]

Placeholder

I won this book via Goodreads Giveaways.