Tathea, Anne Perry

The Book 

Ta-Thea is the queen of of Shinabar, but her husband and son are murdered in the opening pages. She is whisked out of the palace by one of the remaining loyal guards and shepparded into the wilderness. She travels to her mother's homeland, The Lost Lands where she embarks on a remarkable journey to find her spiritual calling. 

She meets a sage who tells her to wait by the edge of the sea if she truly wants to learn her destiny. The following morning she is met by an angel, Ishrafrali. Together they face evil and prevail, but it comes at a great cost. Finally Tathea faces down a great evil alone. When she defeats the evil, she is rewarded with The Book. She takes it give it's wisdom to the world. Ishrafrali returns her to the shore, where only a day has elasped in real time, although the spiritual journey took many months. There Ishrafrali tells her that he must leave her now, but he will return. She must walk the next part of this path alone. Tathea is crushed, because she has fallen in love with the angel. 

She returns to the world and walks the path. It is difficult. It causes her to reconquer Shinabar. but the evil of man corrupts her work. And always Asmodeus, The Enemy, is after her, trying to get to sway from the path. She fights and fights, winning battles but losing the war until she cannot anymore. 

My Thoughts

So, this is a deeply spiritual book. Anne Perry had a great need to depart what she believed was moral wisdom into her fiction. This work of fantasy is all about that. Knowing what I know about her life, the murder she committed, and the importance honesty played in her life after that, I understand what she is getting at. And yet, I read this book at the wrong time. Should I have stopped? Maybe. But this was one of the books that if I set it down, I don't think I would ever pick it up again. I'm glad I read it. It expanded my understand of the psychological makeup of my favorite author. But I didn't enjoy the read. 

I am slated to read the follow up, but I am seriously considering skipping it. Especially if the next one is as long as this one. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

This book came to me from Dundee Public Library. It entered their library on November 23, 1999. It is in generally pretty good condition, although I suspect the glue on the binding is beginning to wear down. The protective cover looks all of it's 20+ years. But there are no markings nor are there any damaged pages in the 522 pages. The cover says this book cost $23.95 in 1999. Projected forward, the inflation calculator says that if released today it would cost approximately $44.87. I feel like that's more money than most books I see in Barnes and Nobles, the closest large retail bookstore in my area. Interesting. 

This Book                                         $23.95

Items Reviewed This Year              $495.89

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