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Author Allan R. Shickman sent me two of his books, Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure and Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country for review. My daughter (10) and I have read both books together and enjoyed them. Read on for the reviews.







title: Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure.

author: Allan R. Shickman

genre: YA/children's/fiction

pages: 148

published: 2007

first line: From a long distance a traveler, or some wild thing, might see within the deep and absolute blackness of night an intense orange light which looked from afar like glowing coal.



In this first book, Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure, Zan, who is in his early teens, lives in prehistoric times. He lives with his parents in a tightknit clan. There has been a hunt called, for a lioness who has killed a child. The males of each clan are coming together for the hunt. By a stroke of luck, Zan kills the lioness. Zan was given the name Zan-Gah, meaning Zan of the Rock, because he was immovable in the face of great danger.

The youth's name was Zan, which in his tongue meant Hunter. He and his people had a language, but we no longer know it. It was spoken in an era so remote in time that there were as yet no nations upon the earth, no cities, nor written words.

Zan-Gah decides to set off in search of his twin brother, Dael, who went missing a year ago an is presumed dead. Dael set off to find the source of the river that is nearby their village when he went missing. Zan insists his twin is alive somewhere and wants to bring him home. So against his parents wishes, Zan sets off on the search, promising to return within a few weeks with his brother.

While on the search Zan grows into a man, taking care of himself and even invents the slingshot in order to hunt food. He meets other clans along the way and eventually discovers where his brother was taken. Over a year passes by the time Zan finds Dael, who is now emotionally scarred and not the same brother Zan remembers.

When Zan finally brings Dael home, tears of joy are shed and Zan is well respected, becoming a leader in his tribe. His invention of the slingshot helps his people. Zan unites the clans in order to fight against the tribe that tortured and held his brother captive for so long.




There are some interesting characters in Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure, and the story flows smoothly from start to finish. It's a fun story, and we both enjoyed it.

I like how author Allan R. Shickman describes the setting throughout.

What had been completely hidden from view until he had reached the top of the ridge was a lake, crystal, pure and beautiful as any dream. It was surrounded by lush trees, many of which, as in a garden, bloomed rose, snow white, and lilac, so that the air was fragrant with their nectar. Green with sap, a weeping willow bent its luminous branches toward the water to be reflected in its stillness; and a deer drank peacefully in the distance, unaware or unconcerned with Zan's presence. Halfway across, populated by a cluster of young white birches, was a small island at the shore of which stood a slender and statuesque white egret.

title: Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country

author: Allan R. Shickman

genre: YA/children's/fiction

pages: 151

published: 2009

first line: When Lissa-Na died, Dael wept real tears.





Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country takes up where Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure left off. Dael and Zan are both married and Dael is trying to get his life back together after being held captive and tortured. In this book you get more insight as to what Dael endured.

One morning Dael suddenly wakes Zan up and tells him he wants to find the source of the river that flows near their village again. Zan is worried about his brother and sets off with Dael, a few others follow them. They wind up in The Beautiful Country, which is where both Dael had been held captive for a while by the wasp people who lived there. Zan knows this country well since he too was held there for a year while searching for his brother. The country is still beautiful, with plenty of resources, but somehow the wasp people who lived there are all dead.

Zan and his clan decide to move their people to the Beautiful Country since it is now uninhabited. Though Zan-Gah and Dael are identical twins, they couldn't be anymore different. Soon enough, the clan begins to side with one brother or the other.

Many of Zan's number where frightened by Dael's violence and recklessness; but other men were drawn to exactly these qualities. Those who loved one brother began to hate or jeer at the other, and in time as they walked to their western destination, the Ba-Caro tended to divide into two groups-one circling around Zan-Gah and the other around Dael. It happend so gradually and so naturally that for a while the division went unnoticed.

Dael continues to exhibit angry behavior, and becomes almost obssessed with a volcano that is about to erupt nearby the Beautiful Country. Dael and his followers begin to worship this volcano and watch it daily. Meanwhile Zan is trying to keep peace between his people and another clan who threatens war.




I'd say the Zan-Gah books are coming of age stories for kids between ages 11 and up. The books are set in prehistoric times, which I found interesting. Again, author Allan R. Shickman does a great job describing the setting, we were especially interested when the clan runs into a mammoth during their trek in the second book.

The laborious, half-blind advance had not gone far when Chul, who was in the lead, motioned the train to stop. Just ahead, enveloped in fog and only faintly visible against the heavy, misty air, was the ponderous form of a mammoth. Its great domed skull, dark fur, and dangerous tusks would be seen close up, but at first it seemed almost as white as the surrounding vapor-a massive, monstrous blur.

Zan's adventures were fun to read about and my daughter and I enjoyed them. There were certain details that stood out and that she'd talk to me about later. For example, she thought it was both funny and gross that Zan's mom would chew goat skin until it was soft enough for Zan to use as a blanket. With a great plot and setting, and plenty of action, these books make for great discussions. Zan-Gah is instantly likeable, and as are a few of the other characters.

I will mention though, since these are books geared toward kids ages 11 and up, that in the second book, Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country, there are some bloody scenes. Not so much fight scenes, but passages describing hunts and killing animals. Dael's behavior is also disturbing since he is now bent on revenge against his captors and is violent. Nothing about these scenes however was offensive, and the author doesn't go into much detail during these parts, so I found it suitable to read to my daughter.










These are interesting reads and I do recommend them for tweens. Special thanks to author Allan R. Shickman for sending me these books. He does leave the second books' ending with room for a third book, and I wonder if he will continue the Zan-Gah books.