A Far-Off Place

This novel follows on from A Story Like the Wind, continuing the story of Francois, the young son of a settler family in (what I take to be) Zimbabwe.

Very hard to review without plot outlining, although much is given away by the blurb. What can be said is that for a young adult book (which this certainly is), there is a high level of violence, certainly in the first half, which is best described as the escape part, before it evolves to the journey part.

The reasons I identify it as young adult are threefold.

Firstly, the themes are very simplified - bad men come, kill good people. There is little explanation about the macro detail of the story. Instead it is focused on the micro detail of what happens hour to hour. This therefore avoids the politics and high level philosophy to explain why a Chinese led band of mercenaries with African soldiers are found in a remote area killing settlers!

Secondly there are some far too convenient setups to share the plot. On two occasions our protagonist is able to creep up on the enemy and overhear conversations which give huge amounts of backstory. There just happen to be two mercenaries sitting by a fire discussing their entire thoughts on why they are there? Too easy.

Thirdly, it outlines a basic philosophy of harmony with nature, of mutually beneficial interaction between all the races in the area, and a sort of naive utopia vibe. Our main characters are astute, wise, physically able and have a level of intelligence quite unrealistic in youth. They show moral character beyond reproach, and feel guilt for situations not of their making. It is all a bit... young adult.

Having said that, and I realise that came across as very negative, if you can overcome that minor annoyance, then this book, like the first book, is an excellent story. Plenty of action, the coming of age aspect, plenty of detail in the ‘escape and journey' and bushmen cultural fact (San people, i think they are known as now) added in to the story (and van der Post is surely well placed to have this accurate - irrespective of the question marks over the authenticity of some of his non-fiction works, he is clearly very knowledgeable).

Absolutely worth a look, at 4 stars.