The Ropemaker



Author: Peter Dickenson

Genre: Fantasy

Age: Advanced young readers will have no problem with this book, but it appeals to all ages.  It would make an excellent book for reading aloud as a family.

Topics for discussion: duty, self-worth, tyranny and despotism, repression and freedom

Summary:  When her isolated village is threatened from evil on all sides, Tilja must journey into the heart of the danger (along with her grandmother, her friend Tahl and his grandfather) in order to find the sorcerer who first enchanted the village and is the only one who can renew the magic that protects her family and friends.  If they fail, the magic will fade and the village will be pillaged by raiders from over the mountain and will be taken over by the despot on the other side of the forrest.  Along the way, Tilja learns that the one thing that makes her feel absolutely ordinary and worthless is the one thing that makes her extraordinary and absolutely vital to this mission.

Review:  This book became one of my favorites overnight, literally.  Once I started reading it, I simply could not put it down.  I loved the characterizations, the plot development, and, above all, Tilja.  She is the prefect heroine for this story; she feels a bit left out and average, just like the rest of us do at some point in our lives.  While she is just a typical little girl, she is the only typical one in her family; her grandmother, mother, and younger sister all share a special magic and bond that Tilja is mysteriously unable to participate in or even understand.  It isn't until she leaves home and faces danger at every turn that she learns that her disadvantage is actually an asset.  Now, if only all of us could see ways to transform the qualities we don't like about ourselves into something valued.  At least through Tilja I can dream that somewhere, sometime, the very fact that I am ordinary would set me appart.

Christian Perspectives: This is going to be yet another one of those borderline cases.  The book does portray the use of magic, used in both negative and postive ways.  Those of you who feel that no use of magic is appropriate for you or your child's reading should not read this book.  On the other hand, the book does not glorify the negative aspects and does not even hint at magic being used in our own, real world.  Because of this, I think that even young children will be able to distinguish the fact that the book is fiction; concerned parents can also turn the book into a teachable moment, addressing the idea that magic is an attempt to control things that we should rightly be trusting in God for and, thus, is wrong, etc.  I feel that the story is uplifting and essentially moral in nature, which makes it worth reading in my book.