Hollow Bones - Stephen Paul

Title: Hollow Bones Author: Stephen Paul Genre: Cultural Rating: 2/10 # pages: 321 Date read: August, 2007

Review: Hollow Bones takes place in the not-too-distant future when Matthew embarks on a journey together with Hope and her daughter Lily in search of a new beginning. Not knowing where they are going, dreams and a gut feeling pull them towards a community where they are meant to help create a new world based on the purifying changes predicted by Native American spiritual leaders.

In the introduction Stephen Paul explained that he was inspired to write the book after having two dreams that he wanted to share with the public. Stephen is a man with a mission and he is so intent on getting his point across that he forgets the first rule of story-telling: "Show, don't tell". I was never allowed to forget it was a book, and therefore couldn't lose myself in the story the way I like to do.

While I found the descriptions of Native American lifestyle very interesting I did not feel that the characters portrayed were three-dimensional. People were either totally good or totally bad. There was no middle ground. The one person where this doesn't jar on the senses is in the 6-year-old Lily who is truly adorable.

The main flaw in Hollow Bones is that it is intended as a realistic story. Had the atmosphere been one of a legend or a fairy-tale I would likely have enjoyed it more, but it is difficult to take seriously a book that tries to show a true picture of a possible future, when I am very sceptical about the premise of reincarnation on which the plot is based, and Stephen Paul lost me completely when he claims that all religions believe the same thing as Thoth, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Moses, Laotzu, Zoroaster, Mohammed, Quetzalcoatl and Jesus all are One. I'll be honest with you - I was very tempted to throw the book away in disgust on more than one occasion.

However, if none of these things bother you, and especially if you're interested in Native American folklore, this book offers a new spin on an old story and might show you a new way of looking at the world. And for the more romantic readers, Stephen Paul included the cutest proposal I've ever read. (Written for Armchair Interviews.)

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