Review of ?The Piaculum? ? By Richard Gray
Publisher: iUniverse Inc
ISBN: 0-595-30301-3
http://www.rich-gray.com/
The Piaculum is based in the world thousands of years from today. It tells of the fortunes of two civilizations the Mone and the Kathe. Both of these people believe in God and got their belief from the same source.
Yet each diverged along two completely different paths, in their search for life after death. The Mone believed what was written in a book called The Book of Testaments and were willing to share its message. Kathe philosophy was to let their priests interpret the writings of The Book of Testaments.
In the distant past two men discovered three books in a cave. The books were made by an advanced civilization that was lost in time. Each of the men had a different interpretation of what the books message was.
One thought that the message said that God sent his son to earth to save the human race. His followers became known as Mone. The other?s interpretation was that the second coming of God?s son meant there was a need to have many saviors. This meant that to secure their salvation, each generation must have several men set aside as sacrifices for atonement. So began the cult that came to be known as the Kathe.
The Kathe believed that those males born with the white-mark were needed for conversion to Piaculums, in ?The Week of Blood?. Females born with the same skin marking were considered demons that must be destroyed. Those unfortunates born of the white-mark were vigorously sought out by the Kathe in the lead up to ?The Week of Blood?.
Shalute priests and a band of grotesque half men, half robot beings, called Piaculums was the mainstay of Kathe society. The Piaculums performed bleeding ceremonies by shedding their blood and sacrificed the female demons with the white-mark. It was believed that by doing this the Kathe would be saved from hell and find their way to heaven.
The hero of this fascinating story is a Mone man called Cearl. He was born of the white-mark and twice captured by the Kathe. Escaping his fate once, Cearl offers himself to become a Piaculum to save his son Twain from the awful fate.
Told in a riveting writing style, this is a science fantasy tale that will enthrall fans of this genre. Richard Gray has created quite believable characters and settings. The plot of the book keeps the reader wanting to know more, to keep on with the journey of discovery.
This is one book that I truly enjoyed reading. It is one that I feel will give others just as much pleasure. I highly recommend this book be added to one?s library.
Review by Warren Thurston ? Owner of Boggle Books
?The home of Quality Book Reviews?
http://www.bogglebooks.com
