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The Moreva of Astoreth
![The Moreva of Astoreth (The Peris Archives Book 1) by [Roxanne Bland]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51dNgqIHwyL.jpg)
For a beautiful mix of romance and science fiction, look no further than Roxanne Bland’s The Moreva of Asteroth. It follows the tale of Moreva Tehi, the granddaughter of Devi goddess Asteroth. Told through her own perspective, this story tells us of Tehi’s bigotry and open disdain for those she perceives to be of a lesser race. However, as we read from chapter to chapter, we see a change in her disposition. Things especially start to change when she is banished and forced to live in a far-away land among the common laborers she so despises; the hakoi. In the process, she finds love; an unexpected twist in the storyline.
While this book has a lot of details about Tehi’s supernatural powers and scientific exploits, it doesn’t overwhelm us with information. The author has a unique way of bringing to life Tehi’s experiences, making it seem like we are living through her, discovering things with her, one step at a time. Moreover, we get a front-row seat into her complicated love life; her constant struggle between her growing romantic desires and trying to keep her vow of loyalty to Astoreth. But as much as love is a major theme in this story, there are also other themes running concurrently. For one, there is a major emphasis on the need for belonging, especially in the main character’s life. Throughout the narrative, she feels like she doesn’t quite fit anywhere and is constantly plagued by a feeling of loneliness. Fortunately, this is resolved with the onset of genuine love. Another major theme is obviously prejudice and bias. Over and over again, we see how Tehi looks down on the hakoi and how some of the hakoi are biased against her. Ultimately, it becomes clear that a lot of the rules and assigned ways of life of the people of Asteroth are based purely on prejudice.
But if there is one thing that I really love about this book, it has to be the fact that its prose is light and very easy to read. Additionally, its plot is solid and its dialogue gripping. If you’re looking for something with witty comebacks and strong-willed characters, this is it. I also have to applaud the author’s creativity in creating an alternate world that’s imaginative and has its own languages. The Moreva of Astoreth possess an emotional depth that few science fiction adventure stories do, and this is why I highly recommend this book.
Pages: 455 | ASIN: B08D1XKTLC
Saved From Her Own Destruction
The Moreva of Astoreth is an intriguing fantasy novel. Why was it important for you to write this book?
It wasn’t so much that the novel was important for me to write as it was the book demanded to be written. That may not make much sense, but it is so. I was working on another project when the idea for this book came to me. I filed it away in my mind for the future. But I kept coming back to it until it was interfering with my work-in-progress. So I lay that project aside and wrote The Moreva of Astoreth.
Moreva Tehi despised the hakoi, even the parts of herself that were hakoi. How did this idea develop in The Morevea of Astoreth and why is it important to the characters development?
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I have always believed that some forms of bigotry—in this case, hatred for another people—is but a reflection of what one hates within oneself. This is precisely the problem Moreva Tehi must overcome. As she realizes, if she does not find a way to resolve her interior division, her hate will eventually destroy her. By overcoming her hatred of herself, by finding her self-love, she is saved from her own destruction. So, a large part of the story is about her journey to wholeness.
In the novel there is a second language that is used. Can you explain it’s creation and how you decided to us it in the story?
The language is Swedish. I used it for two reasons. One, I like Swedes. Second, the book describes two distinctly different people. Just as the peoples of Earth speak in different tongues, it would not be realistic to expect the two peoples in my book to speak the same language. While it is true I could have used a “universal translator” or some kind of translating implant, I wanted to emphasize to the reader—make them feel—Moreva Tehi’s sense of isolation while in the Syrenese Perritory. Hence the constant need for translation in the dialogue, which I provide. I am aware some readers might feel alienated by my linguistic gambit, or might even put the book down because of it, but I think it was necessary to the believability and credibility of the story.
What is one pivotal moment in the story that you think best defines Moreva? Did any of the characters development occur organically through the story?
The point at which Moreva Tehi realizes her bigotry is killing all that is good within her, and immediately takes action to heal herself. We see this kind of behavior throughout the book—her taking action in the face of a particular situation. As for Laerd Teger, I knew he could be cold and harsh as well as warm and loving, but what I did not know was his “I know best” attitude. Perhaps it stems from his being Laerd of the village. In any event, it almost cost him Moreva Tehi’s love. We can only hope he learned his lesson.
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In the world-building spirit of Andre Norton, Anne McCaffrey and Ursula K. LeGuin, The Moreva of Astoreth is a blend of science fiction, romance, and adventure in a unique, richly imagined imperialistic society in which gods and science are indelibly intertwined. It is the story of priestess, scientist and healer Moreva Tehi, the headstrong granddaughter of a powerful deity who is banished for a year from her beloved desert home to a volatile far northern corner of Peris for neglecting to perform her sacred duties, only to venture into dangerous realms of banned experimentation, spiritual rebirth, and fervent, forbidden love.
The Moreva of Astoreth
Roxanne Bland’s, The Moreva of Astoreth, is a twenty-seven chapter long book about life as a morev for Moreva Tehi. Tehi is a healer that works in the Temple for the Goddess of Love, Astoreth; The Most Holy One, who is also her grandmother. Less than interested in attending the Goddess’ religious service of Ohra and desperate to find the cure for Red Fever; a disease that plagued the Hakoi of their lands, she finds herself in great trouble with Astoreth, after missing the service. The defiance in character that lands Moreva Tehi in trouble, however, would not soon leave her and she would find herself in the Syren Perritory breaking every rule she had come to know. She is be lead to many revelations, some wonderful, some unsettling, but all unexpected.
The story began in Kherah, “a sunny desert south of the planet’s equator, where the fauna were kept in special habitats for learning and entertainment.” Moreva Tehi had seemingly spent too much of her privilege as granddaughter of a Goddess and was going to be sent away as punishment. In Kherah there were Devi, morevs and hakoi, most to least powerful respectively. Moreva Tehi was all three, but she despised the hakoi, even the parts of herself that was. After being sent away, hakoi like Kepten Yose of Mjor, would be a reminder to Tehi of why she hated hakoi, while others like Hyme; the healer and Teger; the Laerd, would conflict her understanding of that hatred.
Told from a first person perspective, the book became monotonous, as Moreva’s daily routine is described almost word for word for several chapters. The cycle contained, scrambling to get to breakfast, run ins with Teger, lab work with Hyme, morning service, clean up, rest, putting on makeup and getting dressed for the Ohra, evening service, rest, repeat. This made the book harder to read until about chapter thirteen. All the chapters before laid a boring and repetitive path for the reader to just happen upon a climax, literally. A severely unlikely love interest creates a hallmark of a plot twist and begins to really unfold the story.
The use of a second language that the narrator did not understand and that was not translated, successfully excluded both the narrator and myself.
Thematically, the language and attitudes to Tehi showed the struggle for her to be welcomed by the very people with whom she would share her body in the rite of Ohra, very similar to behavior of real world cultures. It was her bravery, breaking Protocol, and saving some miners from dying, that began a change in behavior towards her. There was a strong sense that she struggled with accepting herself, her religious obligations and how she felt about performing them starkly contrasted. Even though she hated the sexually invasive Ohra rite, her religious persuasions forced her to believe her feelings were the problem and not the rite. In the midst of themes such as love and power, Moreva learned reality was relative; she made a discovery about the Gods of her temple that threw her into a struggle with her own identity. Even so, Tehi dared not be bound by a dictated life. It was her determination and willingness to sacrifice that got her into trouble and she would use them to get out. Burning old bridges and creating new ones, with minimal harm to the people who she loved with all her hearts.
Pages: 452 | ISBN: 0996731660
LITERARY TITAN 