The Divided Earth

Hicks, Faith Erin. The Divided Earth. Book 3 of The Nameless City series. 2018. 265p. ISBN 978-1-62672-160-9. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Following the assassination of the General of All Blades by Erzi, his own son, in The Stone Heart, Kaidu and Rat had to find shelter in the Nameless City, while Kaidu's father, a Dao general named Andren, barely escaped the purge with his life. The monastery was burned down, and the monks' secret, the power the ancients used to blow a tunnel through the mountain, fell into Erzi's hands.

As a Yisun force moves on the city, Erzi is desperate to unleash the explosive recipe contained in the book, and plans on deploying it against them. His faithful servant, Mura, however, plans to release the secret formula to everyone so that the entire world becomes engulfed in the flames of war. Thinking they have some time, Kai and Rat come up with a plan to infiltrate the palace and steal the book back, but unfortunately they are too late, and Napatha weapons are used against the first wave of attackers.

Meanwhile, Andren and the monk Joah are captured by Dao forces led by Andren's wife Kata. He convinces her of the need to conclude an alliance with the besieging Yisun forces to prevent further bloodshed in the Nameless City and to implement the Council of Nations he had suggested in the Nameless City.

With two forces facing each other, and with the prospect of destruction, can Kai and Rat prevent the city's past secret from being used to destroy it? Read the exciting conclusion to the Nameless City series!

The Stone Heart

Hicks, Faith Erin. The Stone Heart. Book 2 of the Nameless City series. 2017. 245p. ISBN 978-1-62672-158-6. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

In The Nameless City, Kaidu and Rat became fast friends even though they are from opposite ethnic heritage. Having successfully stopped an assassination plot against the General of All Blades, leader of the Dao, Kaidu is now allowed to explore the city, but he must continue his training to become a Dao soldier. Rat, meanwhile, heals the foot she injured, and she looks forward to racing Kaidu again.

Kaidu's father, General Andren, has proposed that the city be governed by an alliance of all tribes, including individuals from the Named, those who were born in the city. The General of All Blades now agrees, but his son, Ezri, is opposed. He has been groomed all of his life to take over the Dao empire and govern the city, and as the first Dao born inside the walls he feels he's the best person to unite the Dao and the Named people. His father's move, however threatens everything Ezri has worked for.

When Rat shares with Kaidu that the monks may know the secret to how the founders of the city carved the hole in the sky linking the city to the ocean beyond, Ezri's bodyguard, who also lived with the monks before being turned out when she was ten, realizes that this secret can become the weapon that will support Ezri in his bid. Armed with this knowledge, she supports Ezri when he assassinates his father, and she leads the troops that attack the monastery.

With a price on their head, Andren, Kaidu and Rat try to escape, but they witness the destruction of the monastery and its vast stores of knowledge, as well as the seizing of the book of the ancients. All seems lost, yet Kaidu and Rat are not willing to give up. Can they find a way to prevent Ezri from getting his hands on knowledge so powerful it could carve a hole in mountains?

The story concludes in The Divided Earth.

The Nameless City

Hicks, Faith Erin. The Nameless City. Book 1 of the Nameless City series. 2016. 232p. ISBN 978-1-62672-156-2. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Kaidu is on his way to the great city of Daidu, capital of the Dao empire. Having lived with his tribal chief mother out on the wide plains, he is astonished to see the sheer size of the city. Ready to join the Dao military, Kaidu is looking forward to meeting his father, General Andren, for the first time. An advisor to the General of All Blades, leader of the Dao, Andren hopes to convince the general to agree to share power in the city with the other clans from the plains, to ensure that Daidu remains at peace.

Only the Dao name the city Daidu. Conquerors before them have given it different names, but the residents refer to it as the Nameless city, and themselves as the Named people. The city is often conquered, for it sits at the base of the Hole in the Sky, a large tunnel that has been carved through mountains to reach the ocean on the other side. Whomever controls the city controls the trade between the hinterland and the nations beyond the sea.

While walking the streets with his general father, Kaidu meets Rat, a street urchin. When he returns the next day to purchase more delicious treats, he sees her again, but this time she steals his knife. He gives chase, and, to her amazement, manages to catch her and retrieve his knive even though she traveled on the many roofs of the city and even jumped over a canal. Rat asks for a rematch, and soon the two of them become unlikely friends as she tries to teach Kaidu how to run like her.

As they spend time together and get in trouble, Rat stumbles upon a conspiracy aimed at assassinating the General and forcing the Dao out of the Nameless City. Only she and Kaidu can stop the attempt, but no one believes them. Can two friends overcome the obstacles in their path so they can warn the General before it is too late?

The story continues in The Stone Heart.

Siddhartha

Hesse, Herman. Siddhartha. 2010. 326 mins. 170p. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Raised in a rich family, young Siddhartha has always questioned the purpose of life. Wishing to discover himself and his reason for living, he argues with his father that he must depart the religious caste he was born in so that he can pursue enlightenment. With his friend Govinda, he decides to abandon society and join the Shramanas, a group of aesthetics who live a simple life and neither own nor owe anything. After three years, however, Siddhartha still does not feel any closer to enlightenment. Hearing that the Buddha is speaking in a neighboring district, the two companions leave the Shramanas.

Convinced of the just cause of Buddha, Govinda readily joins as a monk, but Siddhartha cannot. He speaks with Buddha, and reveals that what he seeks is not a teacher who will tell him, but the experiences necessary to reach self-awareness and the true meaning of himself. He wanders through the forest, and meets a simple ferryman who appreciates the river for what it is. Siddhartha promises the ferryman he will one day return.

In the city he meets Kamala, a courtesan, and soon Siddhartha rejoins the ranks of urban dwellers, becomes a merchant, and accumulates a fortune. Unfortunately, this path is also not enough to discover himself, so he drops everything and heads back into the forest, hoping to die. At his lowest moment in life, he is saved by Govinda, who happens to stumble upon him by the river. Vowing to live again, Siddhartha reconnects with the ferryman and learns the secrets of the river, that everything is cyclical and united.

His last encounter with Kamala led to a son, and when Kamala travels through the forest and is bitten by a poisonous snake, she and her son are rescued by Siddhartha. As he raises his son after Kamala’s death, he realizes that the river is right. Just as he needed to leave to find himself, so does his son. Having now achieved wisdom, Siddhartha imparts what he has learned to his old friend Govinda when both of them are old men, that suffering and rejection, peace and tranquility, and wisdom and understanding are all interconnected and dependent on each other. That, according to Siddhartha, is the true enlightenment.

Siddhartha is panned by Tom Henderson in King Dork as being a pompous book that seeks to go against its own understanding, by aiming to teach a mismatch of Buddhists, Taoists, Hinduists and Christian ideas.