BEYOND THE NORTH WIND

In return for freeing the cruel, one-eyed Arimaspians from the curse of brutality, giving them back their eyes and tears and, in the process, saving the peaceful griffins from them, Apollo gives Aristeas magic and music but also dooms him to wander the world. As in some of her adult books, Bradshaw (the well-received The Dragon and the Thief, 1991, and its sequel) relates an adventure rich with myth and history. Aristeas, a different kind of Odysseus, blinds his Cyclopses by opening their true eyes, breaking a self-imposed curse in which they gave up compassion and creativity in return for hideous strength. The griffins are saved from the ravages of humans by being transported beyond the north wind, where peace and harmony rule; and the poet Aristeas (whose description of the Arimaspians was quoted by Herodotus) can no more return ``home'' once his eyes (and mind) are opened than a plant can return to seed. Contemporary parallels—with despots; with nature's need to be cared for with simple humanity; with the recognition that compassion may be more powerful than knowledge—are inescapable. Bradshaw imagines the ancient world as it might have been—and also tells a rousing and engrossing adventure story. (Fiction. 10+)