is this a sequel???

I bought this after absolutely loving the first book in this quartet, The Giver, which ended unfinished on a cliffhanger, with everything about to change in some indefinable way as young Jonas heads into the unknown carrying baby Gabriel. - So finding out it was the first of a quartet, I was looking forward to finding out how the story actually ended or went forward here. Audible indicated that this was the next in series.

But having finished Gathering Blue and looked at the others (I've actually finished all four now) it was hard to see how this book related to The Giver at all.

in Gathering Blue, I did not discover what happened after the cliffhanger ending of The Giver. It seems to be set in a completely different society. The only thing giving any clue that this was connected to the first book was that they had the Council of Guardians running everything, as they did in the Giver. Otherwise, if I had not bought this as a sequel, I would have thought it was just a completely different standalone short story. None of the characters seem to be of the same lineage as anybody in The Giver.

Things don't actually start to come together and relate to each other until the 3rd book in the quartet, Messenger. In that book I can see how the cliffhanger was resolved and how Kira, Matt and Jonas enter the same frame.

Gathering Blue is set in a primitive society in which everybody is living in little mud and stick huts and hunting for meat. They weave their clothes on wooden treadle looms and wash in the stream. And, far from the extremely civilised behaviour of the people in The Giver, this society is prone to fighting, quarrelling, arguing and other such ignorant nasty behaviour, and they're all really rough and abusive to their kids. This really didn't endear them to me, as I work with children. There seems to be no tolerance or kindness here and the treatment of the children seems guaranteed to perpetuate the cycle of brutish misery.

the main character, Kira, is different from all the other characters in that she is kind and gentle (and had a kind and gentle mother - surprise surprise, it was passed on). There seems to be something different about her in an almost spiritual way as well, and she has unusual gifts that are not recognised by her ignorant neighbours. They thinks she is useless because she has a crippled leg (probably a clubfoot).

But then she is plucked unexpectedly from her old life after the death of her parents. She is taken to the Council Edifice, an incredibly grand building with all mod cons. She is trained in the use of her gifts and told to restore an ancient embroidered robe.

She becomes aware that other gifted children and youths also live in the Edifice: a young carver and a little singer, also destined to play a major part in the traditions. So the story slowly reveals layers of hidden depth.

Then unexpectedly her father, who she had been told was dead, returns - blinded and scarred. I won't spoil the ending by saying how, but all is revealed in the end, the true reasons why these gifted children are separated from the community, what really happened to their families and what is behind the purposes of the Council. The ending is a little lame and the story too short, it ends almost abruptly. But never fear, the next volume, Messenger, further develops and deepens the story.

There was only one thing that really spoilt this book for me. What's really irritating and off-putting is that they call their children "tykes". This modern Americanism has no place in this seemingly primitive, traditional society and just calls up trashy 1990s American sitcoms, shattering the atmosphere that is necessary for a good story to hold the interest! Why not simply call them "children"??? Possibly Lowry chose "Tykes" to denote the contempt in which children are held in this community. But to me it just sounds so out of place. They also call their husbands "hubby". Another out of place slang word. Every time they said "tykes" or "hubby" I actually cringed! Lollipops are also called "suckers". These modern American slang words totally detract from the old world setting in which they are used, caused a constant distraction and irritation, like grit in the eye. So for me this ruined the story.

The narrator reads in a steady voice that hardly varies at all in pitch and tone between characters. She has quite a low voice with a strong American accent, which to my British ears also grated a little: ("carridrr" for corridor, "claaad" for clawed. A few words were pronounced strangely: "tuzzled" for "tousled" and "dirrisive" for "derisive".)


However, despite these irritations, it is well worth persevering into the next two books, as I now realise this one is just setting the stage for Kira's eventual escape to the other village on the other side of the Forest, a place of sanctuary for all who suffer the kind of persecution that is so ubiquitous in Kira's community.

So I would say bear with this and carry on!

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is this a sequel???

I bought this after absolutely loving the first book in this quartet, The Giver, which ended unfinished on a cliffhanger, with everything about to change in some indefinable way as young Jonas heads into the unknown carrying baby Gabriel. - So finding out it was the first of a quartet, I was looking forward to finding out how the story actually ended or went forward here. Audible indicated that this was the next in series.

But having finished Gathering Blue and looked at the others (I've actually finished all four now) it was hard to see how this book related to The Giver at all.

in Gathering Blue, I did not discover what happened after the cliffhanger ending of The Giver. It seems to be set in a completely different society. The only thing giving any clue that this was connected to the first book was that they had the Council of Guardians running everything, as they did in the Giver. Otherwise, if I had not bought this as a sequel, I would have thought it was just a completely different standalone short story. None of the characters seem to be of the same lineage as anybody in The Giver.

Things don't actually start to come together and relate to each other until the 3rd book in the quartet, Messenger. In that book I can see how the cliffhanger was resolved and how Kira, Matt and Jonas enter the same frame.

Gathering Blue is set in a primitive society in which everybody is living in little mud and stick huts and hunting for meat. They weave their clothes on wooden treadle looms and wash in the stream. And, far from the extremely civilised behaviour of the people in The Giver, this society is prone to fighting, quarrelling, arguing and other such ignorant nasty behaviour, and they're all really rough and abusive to their kids. This really didn't endear them to me, as I work with children. There seems to be no tolerance or kindness here and the treatment of the children seems guaranteed to perpetuate the cycle of brutish misery.

the main character, Kira, is different from all the other characters in that she is kind and gentle (and had a kind and gentle mother - surprise surprise, it was passed on). There seems to be something different about her in an almost spiritual way as well, and she has unusual gifts that are not recognised by her ignorant neighbours. They thinks she is useless because she has a crippled leg (probably a clubfoot).

But then she is plucked unexpectedly from her old life after the death of her parents. She is taken to the Council Edifice, an incredibly grand building with all mod cons. She is trained in the use of her gifts and told to restore an ancient embroidered robe.

She becomes aware that other gifted children and youths also live in the Edifice: a young carver and a little singer, also destined to play a major part in the traditions. So the story slowly reveals layers of hidden depth.

Then unexpectedly her father, who she had been told was dead, returns - blinded and scarred. I won't spoil the ending by saying how, but all is revealed in the end, the true reasons why these gifted children are separated from the community, what really happened to their families and what is behind the purposes of the Council. The ending is a little lame and the story too short, it ends almost abruptly. But never fear, the next volume, Messenger, further develops and deepens the story.

There was only one thing that really spoilt this book for me. What's really irritating and off-putting is that they call their children "tykes". This modern Americanism has no place in this seemingly primitive, traditional society and just calls up trashy 1990s American sitcoms, shattering the atmosphere that is necessary for a good story to hold the interest! Why not simply call them "children"??? Possibly Lowry chose "Tykes" to denote the contempt in which children are held in this community. But to me it just sounds so out of place. They also call their husbands "hubby". Another out of place slang word. Every time they said "tykes" or "hubby" I actually cringed! Lollipops are also called "suckers". These modern slang words totally detract from the old world setting in which they are used, caused me to dislike the whole story and are a constant distraction and irritation, like grit in the eye. So for me this ruined the story.

the narrator reads in a steady voice that hardly varies at all in pitch and tone between characters. She has quite a low voice with a strong American accent, which to my British ears also grated a little.

However, despite these irritations, it is well worth persevering into the next two books, as I now realise this one is just setting the stage for Kira's eventual escape to the other village on the other side of the Forest, a place of sanctuary for all who suffer the kind of persecution that is so ubiquitous in Kira's community.

So I would say bear with this and carry on!

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You reported this review!

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