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The incredible novel of one woman’s quest to save her people – and her world. Now updated with all-new material and a reading-group discussion guide.
It comes without warning, without explanation – the sudden deadly Stink that shreds the life of the People, poisoning the land, sickening the trees, killing babies in the womb. It comes from above, from the Plains of the Ancestors, but what has caused this murderous curse?
It falls to Pyn-Poi to find out. The young tree-woman must climb the unclimbable cliff, to face the Ancestors on their own ground and demand an accounting for the Stink.
But the end of the climb is just the beginning of Pyn-Poi’s journey. What she finds in the world above is an abomination beyond the most fearsome fire-stories of the People – and she must defeat it, or face the extinction of everything she has ever loved.
Praise for The Night Field
‘Simple, beautiful prose’ Scott T. Barnes, editor of NewMyths.com magazine
‘Masterful storytelling’ Karin Lacey, The Uncommon Octopus
‘Beautifully written, poetic’ Susan Sachs, climate education mentor
It comes without warning, without explanation – the sudden deadly Stink that shreds the life of the People, poisoning the land, sickening the trees, killing babies in the womb. It comes from above, from the Plains of the Ancestors, but what has caused this murderous curse?
It falls to Pyn-Poi to find out. The young tree-woman must climb the unclimbable cliff, to face the Ancestors on their own ground and demand an accounting for the Stink.
But the end of the climb is just the beginning of Pyn-Poi’s journey. What she finds in the world above is an abomination beyond the most fearsome fire-stories of the People – and she must defeat it, or face the extinction of everything she has ever loved.
Praise for The Night Field
‘Simple, beautiful prose’ Scott T. Barnes, editor of NewMyths.com magazine
‘Masterful storytelling’ Karin Lacey, The Uncommon Octopus
‘Beautifully written, poetic’ Susan Sachs, climate education mentor
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Reviews
Modern bard Donna Glee Williams delivers a moving ecological fable, written with her signature grace and compassion. The Night Field weaves wonder, loss and renewal into a narrative that resonates with the past at the same time that it suggests fertile ground for a new future. Highly recommended!
Donna Glee Williams' simple, beautiful prose transports us to a Sylvain wonderland with woven bridges, mysterious currents, magical flora and more familial love and conflict than most mainstream novels. When the child Pyn-Poi led me into in Williams' word-forest, I did not want to leave
With lyrical prose, Williams delivers her finest performance yet. Her masterful storytelling unearths depth and colour in subtle nuance. The characters are real and believable, and their journey will stick with you for many years to come
A beautifully written, poetic book that showcases resilience on many levels. The heart of this story is the resilience of one young girl on the brink of womanhood who makes it her personal mission to discover the source of the poison impacting her way of life and her resolve to fix it. Donna Glee Williams weaves a story that mirrors our own society's capacity to take brutal advantage of the natural world that supports us, but also gives us hope that it doesn't have to be this way - through the efforts and energies of young people
This is such an original premise and such a perfectly wrought world. It feels like an early Ursula K. Le Guin
A great piece of magical fantasy
I was wholly absorbed in Pyn-Poi's rich, transporting and ultimately harrowing world. As with all the good books that have made an impression on me, I'd find myself contemplating images and scenes at odd times during the day. I still do.
In her latest novel, The Night Field, Donna Glee Williams gives body and weight to a dark magical dream of a narrative, a novel that is as engaging as it is heartbreaking, that is at times nightmarish yet for all its pain and suffering is woven together with the tensile strength of hope