Friday, January 2, 2009

In the Forest of the Pygmies / Isabelle Allende

In this third and last installment of Isabelle Allende's trilogy about globe-trotting teens Alexander and Nadia, the travelers find themselves in Kenya on an elephant safari with Alexander's journalist grandmother, Kate.

Their trip starts out in a pretty ordinary way, but soon the group runs into a very persuasive missionary who convinces them to journey deep into the African jungle to help him search for two of his lost compatriots. They soon arrive in a remote jungle village where a trio of evil despots has run off the local queen and enslaved and terrorized the Pygmy and Bantu peoples who live there. Alexander and Nadia must draw on all their intelligence, skills and otherworldly companions to rescue the Pygmies and get themselves and the rest of the International Geographic crew back home with their lives.

This book includes high adventure, a taste of the diversity of the African people and landscapes, and a dash of magical realism. Although you don't have to read the series in order, the author does refer to events in the previous novels. If you want to start at the beginning, the first book is City of the Beasts, and the second is Kingdom of the Golden Dragon.

No comments: