Review: Zan Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure

Book: Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure
Author: Allan Shickman
Pages: 160
Published: July 15th 2007 by Earthshaker Books
Source: Received from publisher for honest review

Pressed by love for his brother and a bad conscience, the hero undertakes a quest which leads to captivity, conflict, love, and triumph. In three years, Zan-Gah passes from an uncertain boyhood to a tried and proven manhood and a role of leadership among his people. This dramatic and impassioned story will trill and deeply move young adults and older readers.

I've never read a prehistoric book before, which made Zan-Gah such a unique read for me. I didn't really go into it expecting much, because of the fact I'd never read a book quite like it before.

I can't really say that I connected to Zan. I didn't feel like I knew him, because the story was written from a third-person narrative and his thoughts and feelings weren't really shown much in the story. All of the characters were imaginative, though, and that I admired. One thing that bugged me about some of the character interactions though was the relationship between Lissa-Na and Zan-Gah. I didn't understand why he supposedly loved her, it was just stated in the book. However, each character was unique each in their own way and I did think that they were true to that time period in their nature and their actions. I really did feel like Zan matured throughout the course of the story.

The story was very fast-paced, I don't think there was a single slow moment in the story. The book starts out right in the middle of the action, with a lion hunt. The one thing I loved about this book was the writing. I thought Allan Shickman's writing was completely impressive, he seemed to know exactly which words would have the most effect and how to draw vivid images in the reader's mind. However, I thought that it seemed to me like there was nothing to be interpreted, which is something I usually like doing. Everything was stated out for you, very matter-of-factly, and I felt like because there was nothing to really think about, I was pretty unfocused during the story.

I thought Zan-Gah was an interesting and undoubtedly unique story, but it wasn't for me. I would recommend it to boys more than girls.

Overall: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Cover: I thought that was a hamster at first! But then I realized it was a tiger, and I was a little embarrassed, but that mistake kind of endeared me to it.