The Foretelling by Alice Hoffman

3 stars -- It's okay

I really prefer the softcover image to the hardcover of The Foretelling, but that's neither here nor there.

The Foretelling is about a girl named Rain, whose mother is the queen of the Amazonians. Destined to become queen herself, Rain struggles to inherit her birthright, because her mother treats her like she doesn't even exist. Rain was conceived by rape, and her mother has never forgiven herself for her weakness, her attackers for their intrusion, nor her daughter for being who she is, the personification of sorrow in human form.

Rain invests herself in becoming the best equestrian around, as horses are the reason the Amazonians have been able to defeat their enemies. She also excels at training to be a warrior and even manages to capture and tame a bear. She seems to be all that is needed in an Amazonian queen, but foretellings of her future predict that her own people will turn on her.

I have to say that the book is rather anticlimactic. While well-written and quite lovely as a story, not much actually happens. The brother that promises to be the spark of the conflict is taken care of with little issue, and the face-off between Rain and her people is peaceful. Granted, Rain is supposed to be the new way of the Amazonians, but there is so little actual action in this book that I was disappointed. The love story in place also seems to sputter and fizzle out without disturbing the peacefulness found in the telling of the story.

The Foretelling isn't bad, but it's not that good either. For a book about a warfaring people, the telling is suprisingly mild.