The Child of Prophecy

NB: THIS BOOK WAS PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AS 'WHERE HOPE DARES'. 'I don't know where to begin in praising this book – there is so much that is good about it. It is a post-apocalypse saga of epic proportions. Worthy of the mistresses of the genre, Margaret Attwood and Ursula LeGuin, the story and the world Rebecca Bryn has created is utterly convincing.' Review - Frank Parker author of Strongbow's Wife. A prophecy, a sacrifice, and a truth that is more terrifying than the legend. The Child of Prohecy is set in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco at some time between the Great Flood and the Second Coming. Kiya is a village healer and her husband, Raphel, is a storyteller, keeping alive the oral traditions of their people. Life is peaceful, ordered, happy, and the most excitement they have is regular visits from Abe, an itinerent peddler who trades across the mountains with his mule, Moses. Abe, however, is not what he seems, and though he has Kiya and Raphel's best interests at heart, he has a secret agendum laid down by a long-dead pope that is sometimes at war with his love for his friends. He has dedicated his long life to watching over the village where Kiya lives, but why? What is it he's not telling her? All goes horribly wrong when a pagan, war-hungry cult from the northern side of the mountains descend with arson, rape, and slaughter on their minds, and an ancient prophecy to fulfil. Kiya is kidnapped and forced north over the mountains, but what has the prophecy to do with Kiya? Does Abe know? Alaric, one of the barbaric Northmen, sees Kiya as the legendary 'Gift' of prophecy he's been sent to find, and he rapes and kidnaps her and forces her north over the mountains, leaving Raphel for dead amid the burning ruins of his village. Raphel lives and determines to set off in search of Kiya, his only aids hope, love, and a headful of stories. Abe goes with him, but his reasons for this aren't quite what they seem, and he will find his allegiencies sorely tested. That the chase on foot across the mountains in winter will be hard and long is not in doubt, or that the sea voyage will be fraught with danger, or the trek across the desert under a burning sun less deadly than that of their ancestors who fled persecution from East Africa. That gentle Raphel will have to use every ounce of his knowledge, wit, compassion, forgiveness, and courage to rescue his wife, is certain, but who will prove to be his friend and who his foe, and what is this prophecy by which the Northmen set so much store? Why is it so important that they will kill and risk their own deaths to fulfil it - and can such an ancient prophecy be trusted?