Review: Zan-Gah by Allan Richard Schickman

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure-Allan Richard Shickman
Publisher: Earthshaker Books
Publication Date: 7/07
Source: Review copy provided by publisher
Author Website

“She began to move warily in a circle as the men tightened the trap, and as they got closer the lioness began to stride and prowl in a circle so small that she almost seemed to be chasing her tail. But she was watching, watching while she turned and snarled, for a weakness in the ever-tightening ring of her pursuers. Then, at the moment the attack finally was sounded--when the men, putting down their drums and torches, charged on the run with their spears--the lioness saw what she was looking for. One of her enemies was smaller, weaker than the rest. There was a point in the strengthening line that could be broken! Thought merged with furious action and the beast, with a mighty bound of astonishing swiftness, darted toward Zan. Five hundred pounds of snarling fury sprang directly at him with claws bared and fanged mouth open!”

(Sample text from publisher website)

I'm going to start my review of Zan-Gah the way that I've seen many others start theirs: I've never read any pre-historic novels. When the publisher asked if I'd review the book, I agreed, mainly because the story is so different from what I usually read. 

The story centers around Zan-Gah, a courageous young man who goes on the adventure of a lifetime in hopes of finding his twin brother who had gone missing. Most in his village assume that Dael, his brother, is dead, but after Zan kills a lion and is regarded by his people as a hero, he feels that he has the strength to go on what most would see as a fruitless search. On his quest to find his brother, he meets people from other clans, and not all of them are friendly. Some of them are down-right horrible. Without giving too much away, Zan has to go through a lot of tribulations throughout his journey.

While this is a young adult book, I think it's the perfect length for a middle grade aged child. Both boys and girls would enjoy it for the action, and the small amount of romance as well. The book is a little less than 150 pages, so it would be suitable for readers younger than ten, but there is some mild violence, so I assume it would be at the discretion of the parents for younger readers. There is enough of an interesting story there to keep children interested-while they learn a bit about pre-history as well. 

I give Zan-Gah 4/5 stars. It was well-written, easy to read story. While I feel anyone could enjoy the tale of Zan and his adventures, I would definitely pass this book on to any young reader I knew.