Friday, May 10, 2013

The Plateau: Voices of the Earth by Maureen Dudley



The Plateau ..... Please don't be scared off by the cover, I know it seems like it might be a children's novel but it's not. It's remarkable in so many ways. The story begins with Catherine, an environmental engineer, who feels overwhelmed both by what happens around her and by what happens in her dreams. Henry is the faithful husband who tries to understand the things that he can't see or feel while encouraging her to experience them rather then fear them. And there is Keitha, the archivist from the future and a possible descendant of Catherine's family. Keitha is a powerful perceptive who has seen images of Catherine since she was young.

Keitha, with the help of her mother and father, realizes that she has to connect with Catherine on a deeper level. Not only to save herself and her colony but to stop the Machiavellian's from changing an event that could possibly affect the future in unspeakable ways. To gain Catherine's trust Keitha begins by appearing to her on Mesa filled with animals that are near extinction. Catherine, flanked by her greyhound Addy, is mystified by these animals some of which she has no way of knowing. After a few mistakes on Keitha's part, Catherine begins to grudgingly trust that these dreams aren't her subconscious but a real visitation.

Both Catherine and Keitha are strong females fighting for what they believe in. Survival. The overall theme of this first novel is what are really doing to the world that we life in and what possibly could our descendants end up living in. How would you feel if you met a descendant of yours from 200 years in the future and they told you that they had to live under ground because it was the only place safe anymore. How sad would that realization be? This book raised so many questions for me and inspired me to do research of my own. But honestly everything was so beautifully outlined that I could easily understand all the topics and what it meant for the world around us.

The characters are so real and  engrossing that I literally missed my bus stop one morning on the way to work. This book just sucks you in and makes you want to care about Henry, Catherine, Keitha, Greer and so many other characters. It makes you care about their issues and which way their lives could possibly end up. Maureen Dudley was able to spin magic with her words, creating a world so close to our own along with a world that may be our ending place if things don't change. It was wonderfully written and quickly paced.

The e version is available through amazon and barnes & noble for only $10! I would definitely recommend this as a must read! Thankfully for me it was only the first one of a series and I can't wait to read the rest when they are released!


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