The Kin

This handsomely produced book weighs a couple of pounds, costs a lot more and is enormous in conception. In four parts it follows a small group of the first human beings, mostly children, whose parents have been killed, as they journey to find a new ‘Good Place’. The characters have limited language and knowledge, so much has to be learnt and the dangers are enormous. There is a geographical intensity of events, from deserts, to marshland, impossible mountain climbs and an escape from an erupting volcano. Within this there is continuous, vivid action and complex threads of emotions and ideas: of learning how to deal with each other and how to make their intelligence outweigh any comparative disadvantage of their size. The painstaking care with which a lion is caught and band of head-hunters are defeated is fascinating. This is writing of the highest quality.