Nothing Sacred

A war-ravaged Asia one hundred years in the future sets the backdrop for Viveka Jeng Vanachek, whose mission to the Himalayas reveals important things about the future of the world

From School Library Journal

YA-- Somewhere over Tibet, a North American Continental Allied Forces plane crashes, the pilot is killed, and warrant officer Viveka Vanachek is taken prisoner. Her journal, written upon the order of the prison camp commander, reveals captivity inside a ruined lamasery with a maze of underground rooms filled with the monks' ancient supplies. Time seems altered in the camp; no one can pinpoint the exact date and thinking about dates and times results in terrible headaches. And then nuclear explosions destroy the world outside this secluded valley. Elements of science fiction, mythology, adventure, and fantasy fill this work about the fabled land of Shangri-La. The relations between prisoner and guard, and those among the captivesare carefully detailed, preventing the setting from growing stale and relaying the humanity of even the most hard-hearted characters. Team this work with David Brin's The Postman (Bantam, 1986) and Gregory Maguire's I Feel Like the Morning Star (HarperCollins, 1989) for a unit on nuclear holocaust. --Pam Spencer, Thomas Jefferson Sci-Tech, Fairfax County, VACopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Taken prisoner when her plane is shot down over the Himalayas, Viveka Vanachek arrives at a secret POW camp where time has no meaning and the lines between captive and captor begin to blur. Set in a war-torn 21st century, Scarborough's ( The Healer's War ) latest novel uses a legendary setting for an intense exploration of the illusory nature of freedom and captivity. Recommended.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Reviews

News