Ariel

Book number one of a two book fantasy series. I read the well printed and bound MMPB that was first published in 1983. This is my 3rd or 5th reading of this book, my first reading was maybe 20 years ago. I doubt that there will be a third book in the series but, who knows ?I dislike fantasy books. They are typically fluffy and pretty. Well, _Ariel_ is neither. The book starts five years after the *change*. A young man, a virgin, is bathing in a small lake. A unicorn walks up and starts pawing through his clothing on the shoreline. The young man leaves the water and approaches the unicorn, a beautiful creature. But, there is pain on her face and the young man notes that her front right leg is broken and swollen. "Oh, you poor thing" he says to the unicorn, "I want to help you". "Bwoke," it says in a little girl voice.This is a dark and gritty book. It is awesome ! The universe is dangerous and not pleasant. There are many other magical animals such as manticores, griffins, and dragons with ferocious appetites that love eating humans and other large animals.This is my favorite fantasy book. Sadly, the sequel is not as good but I am reading it again anyway.There is a website for the book at: arielbook.comThe author has a website at: steveboy.comI must also note that the *change* in _Dies the Fire_ by S. M. Stirling is very similar to the *change* in this book.

I see I'm not the only person who read this book back in the dark ages of 1984, and never forgot it. I was 17, and I do miss the old physical ritual of selecting a new book, and burning the cover art into my memory. I can still see it to this day.The Change seemed like it would have been a miracle to those of us whose hearts thrive on the fantastic, and Ariel gives you that miracle. Then it teaches you that every miracle has its dark price, and how love, courage, loyalty and determination can win the day even then. Though that price will still be paid.One of the few books I've ever read that saw me laugh out loud, groan at Pete (also out loud), literally have conversations with the characters (out loud of course), and cry like a baby. Then I went back to the beginning and started the journey again. I've always been sad that there was no sequel (that I know of), and even sadder that it's OOP.Read this book, share it with your children, and rediscover the heart and soul of fantasy.

I wanted to read something different and this was it. With fantasy, you have to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy the story. Usually this is not a problem for me, but this novel was a trial. In the near future, all electricity is rendered useless by magical life changing event. Modern technology dependent on electricity no longer function and guns don't work either since chemical reactions, or at least some of them, don't happen...ahem. On top of that mythological animals roam the earth again pairing up with people. The main character, who is a virgin, befriends a talking unicorn. There is an evil wizard who wants to capture the unicorn to become more powerful, and, of course, there is a climactic battle.Parts of the story were enjoyable and, except for the unicorn, I didn't care what happened to most of the characters. In a good novel, you're glad that the antagonist has been defeated or sad that the hero has taken a loss. I never got into it; It just wasn't a story for me.

Ariel by Steven BoyettSometime in the past - before 9/11/01 - the world changed. Magic appeared in the world; guns and internal combustion engines stopped working. Life in the post-Change world is nasty, brutal and short. Pete has been wandering since the world changed. The one thing that made life livable for him was meeting Ariel, a unicorn. Ariel and Pete become "familiars" with a bond and loyalty to each other. However, because Ariel is a unicorn, Pete has to remain a virgin, which periodically causes tension.In their wandering, we see what life in the post-Change world is like. Society is starting to feudalize. Unicorn horns are a source of magic. A necromancer is beginning to create a power base in New York, and Ariel and Pete are right in the center of an assault on the Empire State Building.This is a fun well-written book. It is more amazing for the fact that it was written by Steven R. Boyett when he was twenty. The book includes an epilogue where Boyett talks about how the story came to be written, which is enjoyable by itself.

On the surface it is a simple story of a boy and his unicorn. But think a little deeper and you find a story chock full of love, loss, companionship, and the cold hard truth about growing up. There are things that happen, significant occurrences, told so abruptly with little explanation and no dwelling that make you decide for yourself why it happened and how it affects Pete's life later on. I liked that understated drama quite a bit, seems very honest to me, like how it would happen in real life. All in all I'd say a this is a novel worthy of an afternoon of your time!

Not because it’s the best story I’ve ever read. Not because it’s particularly well written or because it has such wonderful world building. Not because it’s so wonderfully original. It’s none of those things. Because it came to me first at a time in my life when I needed a story just like this. Growing up in a strange and difficult world. A boy and his unicorn. Life can be hard and growing up can be even harder. Not all stories have happy endings. And that’s ok because the happy ending isn’t the real ending anyway. Pete and Ariel will always hold a special place in my heart.

Something happens and the world changes. Guns and machines don't work. Magic is real. Mythical creatures are real. The adolescent boy protagonist meets and befriends Ariel, a talking female unicorn. They embark on a quest to kill the evil necromancer and his henchmen, but things go wrong, horribly wrong. Action and adventure aplenty, with a bit of puberty thrown in. First book by this author, written when he was barely a man. Holds up well. Time and history have made some parts of the story dated, but it still works. Excellent read.

A good read - and I have to admit I found the extensive appendix about the author's first experience with writing and publishing to be quite fascinating. I enjoyed the book, but have to admit I found the ending a little forced and abrupt which spoilt it for me a little. This one probably goes on the "I'm glad I read it, but probably won't read it again" pile.

This is a coming of age book set in an Earth where magic catastrophically replaced science. This shares a similar premise with Stirling's 'Change' series, though Ariel is a reprint from an earlier 1983 work. Told in the first person, it takes a road journey and marks the changes in the narrator from boy to man. There are plenty of action sequences, with an emphasis on martial arts, : but also an acceptance of mature burdens imposed by maturity. A slight drawback is the main villain being straight from central casting who had never read the Evil Overlord list, but overall I'd recommend this book.

In un periodo in cui la fiction con ambientazione post apocalittica va di moda scopro questo Ariel, ripubblicato nel 2009 ma scritto nel 1983, che mostra un tocco di originalità: niente zombie o pandemie, in questo caso il mondo è stravolto dal fatto che improvvisamente la magia funziona e la tecnologia oltre un certo livello no.Ariel è uno strano road movie, in cui il lettore esplora un'ambientazione familiare ma diversa e potenzialmente letale insieme ai due protagonisti.Divertente, avvincente anche se a volte un pochino ingenuo.Non mancherà di toccare delle corde che suonano di nostalgia a chi è cresciuto con Dungeons & Dragons.L'avventura di Pete può essere vista come un viaggio di maturazione: l'uscita dall'adolescenza e il passaggio all'età adulta. Dispiace un po' che il tutto sia ridotto ad un interesse che passa da una creatura mitologica al sesso, ma sono sicuro che l'intento dell'autore non fosse quello di fare un romanzo di "coming of age", quanto piuttosto un'avvincente avventura.E in questo coglie sicuramente nel segno.

Eines Tages blieb in ARIEL praktisch die Welt stehen. Sämtliche technologische Errungenschaften der Menschheit funktionierten von einer Sekunde auf die andere nicht mehr und die Magie übernahm die Herrschaft. Magische Wesen wandelten ab diesem Zeitpunkt über die Erde und die Menschheit wurde in der darauf folgenden Verwirrung beinahe ausgerottet. Pete Garey, ein junger Mann, der sich auf eigene Faust durch das verwüstete Amerika schlägt, trifft eines Tages auf ein verletztes Einhorn. Zu seiner Überraschung lässt sich das mythische Wesen von ihm verarzten. Zu seiner noch größeren Überraschung kann Ariel sprechen, weist überraschend menschliche Verhaltensmuster auf und entpuppt sich als neunmalkluge Besserwisserin. Ariel und Pete ziehen nun gemeinsam durchs Land und geraten schließlich in Schwierigkeiten, als ein Nekromant, der sich im verlassenen New York seinen Stützpunkt aufgebaut hat, auf sie aufmerksam wird und Ariel unbedingt in seine Gewalt bringen will. Gejagt von Kopfgeldjägern wollen Pete und Ariel nicht mehr länger vor der Gefahr davonlaufen, sondern machen sich auf den Weg nach New York, um sich der Bedrohung zu stellen.Pete, der Ich-Erzähler in ARIEL, hat jahrelang alleine in einer Welt verbracht, in der niemandem mehr zu trauen und sich jeder selbst der Nächste ist. Nicht nur seine sozialen Kompetenzen haben unter dieser Belastung gelitten, er ist auch von tiefem Misstrauen erfüllt und geht seinen Mitmenschen meist aus dem Weg. Ariels Ankunft lindert seine Einsamkeit, andere Menschen sind ihm aber immer noch suspekt. Insgesamt ist Pete ein recht sympathischer Hauptcharakter, der sich glaubwürdig verhält, wenn er auch manchmal etwas unreif und unüberlegt handelt.Ariel erscheint über weite Strecken des Romans als sehr menschlich, vor allem gegen Ende des Romans wird jedoch deutlich, dass sie eine magische Kreatur ist, die zwar von Pete und seiner Menschlichkeit beeinflusst wurde, aber ihre Andersartigkeit schimmert immer wieder durch. Ich fand Ariel sehr interessant und weitaus weniger unschuldig und unwissend, als man es vielleicht von einem Einhorn erwarten würde.Die Nebenfiguren in ARIEL sind leider bei weitem nicht so gut ausgearbeitet wie Ariel und Pete. Die meisten von ihnen sind nur sehr skizzenhaft angelegt. Shaughnessy, eine junge Frau, die sich den beiden Helden anschließt, wird nur sehr grob gezeichnet und es wird auch nie geklärt, warum sie mit ihnen in die Höhle des Löwen gezogen ist. Auch der Nekromant erscheint mehr als blass, weshalb auch kein wirkliches Gefühl der Bedrohung von ihm ausgeht. Auf Motive und tiefere Beweggründe der ganzen Nebenfiguren wird so gut wie gar nicht eingegangen. Ich muss auch sagen, dass mir Petes Entscheidung, nach New York zu gehen, sehr impulsiv und wirklich schlecht durchdacht erscheint. Sie ist für seinen Charakter konsistent, ich konnte ein genervtes Augenrollen dennoch nicht unterdrücken.Insgesamt schreitet die Handlung in ARIEL sehr geradlinig voran, obwohl ich mit der Spannungskurve des Romans nicht sehr glücklich bin. Bis wirkliches Tempo in die Geschichte kommt, dauert es doch sehr lange, und dieses Tempo wird im Mittelteil auch schnell wieder herausgenommen. Die Beschreibungen von Pete und Ariels Wanderung nach New York ist stimmungsvoll, aber nicht gerade packend. Die deprimierende Stimmung des entvölkerten Amerikas wird dagegen sehr gut eingefangen und besonders New York erscheint in einem bedrohlichen Licht, obwohl Steven R. Boyett seinen Weltenbau doch recht spartanisch hält. Ich fragte mich während des Lesens immer wieder, was mit all den Menschen passiert ist. Es laufen nicht mehr wirklich viele herum, es werden jedoch bis auf eine Ausnahme nie Leichenfunde oder Ähnliches beschrieben.ARIEL handelt nicht nur von den Auswirkungen der Apokalypse. Die Beziehung zwischen Pete und Ariel, die teilweise fast romantische Elemente aufweist, nimmt sehr viel Platz im Roman ein. Die Reise der zwei Helden nach New York nimmt ebenfalls viel Raum ein und im letzten Drittel nimmt die "Sword and Sorcery"-Action deutlich zu. So häufen sich brutale Schwertkämpfe und es geht nicht gerade zimperlich zu. Das Ende kommt dann doch recht abrupt und ich bin mir sicher, dass viele Leser vom Ausgang des Romans nicht begeistert sein werden. Ohne mehr verraten zu wollen, fand ich ihn doch irgendwie angemessen.Alles in allem ist ARIEL kein schlechtes Buch, aber es hat mich auch nicht wirklich begeistert. Der Spannungsbogen ist mir zu flach, die Bedrohung durch den Nekromanten zu schwammig und die Charaktere will ich auch nicht unbedingt wieder sehen. Guter Durchschnitt.

This book and it's partner book, give an amazing new thought twist to climate change. relevant to today.