Review: Shattered Dreams and Reality?
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 26, 2014
Chained Freedom by Natasja Hellenthal is a surreal fantasy novella focused on Tana Woodwolf, a young woman questioning the reality of the world she feels confined in. She lives with her mother in a rural setting where people earn their living by the sweat of their brow in the fields of labor beyond their village. Yet she wonders just how much control of their lives they actually enjoy, and soon discovers there are external forces at work that not only manipulate but victimize the residents of her community.Hellenthal continues to explore the parameters of her Comyenti fantasy, this being a follow-up to her ground-breaking Call Off The Search. In this installment, we find a clever shift in reality as Tana and her companion, Fay Rosinhill, realize they are living in a virtual goldfish bowl where a mysterious wizard watches from a mystical tower, the existence of which her fellow villagers are unaware of. The girls find a way to access the tower, yet realize their grip on reality may be threatened by crossing the magical plane. We can perceive the psychological tension in the notion of losing one’s grip on established reality by crossing over and taking the risk of never coming back. Once again, the author takes us along an uncharted course that takes us to the next level of the fantasy genre.Chances are that this installment may become a segue to further adventures of Tana and Fey, so I suggest you pick up both Call Off The Search and Chained Freedom by Natasja Hellenthal. Get yourself up to speed and enjoy the ride.