Book Review: Ever by Gail Carson Levine (love and religion in a quasi-Mesopotamian setting)

Faith needs no sign.
Let not the creation
Test the creator.

Fifteen-year-old Kezi lives a simple but fulfilled life, spending her days knotting rugs and participating in the local festivities and religious ceremonies with her families. But when Kezis mother falls ill, Kezis father pledges to sacrifice a soul to their god Admat in return for his wifes continued health. The sacrifice is to be the first person who congratulates Kezis mother on her recovery. Kezi, upon seeing that her aunt is about to put herself in the sacrificial position, steps up and offers herself instead.

The sacrifice is to be made within the month, and so Kezi throws herself into living, experiencing and, increasingly, questioning. Why should she be asked to die? Why would her god want this? How does she know that her god wants this? Her belief in Admat, the god of her monotheistic quasi-Mesopotamian culture, comes into question, particularly when she meets Olus, a wind god deity, and part of a nearby pantheon heretofore unknown to Kezi.

How can Admat be the one, the all, if Olus is a god too and there are many Akkan gods? she wonders, her faith challenged not only by her pending death but by her new acquaintance with other ways of worshiping and believing. Admat is angry at the people of Hyte sometimes, but he loves us. Doesnt he? He is with us every moment. Isnt he? He is with me every moment. Isnt he? Is he nowhere and nothing? Am I alone?

Olus, for his part, questions his own identity and role: as a teenager, hes the youngest of his kind by thousands of years, and feels alienated and lonely amongst those who pooh-pooh the young and the short-lived as fleeting and irrelevant. Who can be interested in soap bubbles? says his goddess mother. You become acquainted with one and pop! its dead. Pottery lasts.

But his own interactions with human-kind have been fumbling at best. His efforts to befriend a young boy called Kudiya backfire painfully, with Kudiyas family seeing Oluss visitation as proof of his anger. At dawn Kudiya wakes his parents and pulls them outside, chattering about his vision. He jumps like a puppet when he sees the brown grass. I laugh until I see his terror. His parents are terrified, too. Fearful of similarly scaring away Kezi, he vows to tread carefully, and makes himself known to her first as a boy before a god.

Reading Kezis holy texts, Oluss identity comes further into question, and he begins to reflect on what it means to be a god, and what the existence of Admat means for him and his kind. It astounds me. Admat is believed to be everywhere at once and to be invisible to the livingNo Akkan god is invisible, and none of us can be in more than one spot at the same time. I wonder how Admat can be everywhere. Is he in my sandal? Or is he my sandal itself? Why would a god bother to be a sandal?

Kezi and Olus grow closer together as they seek to find a way to change Kezis fate, and each undergoes a significant spiritual journey, questioning not only the nature of religion and worship, but also the idea of pledges, tests, and sacrifices, and the purpose and validity of these in the context of different types of worship. Why did we have to be tested? asks Kezi at one point, to which Olus responds: Why did you have to be sacrificed?

Its probably no surprise that given the above fate and predestination are omnipresent themes as well. When Kezi pledges her own life in the place of her elderly aunt, she thinks: Through her tunic I see the bumps of her spine. Her hair is as much grey as brown. How many more years have I given her? We may both die tomorrow, in spite of Pados oath. As you wish, so it will be.

But as the book progresses, we learn that although we cant possibly know the future, we can still seek to thwart what we think is our fate. For example, Kezis questioning of her own trajectory leads her (amongst other, far more major things, but I wont spoil that for you) to become determined to learn to read and write. For these skills are associated with knowledge, which is in turn associated with power over ones life.

I dont know if Ill be able to argue with the god of wisdom, but I think that a smart man or woman can easily acquire knowledge, she says at one point, which shows how shes developed since her initial unquestioning acceptance of her own sacrifice.

Ever is a simple and surprisingly beautiful story that, yes, is predictable, but in a way that recalls classical mythology or ancient fairytales. Its not so much a novel about character as it is about theme, and it feels as though it could easily be part of an oral tradition. Unfortunately, this type of approach does create distance between the reader and the characters, and though I enjoyed the tale, I didnt quite connect with Kezi and Olus as much as Id have liked to.

Still, its always a pleasant change to read an historical tale set beyond the borders of Europe, and Carson Levine has managed to infuse a strong sense of place into this tale. Though its rendered in a broad-brush manner, its quite fitting for the narrative style. I enjoyed the cuneiform chapter number renderings as well, and thought they added a nice touch. It is disappointing, though, to see such a pale-skinned girl on the front cover despite the fact that we read of Kezi having bronzed skin and dark features.

In all, this is a lively, engrossing read, and one that will appeal to lovers of mythology and classical settings.

Rating: (very good)