Young Majken is beset by tragedy: A wicked vampire, cloaked as a church Chancellor, rapes her and turns her into a bloodsucker. Then the Chancellor kills Majken’s boyfriend, kills her brother, drives another brother mad, and indirectly makes Majken’s mother fall ill from all the stress. When Mother dies, Father casts Majken out at age fourteen. With a sudden thirst for blood, Majken must make her way through Europe, circa 1712. Eventually she joins a caravan of Romanian “gypsies” and later lands a job as a “tavern wench” in the seaport of Hamburg. She moves from drinking animal blood to human, feasting on tavern guests who have passed out drunk (Majken just takes what she needs to survive, leaving her victims otherwise unharmed and unaware). Brave Captain Olaif has promised to take Majken to Norway, her mother’s homeland, but when the Chancellor shows up in Hamburg, Majken sticks around to settle an old score.
Is MAJKEN’S STORY cheesy? A little. Derivative? Certainly. The “damsel in distress empowers herself” plot has driven Disney films for the last forty years (not to mention the “I Spit On Your Grave” film franchise). But does MAJKEN’S STORY work? Absolutely! Author Douglas Robinson’s expertise as a storyteller elevates his book from a collection of cliches and tropes to a rollicking, character-driven story that sweeps readers away. There is sex and violence (and sexual violence) that may be too intense for some audiences, but, beyond that, the story is an old-fashioned fantasy adventure that could sit on the shelf alongside works by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
MAJKEN’S STORY is a hero’s journey in the truest sense. Majken’s endless travels are similar to Odysseus’s long commute home from the Trojan War. Each encounter Majken has along the way not only highlights her newfound thirst for blood but reveals her deeper nature as a caring, curious young woman. The book is part of Robinson’s Silently Series, which shares a world with several other series, all of which are steeped in Christian faith and church teachings. Robinson denied his work is Christian fiction, and there’s nothing “preachy” in MAJKEN’S STORY. Robinson insists, however, that vampires are a real, marginalized fringe group, and that the entire storyline of the book series was revealed to him in a divine vision back in 1983. Clearly the author is passionate about his work, which comes from a very personal place. Regardless, readers needn’t subscribe wholly to Robinson’s unique worldview in order to enjoy the rollicking adventure of MAJKEN’S STORY.
IR Verdict: Douglas Robinson’s MAJKEN’S STORY is a fun story, and the adventurous spirit of the titular hero makes it easy to get swept up in this epic fantasy.
~Rob Errera for IndieReader