Twin Stars

 

from Volume 1 of The Gannet Quartet

The Gannet Quartet is set in Scotland in the Middle Stone-Age. The four volumes follow the lives of Bhòid and his twin sister Sulaire, young thrall members of the Beaver Clan, who survive a harsh environment and separation from each other to become the first settlers of Eilean — the Island of Bute, or Eilean Bhòid in Gaelic.

my review...

Some say when you’re a twin you have a secret bond, a feeling or sense between one another whether you’re together or apart. In Twin Stars, Bhoid and his sister, Sulaire, seem to have a relationship that close. It becomes invaluable in the life they must live in their tribe. It could save their lives.

I enjoyed this so much. It might be classified as middle grade reading, and it is a clean and sweet story. But it’s most certainly not written nor constructed in a childish way. The reading is easy, and the story is well put together. It is the story of siblings living through some difficult times in the Stone Age, although it read very like a story of the tribes I read about here in the U.S. It is such a good story: I think anyone would enjoy it.

Charlotte Clutterbuck has done an excellent job. This is Book 1 of a series titled The Gannett Quartet. You will definitely hope the series continues. I certainly do.

read an excerpt...

Once, at the dawn of time, there were Twins, the boy Speir, and the girl Seren, children of the earth and the forest. Seren knew every blade of grass by the stream, and every flower on the heath, and every leaf in the forest. And Speir was the best hunter in the world, except for Ullr, the God of the Hunt.

One day when the Great Bear, Merak, was playing with Little Bear, Ullr the hunter came running with his spear and chased Little Bear far, far to the north. Merak called to the twins for help, and with Seren following the bent leaves, bruised flowers, and broken twigs of the trail, the Twins and Merak tracked Ullr for many days.

At last they saw Ullr ahead of them, but Ullr was drawing even closer to Little Bear. Then Speir flung his spear at Ullr with all his might, but Ullr was too quick for him and caught the spear and flung it aside. Just as Ullr raised his own spear to kill Little Bear, Speir dashed in front and Ullr drove the spear through him and Speir fell, dead.

Then Seren cried so many tears that she made a great river, and Merak feared that she would drown the whole world. So he took the Twins up and made them both into stars, standing beside the Sky River, and there they remain together, to this very day, the red star and the blue. And Merak was so angry with Ullr that he flung him to the far side of the Sky River where he cannot trouble the Twins.

Her voice quavered as she spoke the last lines.

‘Why are you sad, Sulaire?’ Bhòid asked.

‘I’m just cold.’ She shifted closer and laid her head against his shoulder.

‘To this very day,’ he murmured to himself. He could feel the warmth of her against him, the rhythm of her heart against his back as he drifted into sleep.

about Charlotte Clutterbuck...

Since I was a very young child, I have loved words and figuring out how to put them together—­­’Grammar is the ground of all’, as one of my favourite authors, William Langland, puts it.

In my adult life, I’ve published a wide range of stories, poems, essays, film-scripts, journal articles and literary criticism. I’m now working on The Gannet Quartet, a series of novels set in stone-age Scotland.

Living on an estuary on the Central Coast of New South Wales with my wife, I spend a lot of time birdwatching, tending my vegetable garden, gazing at stars through my telescope, or taking our grandchildren kayaking.

I’ve edited books and PhD theses; taught Creative, Academic and Business Writing; and spent years studying and teaching English Literature. Career highlights include: working at Warawara, The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Unit at Macquarie University; teaching high school English at Abbotsleigh; advising PhD Students in the Business School at UNSW@ADFA; and lecturing on literature and ethics in the Clemente program at the Australian Catholic University.

I’ve also had a lot of fun leading many workshops in grammar and creative writing.

Amazon Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com.au/Twin-Stars-Gannet-Quartet-Book-ebook/dp/B0CCT7VLD9/ref=sr_1_1

 

Website: http://www.charlottclutterbuck.com

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-clutterbuck-99570b40

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