#Bookreview: The Quest for Home (The Crossroads Trilogy Book 2) by Jacqui Murray

What Amazon says

Driven from her home. Stalked by enemies. Now her closest ally may be a traitor.

“Bravo Jacqui! A fine read and meticulous research.” — Sue Harrison, author of the acclaimed Ivory Carver Trilogy,

Xhosa flees what she had hoped would be her new home after being attacked by invaders from the North. She leads her People on a grueling journey through unknown and dangerous lands of what we now call Europe. As she struggles to overcome strangers around her and disruptions within her People, Xhosa faces the reality that her most dangerous enemy may not be the one she expected. It may be one she has trusted with her life.

The story is set 850,000 years ago, a time in prehistory when man populated most of Eurasia. He was a violent species, fully capable of addressing the many hardships that threatened his survival except for one: future man, a smarter version of himself, one destined to obliterate any who came before.

Based on a true story, this is an unforgettable saga of hardship and determination, conflict and passion as early man spreads across Eurasia. Xhosa must regularly does the impossible which is good because nothing less than the future of mankind is at stake.

My review

The Quest for Home is book 2 in the Crossroads series and continues with leaders Xhosa and Pan-do’s quest to find a new home for their combined People.

This book gets off to an exciting start with the People recovering from the wreckages of the rafts they had used to escape an unexpected attack. Bad weather caused the rafts to crash or sink long before their intended destination. Leader Xhosa knows the People will need to take time to recover from the catastrophe and then follow Hawk’s directions on foot and not by raft. Unfortunately, Hawk will not be accompanying them, but at least she still has Pan-do, her quiet and sensible co-leader, and Nightshade, her unbeatable Lead Warrior.

Like the previous book in this series, The Quest for Home is incredibly well researched and I became completely immersed in the period and setting being approximately 850 thousand years ago. The twin goals of the People, to survive and to have children to continue the species, quickly became my goals and I shared Leader Xhosa’s anxieties, worries and sweated over the difficult decisions she needed to make. It is interesting to see the same social issues such as abuse of females and murder raising their ugly heads in this ancient society and it brought home to me how little real progress humankind has made in certain areas, despite huge advancements in other areas like technology.

Xhosa continues to grow as a character and her leadership skills expand. She starts to understand the benefits of softer skills such as negotiation and protection of the weaker members of her People. Unfortunately, Xhosa is still not able to see the increasingly bad character traits in certain of her colleagues and this causes her a lot of misery and pain down the line.

Pan-do continues to be the steadfast and calm leader he has always been and remains completely devoted to his daughter, Lyta. Pan-do’s determination to keep the peace and not cause conflict is sorely tested in this second story. There is only so much goading anyone can take.

Nightshade continues to exhibit selfish and greedy behaviour and increasingly assumes the mantle of the abuser and future despot. His manipulative ways are obvious to the reader who see certain situations through his eyes, and it mounts the tension hugely to know more than either Pan-do or Xhosa do and to watch them make mistakes.

Wind, the twin brother of the aggressive ‘Big Head’ Thunder, makes a reappearance in this book and plays a much bigger role. He is an excellent warrior, but is also empathetic and kind with an ability and desire to teach others. There is a spark between Xhosa and Wind but they are not of the same origins and that appears to be an insurmountable problem.

People who enjoy a good novel with an interesting historical setting based on solid research will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Purchase The Quest for Home by Jacqui Murray

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About Jacqui Murray

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, and a contributor to NEA Today. You can find her resources at Structured Learning. Read Jacqui’s tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days here on Amazon Kindle. Also, read her new series, Man vs. Nature, starting with Born in a Treacherous Time–also on Kindle.

Blog: https://worddreams.wordpress.com/