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New World Order by Ben Jeapes
01/02/2006 . Source: Pauline Morgan 
pub: Corgi. 432 page enlarged paperback. Price: £ 5.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-552-55096-5. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.kidsatrandomhouse.co.uk
You have to look very closely at this book to discover that it has been written for a younger audience and therein lies a problem. This is not so much with the book itself, but with the publishing establishment. There are often clear imprints for the very young children which indicate to both booksellers and parents that the language, story and presentation is suitable, for example, for the under-fives. The former will know where to put it in the bookshop, the latter, where to find it. It gets harder for the older readers. In America, there is a category labelled 'young adult'. It doesn't exist in the UK. It should.
Some writers of books for young people are also very difficult to place because of their sophistication, such as Philip Pullman's 'Dark Matter' triloering from injuries and a loss of memory during his first venture into England. The aim in the first chapters is to set the period firmly and suggest that something is not quite right.
When Donder reaches the village of Branheath, he discovers that the woman he has come back to find is dead but he has a twelve-year-old son, Daniel. Donder, we discover is a general in the army of the Holekhor which is about to invade England. Although Donder has the responsibility for making the conquest on behalf of his lord, he is in sympathy with the English, partly because of Daniel and partly because he was converted to Christianity during his last visit. However, he is not part of the nobility and has no defence against the religious fanatics that are allowed free rein in the countryside. These people make the Inquisition look tame.
I am ambivalent about the success of this book. It is a fast-paced, action-packed story of the kind that will engage the teenage reader. Jeapes is familiar enough with the history of the period to be able to manipulate it and affect the small changes of course that are needed here. Any sequels would obviously see greater deviations from the recognised pattern. He offers alternative explanations for actual events which would satisfy the purist. A teenage reader would probably not notice and just go along with the story. The reservations I have are more connected with the point of view. Twelve-year-old Daniel is obviously the character that the younger reader will identify with. Although, during the time of the civil war, children were forced to take on responsibility at an earlier age, this may be too young to engage the teenage reader. Younger readers, though able to identify with Daniel, may be discouraged by the passages from the point of view of the adults, especially as Daniel does not appear until chapter three. I also have reservations about the plot itself. Donder may be sympathetic to the English but he is leading a blood-thirsty army onto British soil. He may be trying to minimise the effects but as a leading character he is still the invader, the oppressor and I wonder, in today's climate, whether this is the message we want to send out to young people, especially as religion is intricately tied up will all the events taking place within the novel.
Pauline Morgan
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