Cosmic Art & Design will present and link the work of artists, musicians and authors, whom I've had the privilege of knowing over the years, as well as my own work. Art, music, literature and the myriad inventions, products and services we are privileged to partake of, are all special gifts from the Creator that have benefited mankind. Whether you're an artist, an enthusiast or perhaps a patron, all civil commentary is welcome. Grazie tante!

Friday, January 13, 2012

DEMONWITCH - A Novel of Good and Evil by Robert Arvay


A review by Mario John Borgatti


Dumas, Hugo, Poe, Stevenson, Swift, Tolkien, Wells, Verne, are among my favorite authors. Many of their fascinating novels are deserved classics. The kind of novels I truly enjoy revisiting. That said, I believe Robert Arvay has written a modern classic in Demonwitch.

This is the story of two women, Miril and Veelos, friends from childhood who are predestined to rival one another in the consummate battle between good and evil. They, along with a small band of warriors, led by Miril's husband and Veelos' love, Kl'aarn, a pack of bandits led by Shalor, Veelos' spurned suitor and a group of hunters; are determined to exact revenge on the evil king, Druuk. Allied with demonic forces Druuk mercilessly destroys their tiny village of Har-Keem and slaughters almost every living soul within it.

Miril and Veelos, along with the band of survivors, journey far, and through perilous lands filled with fearsome creatures, in order to bring the battle to their archenemy, King Druuk. The stakes are high and they must make hard choices and unholy alliances along the way. They confront unimaginable hardship and do battle with sinister creatures, powerful demons and each other as well. Their choices: the promise of ascending to a Glorious Kingdom, or brutally thrust into the depths of an agonizing and eternal darkness.

The fact that Mr. Avray chose to include God as central to his novel is almost unique in this genre of literature. In novels of this type authors tend to supplant God with some ethereal enigma., e.g., "The Force", or in the case of Rowling's Albus Dumbledorf, an old man with a kind face. I'm not judging their choice of "spiritual countenances", rather crediting Mr. Arvay's attribution of God the Creator as the true force for good against evil.

Robert Arvay's imagery is tremendously powerful. I envisioned everything so clearly. Burned into my mind were not only the characters, but the entire landscape. Nothing was stagnant in this novel. I felt as if I were on a visual and emotional non stop roller coaster!

As engaging and powerful as this story is throughout it's chapters, I was truly wondering what the ending held in store. Lately, I find many novels to be anticlimactic. After dedicating many hours of my time, they leave me asking more questions than they supply answers. Not so in the case of Demonwitch. This thrilling story's ends in a crescendo of excitement, emotions and fulfillment.

And so,I stand by my original appraisal of Demonwitch when I say: Robert Arvay has written a modern classic. --mjb

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