The boy Jesper from Holte and his faithful friend, the raven Black Mac, wellknown from the authors childrens book Black Mac from 1987, once again experience incredible events together. Jesper's dog Cherri is dying from ratpoisoning, and the only thing that can save it, is a rose from the fantasyland Roselawn, that lies between the land of richness and happiness Opal, and the land of cruelness Hanwayan. We join the boy and the raven on their hazardous journey through large forests, bottomless swamps og snowcovered mountains, alternately helped by good people and witchcraft, and slowed down by evilness and cunning. It is exitement and action, good humour and laughter in a wonderful mixture. It is incredible fine delineation of characters and a never failing sequence of events. And it is thought-provoking reflections on man's chase for material pleasures, without any consideration or thought for others - up against true friendship and devotion. It is, in fact, in every sence a wonderful story, that will bring joy to those from 11 to 14 years of age. He, who will give readings from this book will definately obtain silence, expectating eyes and open ears around himself. The text is written in a good Danish, short sentences are used and the printing is easy to read. The cover by Jesper Østergaard shows the evil king Haron on the bridge near the gate to the Roselawn.
Jesper, 11 years of age, returns
from a week-end at some friends and
discovers that his dog, Cherry, has been sent to hospital, deadly
poisoned by ratpoison,
put in the house by his father. In dispair Jesper leaves his home, and
goes to the
hospital, where everything is dark and closed for the night. In the
middle of
his unhappiness the raven Black Mac from Fantasyland turns up, and
together they
begin a very hazardous journey. They are to fetch a magic, lifegiving
rose that
only appears behind the limits of adults' fantasy, in Hanwayan - The
Land beyond
the Mist. They steal a boat on a small lake named Løgsø.
The raven claims that they
can travel to Hanwayan from any lake, as long as there's mist - and
land cannot
be seen anywhere. So they choose a misty night and travel - from
Løgsø to Hanwayan.
Hanwayan is divided into 3 kingdoms. There is the land ruled by Haron,
who
is mean and viciouse. They are hunted by Harons black knights and
haunted by snowstorms,
that Haron raises to stop them. The boy and the raven find shelter by a
woman
in the forests. Her son at 11 is deadly poisoned by the witchcraft from
an arrow
from Harons bow. She tells them that the only thing that can save her
son is a
rose from the Rosegarden. Jesper promises to bring such a rose to her,
as he is
going to the Rosegarden anyway. They leave, and are once again hunted
by Haron's
evil knights. They seek shelter in the swamp. At a truth-speaking well they meet the midget Dworf. A well that never
lies, but where how the question is put is of great importance. In the
swamp they
find Tinga's Island, the kingdom of wealth. They get blinded by greed
and forget
why they came there in the first place. In the evening Jesper is about
to wash
a jewel at the beach, when he sees the reflection af his own eyes in
the water.
Eyes that shine and sparkle like cut diamonds. He wakes up from his
trance and fetches
Dworf and Black Mac, just as Tinga's Palace sinks into the swamp. They
manage
to get away and fight their way back to Hanwayan. At last they succeed
and come
to the third kingdom, ruled by the mild king. They find his Rosegarden,
where the
evil forces of Haron can never reach them. Jesper is given a magic rose
by the king
and begins his journey back home, together with Dworf and Black Mac.
The petals
are made of the purest deep-red glass. But the rose cannot survive the
frost,
and as they try to escape through Harons winter, it withers rappidly. They find shelter by the woman in the forest,
and Jesper who realizes that the rose will never make it all the way
back home
gives it to the woman, to save her child. They are forced to move on,
and finally
they escape across the frozen lake, that might be Løgsø,
hunted by Haron's black
knights. The mild King from the Rosegarden comes to their rescue. He
gives
Jesper another rose to replace the one he gave away, and with his
mighty sword he
carves a hole in the ice, to separate Jesper and Black Mac from Haron
and his knights.
Dworf stays with the mild king and becomes the gardener in the
Rosegarden.
Jesper and Black Mac break into the veterinary hospital in the middle
of the
night. And only a few moments before the rose is dead, they put it near
to Cherri's
heart. Cherri's life is saved. The raven Black Mac returns to
Fantasyland, where
Merlin gives it a warm welcome. It promises never to go near the boy
from the
real world ever again. But even Merlin does not see the whole truth,
when he
looks into the future.
In this translation
the raven Sorte Sigurd is named Black Mac.