The Breaking of Northwall

by Paul O. Williams

Book Overview

To the Pelbar, the sentence seemed a living death -- exile to distant Northwall for a year, facing barbarian tribes, isolated from the security and order of Pelbarigan society. But the rebellious Jestak embraced his punishment -- for only with the lore of Northwall and the battle-craft and bravery of the wild tribes could he free the woman he loved from the slaveholding Emeri. This he swore to do -- even if he had to destroy utterly the power of the...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345292596
• ISBN13: 9780345292599
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great book/series!

This book (and the entire series) is excellent. I wish more had been written. One thing to consider when starting to read is the time during which the series was written and published. The cold war was still in effect and the threat of global nuclear devastation was still prominent in the consciousness of a great many people. This series explores a possible future several decades (or centuries) following such a cataclysm. Put aside preconceived notions and enjoy the adventure. If you don't get all of the details at first, keep reading and everything will fall into place as you go. I believe you'll appreciate the journey.

Hard to start but then impossible to put down

Initially, I had a similar experience as the reviewer from Arizona: I tried literally 3 times to read this book but thought it was just too obtuse to figure out. But because Prof. Williams was my wife's English professor and advisor at college, and she held him in such high regard, I took another try. This time I stayed with it long enough and found that though the beginning didn't offer the quick action thrill of the start of the Star Wars movies, it led to a work that was far more substantial and satisfying in the long run than most anything else I've read. I tend to like book series and rate them among my favorites because of character development, well developed and intriguing story lines or both. The Pelbar Cycle delivers both and is on the short list of books I've read more than once because of the messages and actions they contain. I had an opportunity to tell Prof. Williams how much I enjoyed this series, and why, and he seemed surprised that someone would talk to him about it. Humble man, very good writer.My oldest son has read the series and liked it, now my youngest son is reading it and I may just read along with him so we can compare notes.

Lyrical, insightful

This book the the first in a series name The Pelbar Cycle. There are two reviews here already that talk about William's subject material, and I only wanted to add that he occasionally writes as a poet would. His discriptive, evocative style is one which draws the reader into his creation in both the physical and the emotional. Some of his characters possess an unassuming strength that I have not encountered in other author's work, and I feel very strongly that Williams has been shelved by other readers because of the genre he has chosen. Read The Pelbar Cycle, its seven books avoid repetition but maintain continunity. They are an extremely talented piece of work.

This first book in a 7-book series is a household treasure.

I have kept this book and its 6 successors in my family library for many years. My daughter recently announced that the series was the most enjoyable she read as a teenager, a comment which caused her younger brother to begin to read the series, and me to reread them. Almost two decades after encountering them the first time, this was again an enjoyable read.Arriving at this review opportunity was the result of searching for possible successors to the series. Unfortunately, none seem to exist.The series is well-written, with good character development. The reader immediately identifies with the rugged individualism of the book's central characters, and mourns their eventual passing. An enjoyable diversion is to try to determine, on a current map of the United States, the sites mentioned in the book, and to determine how and why they come to be different in 31st century Urstadge. I recommend this series for teenage children and adult readers. Although there is violence, it is not graphic, and there is no gratuitous sex. There is an emphasis upon values which are no longer as clearly evident in America as they once were -- a designed irony for these books set in the post-3000 millenium.You will want to read the books in the order of their printing, and if possible to read them in tandem with your children:Book 1: The Breaking of NorthwallBook 2: The Ends of the CircleBook 3: The Dome in the ForestBook 4: The Fall of the ShellBook 5: An Ambush of ShadowsBook 6: The Song of the AxeBook 7: The Sword of Forbearance

The best post-apocalyptic tale I've ever read

This book does its best to avoid the tired cliches and overused ideas of this otherwise overdone setting.About a thousand years after a nuclear holocaust, the tiny populations remaining in North America are growing large enough that contact is more and more frequent. All of these societies have their own characteristics based on the region of America they originally came from, and in one case at least, the writings of a visionary leader. All aren't much beyond late medieval levels of technology.Into this comes one man, Jestak. His odd ability to survive against impossible odds (even when others sometimes die around him), and his ability to make others feel indebted to him, allow him to forge a chain of personal relationships with individuals from societies otherwise hostile to his own. Needless to say, this doesn't sit well with his elders.The book covers the events of Jestak's life over a number years, and how those events weave together to change the socio-political nature of life in what was the Mississppi River valley.