Traveling Light by Lloyd A. Meeker

[reviews_and_ramblings]

From my point of view, Traveling Light is more a romance than what other reviewers let imply, but it’s not an ordinary romance. The love story between Ta-Kuat and Ian arrives also to a physical level, but it’s not really the focus of everything. I found Ian to be very “physical”, someone who needed to express his feelings also through his body, and Ta-Kuat found a way to allow that.

Ta-Kuat is a shaman of the XIII century, Ian an hospice nurse and wanna-be shaman of the XXI century; almost 800 years divide them, and it’s really impossible to hope they will find a way to be together forever, but as I said, that is not their main reason to be. From my perspective, Ian needs to find a center, to be able to first understand himself to then being able to understand and help other people. It’s an hard test what destiny put him through, hurting him deeply with the death of his own brother, tempting him with the idea of vengeance, and basically depriving him of security, even arriving to break the bond with his own boyfriend, Sam.

I follow Ian through his path, in a way with the wrong expectation: I found myself in the middle between Sam and Ta-Kuat, at time hoping Ian would choose one or the other, and then when Gerard entered the scene, I sometime was half-hoping he would be the answer. But I was wrong, since my expectations were wrong. The ultimate target of Ian’s quest was not to find love, but to find balance. His ultimate scope is to become the right man to help other, and if that means to be alone, at least for a bit, so it will be. Of course the author is not so bad to not let Ian with a little hope of happily ever after also for him, but that maybe will be the object of another tale.

It was difficult for me to soak up all the notions this novel put in motion, basically since you can’t face them with a clinical mind, but you have to have blind faith, something I sincerely am missing; Ian is not at all Christian, but some of his attitude is a bit like that, blind faith religion, believing that everything, even the most threating evil can be “cured” by faith. That is something I sincerely am not able to accept, probably since I was burned more than once. On the other side, I believe in some sort of fate, of helping/healing power from something you don’t see or understand, and of that this novel is plenty.

I will not arrive to suggest this book to everyone, especially not if you are searching something light (despite the title); but if you are ready to read something that will test your beliefs, that will question your faith, and will leave you with some answers to understand, well, Traveling Light is your choice.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=LM_TRAVL

Amazon: Traveling Light
Amazon Kindle: Traveling Light
Paperback: 284 pages
Publisher: MLR Press (March 4, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1608203174
ISBN-13: 978-1608203178

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Comments

Thank you

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks, Elisa, for your thoughtful review. I really appreciate what you say. I promise Ian finds love and partnership in the next one...

All best wishes,
Lloyd Meeker

Re: Thank you

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Mm, I suspected that ;-) Elisa

[elena-62.livejournal.com]

Oh, I just remembered that I read the book and never rated it on Goodreads. In fact probably I didn't rate it because IMO it was almost 4 stars, but not fully... Anyway decidedly above average.

Thank you for your review!

Ciao

Antonella

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

it was not an ordinary experience, reading it, that is for sure. I'm glad the author has already planned to give an happily ever after to Ian.