Dannu’s Man.
Front Cover Dannu’s Man. Review by S.H.Keen .
Author: Terry M.Dunn. ISBN 978-1-9162657-0-7
This book is one that I have been looking forward to reviewing since the summer. I met author Terry at a village fair - the day too hot for selling as people sought ice-cream before flopping into whatever patch of shade they could find.
Still under the burning July sky, Terry patiently set out his story. There was the army, there was Salisbury plain, there was a soldier, there was a time machine that has inspired a series. Wilting, I bought this first one and went home before I melted. His book sat at the bottom of my reading queue but eventually I picked it up his self published work and set about reading it.
What a cracking boy’s own story this turned out to be. I was instantly transported to my tom-boy childhood. Where, inspired by mainly Victorian stories( step forward King Solomon’s Mines), my friends and I would climb trees, fashion bows, arrows and whoop down rolling Chiltern hills to battle with Robin Hood, Indians, or challenge an unknown foe to capture strange and foreign lands. Crawling on our stomachs across waving grassy fields of joy.
Now, of course, all tales of Empire and expansion are frowned upon. The marvellous Flashman only survives by the skin of his teeth and the fact he is an anti-hero (which I love). There are no stories now living that happily allows its hero to encounter a tribe of unknown people and marvel at their strange beliefs and fashions.
With this series of novels Dunn has solved many of these problems and produced a book that is readable, informative and has a positive masculine hero at it’s heart. I could cavil a bit that Private Parrish alone knows how to treat women properly, or that women are down trodden oppressed creatures in prehistory. I could but I won’t as Private Parrish has enough problems on his hands, what with mistakenly being sent back to the Neolithic times by a malfunctioning MOD time machine and running up against very unfriendly tribes who don’t seem to like him or any other stranger very much. Armed only with his survival kit and native intelligence Parrish has to prove his metal at all times.
Narrated with a brisk military attitude to problem solving I became engaged with the detail. Parrish, observes diligently and summarises his findings in a way that echoes George MacDonald Fraser’s careful navigation of Flashman’s narrative. Both share a military training and Flashman, like Parrish, is a good linguist. There are useful pointers regarding negotiating skills that allows Parrish to act shrewdly and survive. As a young reader I enjoyed these types of insights into daily human interaction. It made you see things from other points of view.
The landscape becomes a main character in its own right. The topology of Salisbury plain is reimagined to great effect and Dunn never deviates from his new but ancient map. As a writer I am fascinated by Time; how it is contained but still continues deep within the earth. Dunn has dowsed the land’s memory beautifully and Stonehenge springs sharply into focus. The writing made me want to revisit our old hill forts and take in the view with new eyes. The ending was particularly satisfying as past and present were reunited once again.
If you have a tween who finds it difficult to sit still, or thinks they don’t like to read I would be tempted to give them this book. I think it could unlock an absolute passion for history. There is some choice language from a sergeant - a little more than damn your eyes Flashy,-but social media has far worse. I hope this book finds its way in the world. As a straightforward action/adventure story it is a really good read.
Book one of the DANEBURY Trilogy also available on Amazon for Kindle
www.tmdunn.co.uk