Baz has always dreamed about following his two older brothers out of his dusty little town, so when a stranger comes to his family's home and asks him to be a weaver's apprentice, Baz is eager to start his journey. But when he reaches the village of Kallah and starts his apprenticeship, Baz learns that his master is very cruel. And when the master trades Baz to a magician for a sword, Baz expects no better from his new owner. But as Baz travels with this kind-hearted and wise magician, their journey takes him across the desert, up a mountain, and into the depths of life's meaning. He learns to re-examine his beliefs about people, the world, and himself, discovering that the whole world is connected and no person can ever be owned.I thought TMA was going to be a fantasy book where the child/tween protagonist would learn how to cast spells and whatnot from a magician, but it turned out to be one of those "the magic is inside you"/"the journey is the destination" kind of faux-deep books. It reminded me strongly of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, but with less actual magic. I get why these types of books resonate with people: we want to feel like our lives matter, that everything has a purpose, and that we are becoming stronger and wiser every day. We want to believe that one day we will just Get It, and everything will fall into place. I understand, but reading books like this is still very woo-woo to me, and when you bring a child who is abused into it, it just gets worse.
ABUSE TW: Baz's master has a sweatshop of young boys who weave all day long and cannot talk or move, except to have a very sparse, not enough for growing boys kind of meal. He whips them when they misbehave in the slightest, dumps a very sick boy off with who knows where instead of giving him medical attention (even though this boy was the most skilled weaver), and kills a dog for no reason. The man sells Baz to the magician for a sword, which ends up going back to the magician because the universe meant for that to happen. Ok, but the universe isn't going to do anything about the abusive child slaver? I mean we have a sword in the book and everything! I do believe in miracles, coincidences and there being a greater plan, but I don't think abuse etc. is okay just because "everything is connected". People sometimes say that everything happens for a reason, but I don't think that's really true of bad things, like war and abuse. IDK, it just feels irresponsible to me to paint over horrible things with THE UNIVERSE BLAH BLAH.
Baz gets a happy ending, luckily. The illustrations were simple and evocative, and the writing was slow-paced, simple but beautiful. An interesting book, but not one I'll return to or keep.
Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Read in: January 30
From: thrift store
Format: hardcover
Status: giving away
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