⭐ Matias Riikonen: Matara
| published in: | 2021 |
|---|---|
| read on: | 2025-03-29 |
| language: | Finnish |
A story about boys playing society. Exquisite.
The boys are spending the summer at an institute. They spent their days playing society in the nearby woods. The rules are strict: whoever dies is out of the game for the rest of the summer.
The society happens to just so resemble Rome around the time of Caesar’s ascent. There’s political scheming and there are war campaigns against the barbarians.
The language and the descriptions of the nature are rich. Rarely I get to read a Finnish book filled with words that I don’t know, in a good way. The mood is exciting yet ominous.
The book reminds me of Lord of the Flies and The Famous Five. It could be read by teenagers but it’s not a young adult book.