Rites of Love: Book 8 (Part 2) of the Ringing Cedars Series, Vol. 2 Book

This is the final book in the Ringing Cedars series. Unfortunately, the library couldn't obtain the first book, "Anastasia", for me, or any of the others, so far, except this one, so I felt I had been plunged into Megré's somewhat otherwise world at the deep end. It was somewhat disorientating.

It's a very "Russian" book, understandably, since the author is Russian. I don't know what I mean by that adjective in the present context, except that the author's values and interests seem to differ considerably from the usual European values. There is a deep focus on traditional, cultural values going back thousands of years. The main themes seem to be "Go back to the land or country life, get some grounding and prioritize family life and Love, with a capital "L".

I nearly gave up on the book quite early on because it seemed mostly to treat of ancient Russian history.

This is an extremely "romantic" book extolling the virtues and indeed necessiry of our finding our true soul mate, conceiving our babies in the perfect way and ensuring that the unborn baby is provided with optimal conditions. A very special and unusual wedding rite should be performed, indeed both parties, the man and the woman, need not actually be present. (I think actually this was because the main personage, Anastasis, who does not directly appear in this book, changed the original rules to suit her own purposes.) The baby should be delivered by the father alone, no others being allowed to be present at the birth.

We are introduced to the quaint theory of telegony, the concept that if a woman has had a prior relationship, then the first man will exert an influence on the "appearance and character of a child fathered by another man". Howwever there is a chapter showing how this phenomenon can be overcome.

All the information given apparently stems from this mystical woman, Anastasia, whom I know practically nothing about, not having read any of the previous books. I reckon that this lady is a mythical figure invented by the author to be used as a tool by which to present his idealistic, visionary view of the world.

This book perhaps struck a chord in me, but all the same I don't feel I absolutely have to get hold of the preceding books in the series. But I understand that many absolutely love and are obsessed/fascinated with the series, its author and "Anastasia".

At any rate I think I can definitely advise any potential reader not to begin with this book. (I'm probably the only one who has.)