From Publishers Weekly
Mathembe Fileli and her family enjoy a nearly perfect existence in their native village of Chepsenyt, where her father raises trux, live organisms resembling trucks and used in heavy construction work, and her mother spins clothing, food and tools from basic DNA. Even Confessors and Proclaimersp. 8 , members of the town's two opposing religions, manage to live side by side; but when the town hides two Warriors of Destiny--guerilla fighters who oppose the Emperor Across the River--it is destroyed in a firestorm organized by the Emperor's soldiers. Mathembe, her family and the rest of the villagers are forced to flee. When her father is taken as a political prisoner, Mathembe realizes that she cannot turn for protection to her parents--or to her grandfather's decapitated-but-still-living head. From her shaky beginnings as a street vendor, she learns to rely upon herself in order to survive, and embarks on a painful journey to adulthood. Mathembe's world is a captivating one with its rampant biotechnology and passionate characters. But McDonald ( King of Morning, Queen of Day ), a lifelong resident of Belfast, also succeeds in presenting the religious and national conflict of an Ireland that still knows no respite from bloodshed. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
When the religious and political differences that divide the Confessors from the Proclaimers bring destruction to the village of Chepsenyt, a young Confessor woman begins a pilgrimage in search of healing for a land broken in spirit. Mathembe Fileli is a complex heroine, both victim and master of her destiny. Belfast resident McDonald ( King of Morning, Queen of Day , LJ 6/15/91; Desolation Road , LJ 2/15/88) transforms real-world politics into a rare and disturbing allegory that combines futuristic images with timeless conflict. This superb novel by one of today's most challenging visionaries deserves a place in every library.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Northern Ireland resident McDonald's medium/far future scenario--part allegory, all parallel--derives from the current situation in that unhappy land. Talented humans mentally manipulate DNA to produce any desired life form, growing houses, vehicles, insects, even boats, from ``plasm''; dissidents, however, get turned into trees. In the village Chepsenyt, Proclaimers (loyalists who do not believe in life after death) and Confessors (republicans whose dead are absorbed bodily into a vast sentient tree) peaceably coexist. But then, as punishment for harboring two fugitive rebels, Imperial troops burn the village to the ground and take the men away; with the women and children, Mathembe Fileli (she has taken an oath of silence) flees with her grandfather's living head. As the Chepsenyt disaster flares into a nationwide bloody revolt and, ultimately, partition, Mathembe struggles to survive and reunite her scattered family. Eventually, she learns from her father (he has been turned into a tree) that, though in the real world the Proclaimers oppress the Confessors, in the spiritual world (the ``dreaming'') the reverse is true. Finally, she joins her mother in a movement whose purpose is to infect everyone with viruses that prevent hatred and violence and prejudice. Inventive and often effective drama, but dense and oppressive, with the dark and anguished backdrop looming above the characters; and the ending bleakly acknowledges that, in terms of today's troubles, nothing much can be done. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Set in Earth's far future, the fourth novel by consummate stylist Ian McDonald is a stunning vision of violent conflict and healing love. It begins in the village of Chepsenyt, a peaceful, self-sufficient enclave whose inhabitants rely on their genetic-engineering skills to live in harmony with nature. In Chepsenyt, people of two religions, Confessors and Proclaimers, live side by side in peace - until the day the Emperor's troops discover two rebel soldiers being hidden by a local sympathizer. Now the streets run with blood, as Chepsenyt becomes part of a greater conflict ripping the nation in two. In the midst of the fighting young Mathembe Fileli is separated from her parents and brother and cast on an epic journey through her tragic, beautiful land. During the long days of her desperate struggle to survive, she is compelled by only one thought: That in a land divided against itself, her family, at least, must be made whole again. Bold, sweeping, and magical, The Broken Land is a novel as mysteriously evocative as last night's dreams - and as shockingly real as tomorrow's headlines.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Mathembe Fileli and her family enjoy a nearly perfect existence in their native village of Chepsenyt, where her father raises trux, live organisms resembling trucks and used in heavy construction work, and her mother spins clothing, food and tools from basic DNA. Even Confessors and Proclaimersp. 8 , members of the town's two opposing religions, manage to live side by side; but when the town hides two Warriors of Destiny--guerilla fighters who oppose the Emperor Across the River--it is destroyed in a firestorm organized by the Emperor's soldiers. Mathembe, her family and the rest of the villagers are forced to flee. When her father is taken as a political prisoner, Mathembe realizes that she cannot turn for protection to her parents--or to her grandfather's decapitated-but-still-living head. From her shaky beginnings as a street vendor, she learns to rely upon herself in order to survive, and embarks on a painful journey to adulthood. Mathembe's world is a captivating one with its rampant biotechnology and passionate characters. But McDonald ( King of Morning, Queen of Day ), a lifelong resident of Belfast, also succeeds in presenting the religious and national conflict of an Ireland that still knows no respite from bloodshed. (Sept.)

Library Journal