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As the world teeters on the precipice of war, the fate of the world depends upon Zara discovering an ancient matriarch’s words and the supernatural powers of her black object.
To do this, she must find a certain love with her exact opposite, Peter, from the other side of the world, the other side of everything she stands for and whose dreams will lead them to a world of intrigue, treachery, and impending death. Only if she learns to open up her soul and learn to love in a way she has never before will the world find peace.
Find out what the Matriarch said 12,000 years ago and why this will change Zara and Peter forever in 2021.
A parable of our times.
An unforgettable story told with a mix of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, adventure, with a dash of romantic suspense.
The Matriarch Matrix is a thought-provoking, innovative, metaphoric epic of intrigue, treachery, and faith. Spanning 12,000 years of mankind’s history, author Maxime Trencavel takes us to the limits of our emotions, our intellect, and challenges our notion of tolerance and peace.
***Customer Reviews***
An outstanding reading experience for all fans of scifi
November 4, 2017
The Matriarch Matrix is an unique science fiction adventure that pushes the boundaries of the genre in more than one way. Zara Khatum, the main character, isn’t your typical heroine, a far cry from it even. She was once a fighter for her Kurdish people, and went through hell at the hands of her captors, leaving her to seek vengeance first and foremost.
Yet, in another life, she was someone else entirely. A family matriarch, who led her loved ones away from the monsters of the north. She created temples and founded a dynasty with as main purpose to protect a powerful object that hides mysterious powers.
Back in the present day, Zara must work together with Peter Gollinger, a quirky Californian, and Jean-Paul, a former Jesuit priest, to solve the mystery of the artifact she swore to protect in her past life.
The book is science-fiction / fantasy in a certain sense, but the way Dan Brown’s books are, while still being firmly set in our contemporary world, the fantasy/scifi part involves an ancient mystery begging to be solved. I quite enjoy this set-up, and was glad to see it here too. However, while I generally enjoy Dan Brown’s books, I have to admit The Matriarch Matrix is of a whole different sort, much more complex, with a lot more layers, and an extremely complicated yet intriguing main character.
For me, even more than the plot, which is very engrossing all by itself, I was charmed by Zara, our protagonist, a woman who is complex and strong, who has her own code of morality, who went through hell yet fights for her beliefs.
While I liked Peter, the other main character, too, I didn’t like him as much as I liked Zara. He was more the stereotypical geek, extremely smart but also extremely clumsy and quirky.
Told partially in the present, partially in the past, this book pushes the boundaries of genre, as well as of time and space, and ultimately provides an outstanding reading experience to anyone who picks it up. I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
October 9, 2017
The Matriarch Matrix , the debut novel of Maxime Trencaval, is very timely in its near future focus on Kurdish nation building given the recent referendum in which Iraqi Kurds voted for independence. The ancient story line of The Matriarch Matrix that takes place in the prehistorical Black Sea region, deals with an artifact with mysterious powers and how a family’s connection to it impacted their descendants. It all sounded fascinating to me which is why I purchased the book, and I am voluntarily reviewing it.
I didn’t have an issue with copy editing in this book. I found exactly one typographical error which maintains a fairly high standard.
There is an association of the artifact with aliens, but I felt that this was a side issue. The paranormal content gave The Matriarch Matrix a patina of fantasy. I wouldn’t categorize this novel as science fiction.
Although this book has been compared to The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown never portrayed a character with as much complexity as the contemporary Zara Khatum, a woman who is both a warrior and a devout Muslim devoted to her family and the future of the Kurds. She could be both ruthless and compassionate, independent and racked by self-doubt. These inner contradictions riveted my attention on her throughout the novel. I imagine that the female figure on the cover is Zara at one of the archeological sites where she and her companions searched for the astonishing artifact known as The Object. I was glad to see her dressed appropriately for a woman of her religious background.
I have to admit that it was hard for me to be as impressed by the rather nerdy American, Peter Gollinger. It was hard for me to respect him when the author seemed to be continually highlighting his timidity or clumsiness for comic relief. I felt that Trencaval was playing into stereotypes about intellectuals. This made me appreciate the character less. I also considered his prehistoric ancestor more admirable than Peter.
I preferred one plotline over the other. There were strong women in the prehistoric flashbacks, and I valued the role of the ancient characters as culture bearers. Yet I read those scenes for conceptual reasons. I felt more invested in the 21st century events and characters. I am usually much more interested in exploring the past, but The Matriarch Matrix didn’t bring prehistory alive for me.It was Zara and her family context that made this book memorable for me. She made up for any shortcomings. Readers won’t forget this Kurdish woman in a hurry.
Original, interesting metaphor of current times
December 3, 2017
An epic story in a context and a location generally not used in this kind of novels: the Middle East.
The protagonist is a Muslim woman who embodies a sort of hybrid between a woman of every day, with a life full of pain and a sort of modern heroine with all the contradictions that these figures bring with them.
Maxime Trencavel uses the technique of King and other writers who are mistakenly defined as ‘fantasy’ or ‘distopic’: she creates a world and a fantastic situation to speak metaphorically about real and important subjects, as well as current ones.
In this book there is much of the vision of the modern woman, fragile (when she suffers violence) and incredibly strong (when she has to fight for something she believes).
There is much of the Muslim religious world and of the continuous confrontation with other religions, but you will not find proclamations or appeals to holy wars, the true context is another, a sort of redemption that ultimately applies to everyone, through a few.
It is a story to be read all through the metaphor of the world and of contemporary lives. Through a code that describes the relationship of women with society, with the opposite sex and with arguments that for years have been the exclusive prerogative of men.
A journey into a story that eventually allows, even in its most imaginative parts, to recognize parts of reality that we all live.
The only flaw I found in the novel is perhaps the male protagonist, Peter. Sometimes it seems a star of the old photo novels, with phrases a little ‘stereotyped’, perhaps the only ones that jar with the overall picture.
On the other hand, it is interesting to step into the world of Kurdish culture and follow with amazement the dystopian plot that comes before us with the contribution of the Jesuit father.
If I consider that this is the first novel by the author, I think she has a great future ahead and I recommend it to everyone as an excellent read.
Credits:
Header photo – Cygnus constellation licensed from Dreamstime.com. Background sourced as CC0 license from Pexels.com.
Book cover: www.damonza.com
Book editing – Eliza at Clio Editing http://www.clioediting.com
Website contents © Tail of the Bird Books 2017
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