Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
We perhaps like to think we look at the periods of time that went before us with a modern, dispassionate eye. An eye that picks over the fine details of what made the people of the time the way they were, the condition in which they allowed their lives to flourish or stagnate and the system of which they featured. We are not so far removed from the days that saw the world go to war in 1914, from the rush for Empire in the 19th Century, (instead of countries to conquer, there are now conglomerates who desire to own everything that moves) or even the so-called Dark Ages and the race to collect souls in the name of religion. How will future generations evaluate us, how can they decide what we were like if all they have to go by is the mess that we leave behind? This is the fascinating question that lurks at the heart of Geoffrey Beevers’ novel The Forgotten Fields.
When a young monk living in the 7th Century finds what remains of a previous culture, he finds his loyalty to his God questioned and an awakening of an insatiable appetite for perceived truth gnawing at his soul. For Magnus, it is just the beginning of a spiral of events, the toppling of dominoes and bones which leads to a voice from the past, the hopes and despair at their end of days being heard and the warning of what happened once can happen a hundred times.
For Geoffrey Beevers, The Forgotten Fields is a classic piece of writing, it is a novel that relies heavily and expertly upon the towering intellectual feel that he has for history and the English language. Hardly surprising as he studied Modern History at University and also spent a lot of time around popular television programmes including arguably one of the greatest incarnations of The Master in Doctor Who. Mr. Beevers weaves a splendid tale and gives it that honest psychological twist that you might feel is coming but still shocks you when it finally appears.
How will be viewed in the future when historians look back at our lack of understanding of the world, the total disregard we hold for the planet and the lack of perceived morality in how we treat each other? How would we be seen by those who came before us, the profligate waste, the knowledge of everything but none of the humility, wisdom or humanity in which to understand it? The Forgotten Fields doesn’t give answers or solutions but it asks out loud the very question we all seem to ignore.
A very good read, written with expertise and a taste for flavour; a solid piece of English literature.
Ian D. Hall