Pat Stevens

Cloud Eater Pat Stevens

Publisher Marketing: The Zulu people have colourful names for their children, which often come to resemble the nature of the child, and so it was with fifteen-year-old Thulani. This meant Be Still in Zulu and his parents often wished he were, for Thulani was a lively boy who loved telling wild tales, which bestowed on him the nickname Amnyama Idla. This meant Cloud Eater in the Zulu tongue, and it perfectly described the boys dreamy nature, his stories were mysterious as the clouds themselves. In Zulu culture it is the duty of the wife to raise the children, and there are strict traditional rules on upbringing. Children are taught from an early age to respect elders, never to speak unless spoken to by an adult, and this is where a problem lay. Because the elders loved listening to the tales of the Cloud Eater, a common sight was a group of men gathered around a young boy, while Thulani recounted his latest adventure. The boy was also a firm favourite of the women, although his stories were wildly implausible, there was always a moral hidden in his tales. Thulane in fact was something of a Zulu seer, many of his fables were part of African folklore, while others will become part of folklore. The Eaters of Clouds they are called in Africa, whimsical philosophers who are the lifeblood of African culture, because history and traditions are passed on orally in Africa. This is your opportunity to read the tales of Thulani, they are in fact cautionary fables pointing the way, to the modern South African fable at the end. Contributor Bio:  Stevens, Pat Patrick John Stevens was born in Johannesburg in the same month Steve Bantu Biko was born, December 1946 was also the month Alan Paton completed his novel Cry, the Beloved Country, so some characters in the early Pat Stevens novels derive from both these sources. The four books in the Greatest Game series, describe the events leading to the 1994 South African transition to democracy, detailing the scepticism of the press that almost derailed the process. A fictional hero named Rupertheimer masterminds the transition, and leads South Africa to a fledgling democracy, despite the interfering liberal journalists. Unfortunately these purveyors of doubt still operate in South Africa today, so a fifth novel titled Hero of the Struggle is set against the rise to power of Jacob Zuma, it describes the complicity of the press in his eight year persecution. This time the hero is the writer Will Powers, who succeeds in overcoming the dark forces, who threaten to engulf his land. A semi-autobiographical sixth book titled White Bird Under the Sun is also available, as is an anthology of short pieces Parables and Poems, while the mythical novel Zulu Vampire has now being posted. Waiting in the wings is a book titled Dice of Life, which introduces an Afrikaner seer, who makes some startling predictions.