It is my utter delight to be the publisher of, The Perilous Journey of Gavin the Great. It is filled with cultured metaphors and sophisticated linguistic vocabulary as well as supported refined plot lines. In many ways you can tell that Gutteridge is a consummate poet, of many decades, when you read lines like this: "...their wings, furious with the wet weight of the wind, collapsed without warning, ...".

Something that I thought, as I read this fable, is that it is equivalent to an indigenous fable. I don't want to give this notion too much importance but for me it is filled with autochthonous truth. What I mean by that is that the truth of the fable has an indigenous tone rather than descended from "settlers" or "immigrants".

As publisher I joyfully agreed to publish this book after only a cursory, scanning read. I instantly fell in love with Gavin and his merry march of characters. It was only after the book was ready to go to press that I finally did a thorough, blanket-over-lap-feet-up-read. It was only then that I discovered the true value of this spellbinding story, even for me a seventy-plus reader.

I love how the book starts with, "Long, long ago near the beginning of time" With a chuckle it made me think of the saga movie Star Wars "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."

I have been the editor of a number of novels, memoirs and poetry books. As an editor I love the challenge of suggesting to an author that there were too many characters or not enough, or it was essential to remove or add a chapter. With The Perilous Journey of Gavin the Great I can honestly say that I would not suggest the addition or deletion of a single word let alone a paragraph or chapter.

Don Gutteridge, now slowly creeping towards 90, decades after his acclaimed CanLit "Marc Edwards Mystery Series", has resurrected his talents with this stunning book. Now with 75 titles under his belt and years of literary teaching he has written a world class fable worthy of distinction, securing his place in CanLit history. I have to say it again, I am proud to be the publisher of this book.

The story is set in the dystopian aftermath of "the great burning". Gutteridge quotes one of his characters; "RA-Mosah (the eldest and wisest of the wisdom-dispensing clan) perpetually preached: "Dame Nature, who is herself but another manifestation of Gollah's all-seeing purpose, must right herself so that all things be kept in precise balance like the perfect halves of an apple or a walnut split by a coon's cunning." The rains will stop, the elder-coons assured a pair of droop-winged blackbirds and one drenched jackrabbit who happened to be within earshot, the rains will stop when they must, and not one milli-moment before."

The book is filled with stupendous lines like: ""Where are you?" The muffling fog caught his question, and did not answer." Or "The ooze was licking at his lips, tasting him, mocking him." Or "They simply walked, wrapped in their own silence."

At the risk of sounding like a self-serving publisher I will say; don't shy away from reading this book of fervent hope and self-discovery, for all ages,