Monday, June 18, 2012

Writer's Block: Robert Bonville

Posted By on Mon, Jun 18, 2012 at 3:30 PM

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Local author Robert Bonville has published a historical novel entitled Voyages of Malolo: Secret of the Rongo. (578 pages, $21.95) The novel tells the story of Polynesian navigators and their journey across the Pacific on the great seagoing canoe Malolo.

Bonville says the tale is fiction but based on archaeological and anthropological evidence as well as widely accepted theory. He says it's "an epic adventure that speaks to the will of ancient man to discover, learn and survive in the fact of the harshest of conditions." Bonville's inspiration for the book came from living in Hawaii as a young man and later travels throughout the Pacific.

Book summary:

When young Auka’i discovers a piece of driftwood from the east containing mysterious hieroglyphics, the “Rongo”, he and his people believe it is a message from the gods directing them to discover its meaning and the secret it contains. The young adventurer and his crew of uniquely skilled men build a large, double-hulled deep sea sailing canoe and sail east across the Pacific to the coast of Ecuador, more than 8,000 kilometers (5000 miles) from their island home. Their nearly 3-year voyage of exploration, which ranges up to Mexico and California before heading west to Hawaii, finds them facing many hardships and dangers before returning for a final surprising conflict at home.

Author bio:

Robert Bonville is a native of South Florida and a United States Coast Guard veteran. He served as a radioman on deep sea weather cutters, Antarctic ice-breaking expeditions and serviced coastal navigation devices before attending college on the GI Bill. Upon graduation, Bonville worked in aerospace and defense-related projects associated with quality assurance, engineering and management, retiring after 37 years. Robert is married with four adult children and resides in Arizona with his wife, Linda.

For more information, visit www.authorrobertbonville.com.

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