E/view: Lightfinder

Known for his acclaimed visual art, Aboriginal artist Aaron Paquette tackles fiction for his next project


AARON Paquette is best known as an accomplished visual artist who incorporates his Aboriginal heritage into his work. Now, Paquette is emerging as a writer of fiction, and not surprisingly is also drawing upon his roots. 

Lightfinder is Paquette's first novel. Written for young adults, it is in the fantasy genre and centers on the parallel stories of two siblings, Aisling and Eric. Aisling, a young Cree woman, heads into the woods with her kokum (grandmother) and two other men who are practically strangers to her. Their journey is to find Aisling's younger brother Eric, who has gotten himself into a lot of trouble. 

As both young people head on their respective paths, each deal with battles of life and death and the future and various choices each must make (and their consequences). In Aisling's case, she discovers some of the tales of her background and realizes they may in fact be true, as she finds a power growing within her. Eric, on the other hand, is struggling with powers that are influencing him in negative ways and tries to survive amidst the challenge of things not being exactly as they seem. 

There are many surprises along the way for the reader. It is suspenseful and takes a unique twist on the theme of the survival of humanity. Paquette has as much of a deft hand at writing as much as he does at his painting. 


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