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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A mesmerizing hero's journey lush with metaphors which presents a viable vision of who we were once, long ago.
An amazing reconstruction of the world of the Stone Age, when there were still Neanderthal people around, and huge glaciers covered much of the northern lands. The story starts with Loon, a reluctant shaman, being sent out naked on his wander (sort of a cross between a vision quest and a test of survival), and follows his adventures and those of his tribe for several years after that. It’s fascinating and well researched, based on the available archaeological evidence. (Don’t read it if you’re squeamish about descriptions of animals being killed and butchered for food.) The characters are deftly and well drawn, and the dynamics of the group and how society works are very interesting.
i really enjoyed the first half. The description of a day in the life back then was perfect. The length of various parts did concern me though and a third of the way to go it started to weigh heavily with traces of boredom, and I hated myself for this because I really wanted to love this story. The problem perhaps is that this should have been more a novella rather than a full novel. If it was just a tad shorter some of the parts wouldn't be as boreing.
Great read, as well researched as it is graphic, light on plot and heavy on world and character building as any other Kim Stanley Robinson novel.
I liked this one better than The Wind Up Bird Chronicles, even though both of them take place at least partly in dreams. It seemed a little strange to see this coming from KSR -- I'm used to near-ish future SF from him, and this is set in prehistory. Fun made up words, it reads like there is a lot of research behind it, goes in to some of the detail about daily life and survival.
Coming of age on or in the shadow of the ice of Neolithic Europe 30,000 years ago. The glimmerings of the civilizations to come. The red blood on white snow. The howling of the wolves. The dark of the shamans’ cave. The rescues and ghosts of those who did not return. The deep roots of the hero’s journey and life in the face of scarcity. Rhapsodic and humane.
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book really grabbed me. This is KSR's fictionalization of life in the Paleolithic age 30,000 years ago. The story of 'Loon', a young boy on his coming of age ceremony - a wander through the wilderness with nothing but his own wits to survive with.
The novel follows this boy's life, learning from the tribe's Shaman, the tribe surviving the year and travelling to a clan meeting. Finding a wife, having a child, fighting another tribe living near the glaciers. Onwards to the time he takes over as the Shaman.
It's a simple story, but gripping in its details and how the tribe folk are always one mishap away from starvation and death against the near-one age weather.
Much like many of KSR's books, this one makes me want to do more research and dig up the science that lead to this story. A great story that I felt sad ending, I wanted to spend more time with Loon and the Wolf tribe.
The novel follows this boy's life, learning from the tribe's Shaman, the tribe surviving the year and travelling to a clan meeting. Finding a wife, having a child, fighting another tribe living near the glaciers. Onwards to the time he takes over as the Shaman.
It's a simple story, but gripping in its details and how the tribe folk are always one mishap away from starvation and death against the near-one age weather.
Much like many of KSR's books, this one makes me want to do more research and dig up the science that lead to this story. A great story that I felt sad ending, I wanted to spend more time with Loon and the Wolf tribe.
I really liked the idea of the book, and was excited to see how KSR executed it. The book itself would probably have been good if it were about 40% shorter. The padding was painful to read - almost like it was designed to be skimmed. I hope this wasn't bowing to a page count requirement, or some other lame art-sapping motive. The story at its heart was good. There were definitely areas of interest, though these were far outnumbered by predictable elements that were buried in pages upon pages of irrelevant repetitive description. The highlight is probably the bit of adventure around 60% in.
I chose this book as my introduction to Robinson - feeling that the Mars books would feel like a bigger commitment. I'm afraid it will be a while before I read him again, because this outing - while not bad - just wasn't quite worth the time it took to read it.
I chose this book as my introduction to Robinson - feeling that the Mars books would feel like a bigger commitment. I'm afraid it will be a while before I read him again, because this outing - while not bad - just wasn't quite worth the time it took to read it.