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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
I hated the first half of this book. Slowly introduced characters dispersed with a lot of detail about Stone Age life made this story plod along. Once I finished the book, I saw the intent of the analogy but it was hard to stay with the story to get to that point. The details are kind of cool but I wish they were better dispersed through the plot.
The lovely passages about women, and how men should treat women, kept me going through the first half of the book. I wish these ideas (for example: the notion that all women are beautiful, not for being perfect but for being flawed) expressed in these passages were more common in our society.
Then, somewhere in the middle of the book, the plot appears and I'm sucked into the story. I don't want to give away spoilers but the second half of the book was easier to read. I finished it in one sitting, after taking a week to get through the first half of the book.
If you would like visuals of the cave paintings that are mentioned in the book, then look up Chauvet Cave and use the photographs as illustrations. The author used these cave paintings for inspiration.
I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for a review.
The lovely passages about women, and how men should treat women, kept me going through the first half of the book. I wish these ideas (for example: the notion that all women are beautiful, not for being perfect but for being flawed) expressed in these passages were more common in our society.
Then, somewhere in the middle of the book, the plot appears and I'm sucked into the story. I don't want to give away spoilers but the second half of the book was easier to read. I finished it in one sitting, after taking a week to get through the first half of the book.
If you would like visuals of the cave paintings that are mentioned in the book, then look up Chauvet Cave and use the photographs as illustrations. The author used these cave paintings for inspiration.
I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for a review.
I listened to the audiobook and I think that made this book more enjoyable than it would have been in print. The narrator set a fitting tone and brought out the nature of the various characters. I especially liked his presentation of "the third wind" and Heather, the medicine woman. The story goes very slowly. It is rich in description and the usual activities and short on fast-paced action. There is a LOT of emphasis on sexual organs which so many things in nature seem to remind people of, especially our main character. There is a bit of rather explicit sex, but it's not overly done in my opinion. I kept remembering that this main character is a teenage boy though this is easily forgotten as he rapidly takes his place as a man. The book gives us a feel for how life might have been back then with hunting, dealing with snow, medicine, and social interactions and activities. It is very realistic and seems to have been researched well. I enjoyed the sense of being immersed in the life and thinking of these people who lived more exposed to the environment and who felt more a part of it.
I have read Auel's series beginning with _Clan of the Cave Bear_. To me, this book is not as good as her work. Comparing her first book to this one, I see the progression of her Neanderthal Shaman into those of Homo sapiens. We see the two species interact in this book as well.
I have read Auel's series beginning with _Clan of the Cave Bear_. To me, this book is not as good as her work. Comparing her first book to this one, I see the progression of her Neanderthal Shaman into those of Homo sapiens. We see the two species interact in this book as well.
KSR is one of the most consistently brilliant SF writers at work today, from his Mars trilogy to Galileo’s Dream, Antarctica, and 2312. However, I found Shaman to be a bit of a misstep: it is a short-story idea swaddled in the many, many pages of an epic novel. Big novels demand scope and expansion; not introspection and a relentless magnification of the quotidian. This simply beats the life out of the narrative, and turns reading it into as great a test of survival as faced by the titular Loon. Still, there are flashes of brilliance and beauty. The cave-painting scenes, in particular, are haunting and beautifully evoked. On the other hand, there are a lot of jarring anachronisms: would a denizen of this era really say ‘fuck’? Speaking of which: there is a lot of sex in this. A lot. But much of it is humping the raw earth (don’t ask), and pre-ejaculation/masturbation. One gets the feeling that KSR wanted to have his Clan of the Cave Bear cake and eat it as well, explained and pontificated to a state of near embalmment, and glistening with fresh spurt. Bon Appétit!
An interesting adventure set in a completely believable setting. Lot's of fun.
It's a departure from his other works that I have read yet a satisfying and brisk read. Robinson, per usual, did a great deal of research and it shows--on occasion a little too much as there is a tendency for the narrative to slip into this applied anthropology tone where practical matters, such as the finer points of snowshoe construction, are unpacked and discussed.
The narrative voice can get awkward at times, it is told in the third person from the vantage of the first person, which happens to be a mental/physical state rather than a traditional character. However, when Robinson gets into a flow, and uses a more succinct voice, the story and it's characters are largely compelling (would have like to read more about Click and the other Old Ones in the valley).
Recommended.
The narrative voice can get awkward at times, it is told in the third person from the vantage of the first person, which happens to be a mental/physical state rather than a traditional character. However, when Robinson gets into a flow, and uses a more succinct voice, the story and it's characters are largely compelling (would have like to read more about Click and the other Old Ones in the valley).
Recommended.
I loved this book. I loved that it was set in a place I know so well, even though I only know it as an ancient, sacred place- and here it's a young, emerging sacred place. This passage, in particular, brought tears to my eyes:
"Now he stood in the farthest end of the cave, in front of the great lion chase he had watched Thorn paint so long ago. He saw again: it was by far the greatest painting in the the cave, maybe the world. Maybe it would always be the greatest painting."
I bought the premise entirely. The research seems solid- at least, it meshes with what I think I know about Paleolithic people. This is my first Kim Stanley Robinson, though I've been aware of him, and meaning to read him, since the Red/Green/Blue Mars days. He's a fine writer. His imagined people are immensely real, and not in the least alien in any way that matters. The way he writes about this group of people rings true and clear all down the centuries. They are us, we are them, and though much has changed, much remains the same.
Yeah, I read Clan of the Cave Bear, and People of the Wolf. This is an entirely different animal, and I recommend it unreservedly.
"Now he stood in the farthest end of the cave, in front of the great lion chase he had watched Thorn paint so long ago. He saw again: it was by far the greatest painting in the the cave, maybe the world. Maybe it would always be the greatest painting."
I bought the premise entirely. The research seems solid- at least, it meshes with what I think I know about Paleolithic people. This is my first Kim Stanley Robinson, though I've been aware of him, and meaning to read him, since the Red/Green/Blue Mars days. He's a fine writer. His imagined people are immensely real, and not in the least alien in any way that matters. The way he writes about this group of people rings true and clear all down the centuries. They are us, we are them, and though much has changed, much remains the same.
Yeah, I read Clan of the Cave Bear, and People of the Wolf. This is an entirely different animal, and I recommend it unreservedly.
Having made his mark in science fiction Robinson is now writing historical fiction. I have read Galileo's Dream before, which i really enjoyed, so was looking forward to this one.
This story is set in Palaeolithic times, when the glaciers set the northern boundary and is centred around a character called Loon, a 12 year old, learning to be a Shaman, and his small tribe of twenty of so people. At the very beginning he is set off on his 'wander' where he is released naked and has to rely on his training an intuition to survive for a number of days; part of the training of becoming a Shaman. He survives, and his training progresses.
At a meeting of tribes he meets with girl, who returns with him to his tribe where they marry. At the next gathering she is snatched back by her tribe and Loon follows. He is captured and is taken back to be used sa a slave. His mentor Thorn decides to try a rescue of Loon and Hega from the tribe.
Overall the story isn't too bad. It has reasonably well formed characters and moderate plot development. Robinson manages to convey really well just how tough it was for humans then, and just how close to starvation that they were on a regular basis. Where the book failed for me was the dialogue. Whilst humans have been capable of complex communication for thousands of years it seems like the dialogue was from the middle ages at times. Closer to 2.5 stars; and didn't take long to read.
This story is set in Palaeolithic times, when the glaciers set the northern boundary and is centred around a character called Loon, a 12 year old, learning to be a Shaman, and his small tribe of twenty of so people. At the very beginning he is set off on his 'wander' where he is released naked and has to rely on his training an intuition to survive for a number of days; part of the training of becoming a Shaman. He survives, and his training progresses.
At a meeting of tribes he meets with girl, who returns with him to his tribe where they marry. At the next gathering she is snatched back by her tribe and Loon follows. He is captured and is taken back to be used sa a slave. His mentor Thorn decides to try a rescue of Loon and Hega from the tribe.
Overall the story isn't too bad. It has reasonably well formed characters and moderate plot development. Robinson manages to convey really well just how tough it was for humans then, and just how close to starvation that they were on a regular basis. Where the book failed for me was the dialogue. Whilst humans have been capable of complex communication for thousands of years it seems like the dialogue was from the middle ages at times. Closer to 2.5 stars; and didn't take long to read.
Having made his mark in science fiction Robinson is now writing historical fiction. I have read Galileo's Dream before, which i really enjoyed, so was looking forward to this one.
This story is set in Palaeolithic times, when the glaciers set the northern boundary and is centred around a character called Loon, a 12 year old, learning to be a Shaman, and his small tribe of twenty of so people. At the very beginning he is set off on his 'wander' where he is released naked and has to rely on his training an intuition to survive for a number of days; part of the training of becoming a Shaman. He survives, and his training progresses.
At a meeting of tribes he meets with girl, who returns with him to his tribe where they marry. At the next gathering she is snatched back by her tribe and Loon follows. He is captured and is taken back to be used sa a slave. His mentor Thorn decides to try a rescue of Loon and Hega from the tribe.
Overall the story isn't too bad. It has reasonably well formed characters and moderate plot development. Robinson manages to convey really well just how tough it was for humans then, and just how close to starvation that they were on a regular basis. Where the book failed for me was the dialogue. Whilst humans have been capable of complex communication for thousands of years it seems like the dialogue was from the middle ages at times. Closer to 2.5 stars; and didn't take long to read.
This story is set in Palaeolithic times, when the glaciers set the northern boundary and is centred around a character called Loon, a 12 year old, learning to be a Shaman, and his small tribe of twenty of so people. At the very beginning he is set off on his 'wander' where he is released naked and has to rely on his training an intuition to survive for a number of days; part of the training of becoming a Shaman. He survives, and his training progresses.
At a meeting of tribes he meets with girl, who returns with him to his tribe where they marry. At the next gathering she is snatched back by her tribe and Loon follows. He is captured and is taken back to be used sa a slave. His mentor Thorn decides to try a rescue of Loon and Hega from the tribe.
Overall the story isn't too bad. It has reasonably well formed characters and moderate plot development. Robinson manages to convey really well just how tough it was for humans then, and just how close to starvation that they were on a regular basis. Where the book failed for me was the dialogue. Whilst humans have been capable of complex communication for thousands of years it seems like the dialogue was from the middle ages at times. Closer to 2.5 stars; and didn't take long to read.
Iba esperando una cosa más o menos de aventuras y me encontré con Marte Edad Glacial. Pero en la Tierra. Vamos, que el estilo es el de KSR: muchas ideas muy buenas desarrolladas con cuidado y poca acción trepidante. Un poco cuesta arriba se me ha hecho.