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PEOPLE OF THE WOLF (O'NEAL-GEAR). Finished the book today. I loved the book, although I wasn't entirely happy with the ending (in partucular, the pairing of two of the main characters). I really enjoyed the dialog, and the relationships and conflicts among the different characters. The relationship between the two old women - the shaman Heron and Broken Branch, whom Heron blames for having stolen her old lover Bear Hunter - really stood out for me and will stay with me for a long time.
The descriptions of daily life in ancient times made the setting real for me, and with just enough detail about things like botflies, maggots, and infected wounds so that you remember it was a very harsh and difficult life (without so much TMI as to make the book unreadable). There are a few scenes of graphic violence, which is described unflinchingly but not in a sensationalistic way. The details about prehistoric life - making weapons, hunting mammoth, and so on - were fascinating without making the book read like an archaeology lecture.
You can look at maps drawn by scholars showing the conjectured migration routes of various peoples, and they're just arrows drawn on a map. What the map can't tell you, and what archaeologists can only guess at, is the kinds of decisions that were made when one arrow changed direction, or when another arrow split into two. What happens when a population makes the decision, "All right, our folk will go north, and you people will head south."? That's the back-story going on in 'People of the Wolf'.
But, again, what I really enjoyed about the book was that it's just a great story. And also, I think I loved the book because it's so Biblical: you've got estranged twins, conflict with enemy tribes, prophets true and false, concubines and captive women, jealousy, betrayal, courage, faith - and the journey to the promised land.
The descriptions of daily life in ancient times made the setting real for me, and with just enough detail about things like botflies, maggots, and infected wounds so that you remember it was a very harsh and difficult life (without so much TMI as to make the book unreadable). There are a few scenes of graphic violence, which is described unflinchingly but not in a sensationalistic way. The details about prehistoric life - making weapons, hunting mammoth, and so on - were fascinating without making the book read like an archaeology lecture.
You can look at maps drawn by scholars showing the conjectured migration routes of various peoples, and they're just arrows drawn on a map. What the map can't tell you, and what archaeologists can only guess at, is the kinds of decisions that were made when one arrow changed direction, or when another arrow split into two. What happens when a population makes the decision, "All right, our folk will go north, and you people will head south."? That's the back-story going on in 'People of the Wolf'.
But, again, what I really enjoyed about the book was that it's just a great story. And also, I think I loved the book because it's so Biblical: you've got estranged twins, conflict with enemy tribes, prophets true and false, concubines and captive women, jealousy, betrayal, courage, faith - and the journey to the promised land.
