Wolf's Brother

Rating:
Summary: Beats Jean Auel Hands Down
Review: Wolf's Brother is the second in a two-part series - the first is titled "Reindeer People" - and both books need to be read together. The two are really one continuous story, and neither stands on its own. I was fortunate to find both in a single paperback volume.

Having said that, I found the book(s) very well done and extremely enjoyable. Before reading it, I had just finished the latest in Jean Auel's series on paleolithic society. Megan Lindholm deals with a somewhat later paleolithic society, one in the far north of Europe that was still in the stone age, though it is clear from the tale that some of the characters are at least aware that other, distant lands have entered the copper and bronze age.

Unlike Ms. Auel's utopian vision of prehistoric life, Lindholm paints a much grittier and, in my opinion, more realistic view of prehistoric life. Life was a constant battle against starvation, disease, and one's fellows, and the heroes struggle to survive in this environment. An interesting twist is Lindholm's characterization of an autistic boy as having special links to the spirit world - he eventually emerges as a powerful shaman for the tribe in the conclusion.

The one thing I find fascinating with so many authors writing about ancient human society, whether Jean Auel, Marion Zimmer Bradley, or Megan Lindholm, is their common tendency to give full credence to ancient religion and magic as real. Undoubtedly, it is one of the things which makes such literature appealing as "escapist" - it yearns for a time when magic really was loose in the world.

At any rate, I highly recommend the Reindeer People/Wolf's Brother series and I hope other's soon discover Megan Lindholm.

Rating:
Summary: Beats Jean Auel Hands Down
Review: Wolf's Brother is the second in a two-part series - the first is titled "Reindeer People" - and both books need to be read together. The two are really one continuous story, and neither stands on its own. I was fortunate to find both in a single paperback volume.

Having said that, I found the book(s) very well done and extremely enjoyable. Before reading it, I had just finished the latest in Jean Auel's series on paleolithic society. Megan Lindholm deals with a somewhat later paleolithic society, one in the far north of Europe that was still in the stone age, though it is clear from the tale that some of the characters are at least aware that other, distant lands have entered the copper and bronze age.

Unlike Ms. Auel's utopian vision of prehistoric life, Lindholm paints a much grittier and, in my opinion, more realistic view of prehistoric life. Life was a constant battle against starvation, disease, and one's fellows, and the heroes struggle to survive in this environment. An interesting twist is Lindholm's characterization of an autistic boy as having special links to the spirit world - he eventually emerges as a powerful shaman for the tribe in the conclusion.

The one thing I find fascinating with so many authors writing about ancient human society, whether Jean Auel, Marion Zimmer Bradley, or Megan Lindholm, is their common tendency to give full credence to ancient religion and magic as real. Undoubtedly, it is one of the things which makes such literature appealing as "escapist" - it yearns for a time when magic really was loose in the world.

At any rate, I highly recommend the Reindeer People/Wolf's Brother series and I hope other's soon discover Megan Lindholm.