Hunting the Ghost Dancer

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Summary: Typical for Attanasio: Full of Surprises
Review: Having read a lot of "early man" novels, like JeanAuel's Clan of the Cave Bear, I was excited to seeAttanasio was taking a turn, but I forgot to expect the unexpected! Attanasio turns the predictable into the surprising in this novel as in his others. The Ghost Dancer is not really the antagonist. In fact, he is perhaps the most sympathic of characters, despite his supernormal abilities! The more normal humans take the roles of good and evil, while the Ghost Dancer himself is the plot. He is the last of his kind, and he seeks the immortality due his species, but his quest brings him closer and closer to the humans he fears and hates. Only a human girl can help him reach his destination, and their trek together teaches her that there is a morality above the survival of the species. Her brother and her protector track the Ghost Dancer and the girl, always dreading the worst. Not until they reach the end of their resources do they learn that their quest to rescue the girl has changed into a battle to defend the Ghost Dancer against the legendary hunter who eliminated so many of the Dancer's people. Is this a novel about Neanderthal vs Cro-Magnon? Is it a novel about supernatural powers inhabiting and lending strength to cave men? Or is it a novel about learning to understand others in a world where all others are strange and threatening. The relevance to life in today's world is indirect but substantial. This novel challenges and entertains, entrances and horrifies, reassures and rewards. It shows us how a great novelist can keep us questioning and changing, until the plot resolution finally shows what he can really do to bend your mind!

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Summary: I can't quite put my finger on it...
Review: This story is just so...haunting. Who is the hero? The bad guy?Things were so clear at the start but...who is to say what is right and wrong.
The author really does a good job of keeping you off balance with all of the twists and moral judgements.