From Publishers Weekly
Plot and character development take a backseat to morals and metaphysics in Warren's ( The Front Runner ) ponderous work set primarily in the American West during the mid-19th century. It follows a medicine woman named Earth Thunder, her devoted student and helper River Singing, and a group of Indians who gather around the wise woman as she builds a stet caps/it's capped in book/pk Medicine Wheel in Montana's Deer Lodge Valley. Their community is joined by six Germans who have traveled from Bavaria on a "noble and dangerous quest" to find "the learned peoples . . . who loved the Goddess as well as the God." Earth Thunder's teachings advance that women should be strong and independent, and she explains how they should behave toward one another. (For example: share your knowledge with other women and don't compete for the attention of men.) Unfortunately, these well-intentioned arguments are offered in stilted prose and in a tone didactic to the point of condescension that likely will try the patience of adult readers. However, the book's uncomplicated lessons and elements of Indian mysticism may lend it some appeal among younger readers.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From AudioFile
Thirteen-year-old slave girl Tadpole is saved from a life of misery by Earth Thunder, a shaman. Set in the American West of the 1850s and filled with goddess lore and Native American history, the story follows the two women as the older instructs the younger in goddess wisdom, ethics, and strong medicine. The opening is overlong and could prove tedious for listeners. Lorna Raver's narration just manages to keep the elaborate background from becoming drudgery. When possible, Raver invests each of the many characters with a convincing personality, but while the research is thorough, plot and characters take a backseat to the author's preachiness. Not even a performance as compelling as Raver's can do much with the wooden writing. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
