[.ca] People Of The Wolf (ISBN 0812521331)

This book kicks off a great series:
Yes, there are many characters to get to know and the plot at first appears to be a little too confusing but then it quickly comes together. Heron's Song- First Woman's Dream gives us a glimpse of where the authors are going to take us> I love this book and the rest!

People of the Wolf:
This is a poorly written book. The scenes are boring, and the writing, amateurish. The dialogue drove me crazy with the author's constant use of dashes to signify incomplete/interrupted thoughts. The 'beliefs' and superstitions, which are a big part of the genre, were not believable and poorly presented as were the dream sequences. The plot is good enough, but the author wasn't able to capitalize on it because of his/her limitations on writing. This book is a waste of time and money. If you want to read good prehistoric novels, try Sue Harrison's Chagak-Kiin trilogy and the first three books of William Sarabande (Beyond the Sea of Ice, Corridor of Storms, and Forbidden Land). They are fast paced, contain exciting plots, and have good believable characters.

Overall pretty good...:
I'm a big fan of Jean M. Auel Earth Children's series, William Sarabande's First American Series and Also both of Sue Harrison's series. Linda Lay Schuler is also within the ranks. I came across many of the Gear's stories in a local book store that was fairly cheap. After running out of books I gave it a try. I thought The People of the Wolf book was good. I understand many of the readers were upset about the way the characters spoke, but after reading the author's notes i realized it was their intention to make their vocabulary as strong as it is today. I understand that speech of the time is under controversy in the world of archeology as well as how things were of the time. Due to the fact that written records were non-existent of that time it all has to be based on theory. Many of the readers weren't pleased with this particular theory and i think it was because it was compared to some other well known prehistory arthurs. i think it was a particular well thought out theory and should also join the ranks of those other arthurs. I don't like the fact that you can't dream and be apart of the people mainly because I think in those times without the protection of the people survival was in jeopardy. My personal theory is that dreaming is more a sense of knowing and steping into the next "golden haze" but I still don't get why you have to set yourself apart for that to happen. I think it is more of a sixth sense than something you should seek out. You either have the gift or don't, is what I believe. Wolf dreamer I would have liked to have seen a happy ending come to but instead he disappeared into the dream which i was disappointed with. (even though the dream was supposed to be a wonderful warm happy place). I was very impressed with Dancing Fox. She proved to undergo life altering situations and instead of collapsing under the pressure she became an impowering woman with whom many looked up to. She didn't end up with who i expected, she still got her happiness that she deserved. I think the book was researched very well and provided enough details and descriptions with wonderful characters that made the story wonderful

Engaging and entertaining:
At the time of writing this review, I've now read the first three books in this series and intend to keep reading. Fortunately, my library has them all. At first I was a little irritated by the modern sounding speech the characters use. I read reviews here before checking out the book so perhaps I was more inclined to notice than I may have been had I not read criticisms to that effect. However, you soon get past that and become involved with the conflicts and struggles the People face in their extraordinary drive to survive. The story really makes you think about those first North Americans that braved the ice to find a new way of life. How resourceful they must have been! Some may be put off by the mysticism in this series. Each book so far has centered on a Dreamer who must Dream a new way for the people. As someone who believes in God, I found this an interesting notion to mull over. Obviously, the Dreams come from somewhere. Who's to say this isn't how ancient man made some of the bigger leaps in civilization? The authors make sure to include characters that are inquisitive and experimental. In this first book, for instance, there is a man, an expert flint knapper (sp?) who successfully attempts to improve the dart points. In the second book, there is a man who collects plants and seeds and mulls over how they can be used as food for the People. So far, all the books pretty much follow a formula plot line; i.e., the People are on the cusp of disaster due to starvation, overcrowding, etc., a young Dreamer must learn to find the One before he/she can teach the People a new way but he/she will have to face another Dreamer who may or may not have genuine Power and who is only concerned with Power for the prestige and personal power it will bring him. Don't let this formula keep you from reading this highly engaging series. Although the plots are similar, the characters and their personal struggles are not cookie cutter replicas accept in the sense that each Dreamer resists the call to lead for the usual reasons offered in this kind of novel. In each of the first three books I've read, the main characters and the supporting characters have have been fleshed out as complex individuals with their own drives and ambitions. Of the three I've read so far, People of the Wolf was not my favorite but it does establish a lot of what happens in the next books so I urge you to read it and keep reading. I've just finished People of the Earth and so far it is my favorite largely due to the unique character of Still Water (a.k.a. Bad Belly). My biggest complaint is that some of the characters have insights about human nature that would have been too modern a few hundred years ago, let alone several thousand. Yes, we have discovered that the ancient civilizations of North America had complex languages and laws but it does not automatically follow that they would talk about rape, incest, love, etc. as if they were panelists on Oprah. All that aside, I would recommend this series as engaging, entertaining, and somewhat thought-provoking, if not particularly deep.

Awful:
Everything about this book annoyed me. The shallow characters, amature writing style, cliched dialogue, and most of all, the plot that dragged on and on and on and finally anticlimaxed. The female characters were all stereotyped (ie, a beautiful but abused ong woman with no brain, a couple of old hags who know supposedly know everything but actually don't, and the usualy smattering of 'gentle and caring' wives who are so supportive of their annoying husbands that the reader may be moved to the point of nausea) and the male characters spent the whole book engaging in seemingly endless displays of testosterone driven male dominance rituals. I don't know about you, but I think if an author is going to write about Native Americans, they should make their characters human first, and Native Americans second, rather than the characters being so 'authentically Native' that the reader begins to forget that we even belong to the same species. Somehow, I just don't believe that the American Indians behaved in the idiotic and cliched manner in which they are portrayed in this book. Bottom line: This novel was poorly written and contained sexual and racial stereotyping. Don't read it.