I'll have to give the second one a look because I felt the same way as you do about the first. It was interesting but not very engaging.
--- In SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.com, "Chris Hayden" <belsidus2...@...> wrote: > > (I didn't care for this one at all. > > The second in the series, Shadow Valley, though I found flawed, was readable > and even enjoyable on a certain level. > > I think Steve had a tough job here--how to write a novel dealing with pre > historic hunter gatherers--they got no agriculture, no towns or cities or > even farms, no permanent settlements, no written language, no metallurgy-- > > You got a bunch of characters in other words, whose main activity is getting > enough to eat--not likely they engaged in much philosophy, though no doubt > they had a culture > > Such as that of Kalahari bushmen, Amazonian rain forest dwellers or people in > New Guinea. > > I was brought to mind of "The Song of Hiawatha" which dealt with people at > the same level of development. > > I would read another book about the Ibandi-- > > > --- In SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.com, "ravenadal" <ravenadal@> wrote: > > > > Great Sky Woman by Steven Barnes One World/Ballantine Books, July 2006 > > $24.95, ISBN > > > > > > > > > > > > 0-345-45900-8 > > > > The latest offering from speculative fiction > > writer Steven Barnes is set in prehistoric Africa and is the first of two > > novels about the Ibandi, a tribe of hunter-gatherers. In this first > > installment, the Ibandi live in the plains near Mount Kilimanjaro. Frog > > Hopping, a boy, longs to become a great hunter. T'Cori, an abandoned girl, > > is apprentice to the tribe's medicine woman. After centuries of peaceful > > coexistence with other groups, the Ibandi face possible annihilation at the > > hands of the Herculean, genocidal Mk*tk. The survival of the tribe > > ultimately depends on Frog and T'Cori. > > > > Great Sky Woman may have particular resonance for African American readers, > > helping us imagine the history (and prehistory) we lost when we were > > dragged to this land. But the novel doesn't just recall far-gone epochs. > > Given the genocide that has bloodied Africa in recent years, Great Sky > > Woman also speaks to our time. > > > > No matter how much the world inside a fantasy or science fiction novel > > differs from our own, it is always similar in fundamental ways. After all, > > what writers of such books know about humanity and life, they know from > > riving in this world. > > > > While Barnes manages his narrative rather well on a macro level, there are > > flaws at the micro level. Too often, he tells us what a character is > > feeling, rather than showing us: "All night and day ... she had felt her > > anxiety threaten to swirl out of control." Dangling modifiers and cliches > > trouble some of the sentences. There's also an inconsistency--at one point, > > Barnes forgets that Frog's stepfather has only one eye: "There was some > > hidden fire in Snake's eyes." > > > > Despite these glitches, Great Sky Woman will not lose Barnes any fans. It > > will probably gain him some. > > > > --Reviewed by Dana Crum > > >
