The Cephalopod Coffeehouse: July 2014

Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cosy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the tomes they enjoyed most over the previous month.  Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.  If you wish to add your own review to the conversation, please sign clink on the link
The Armchair Squid


This month I read a trilogy.  Here is my review for Book 1.

4*

Approx. 640 pages

A Novel of American Pre-History

Genre: according to Google Books is Speculative Fiction

Product Description from Amazon

In an ancient time of fear and superstition, she stood apart because of her unusual blue eyes. In a land of great stone cities and trackless wilderness, she sought her own unique path. But it was with the clan that accepted her—and in the heart of the magic man who saved her—that she found her ultimate destiny. Her name was Kwani. But legend would call her She Who Remembers... 

About the Author

Linda Lay Shuler (1910–2011) was a brilliant, creative, ambitious woman born before her time. She wrote and produced for radio in the days women were expected to stay at home, receiving awards against conglomerate giants. Television was a new medium at the time, and she jumped right into it, writing, producing, and directing travel documentaries for the Texas Highway Department, writing and producing a traffic courtroom series, and establishing radio/TV workshops. The biggest accomplishment in her film life was when she wrote, directed, and produced a five screen film, the first of its type. Sponsored by Humble Oil (Exxon), it was presented at the 1968 Hemisfair in San Antonio, in a circular building created especially for it. But perhaps her most lasting professional accomplishments were her three novels.

 

MY REVIEW

Kwani is the central character in this book set in 1270 AD in North America.  She is cast out from her clan because of her blue eyes, probably inherited from a Viking ancestor.

We follow her journey, physically and spiritually as she becomes ‘She Who Remembers’.

The beginning seemed a little slow, probably the first couple of chapters, but I soon became engrossed in the book.  The names were difficult at first but I soon became accustomed to them.  The descriptions of the landscapes, the domesticity of clans and differences in various tribes because of geography, the superstitions, the mysticism, general folklore has all been brilliant researched. 

Kwani is unusual not only because she has inherited those blue eyes but also because she is very spiritual and quite outspoken for a woman of her times.  She tries to find her way in life, guided by her ancestors’ spirits and what she thinks she wants from life with various people placing obstacles in her way due to jealousies and superstitions.  

As a reader you become immersed in the way of life of medieval American Indians and their way of life.  This book was an interesting and enjoyable read.