I received a free ecopy for my honest review.
About the Book:
Publication Date: October 25, 2014
Writers Press
Formats: Ebook, Trade Paperback
Pages: 350
Genre: Historical Fiction
Deer Cloud is painting the stories of the gods when tragedy changes his life. He is called to walk the shaman path and bring the buffalo through his visionary power. The evil Stone Face will do anything to thwart Deer Cloud’s growing strength. Jumping Rabbit, a lusty female shaman, decides to mentor him and ends up taking him to bed. She introduces him to a powerful spirit plant to counter the effects of the dangerous wolf flower. When buffalo are spotted, Stone Face challenges Deer Cloud to call the beasts with his new power. With Jumping Rabbit’s help, Deer Cloud changes Rain Bringer society forever.
This book brings to life people who lived over 4,000 years ago in the southwest Texas canyonlands known as the Lower Pecos, near the confluence of the Devils and Pecos rivers with the Rio Grande. These ancient people painted over 300 currently known rock art murals, some of which can be viewed today. Archaeologists have also found evidence of a huge bison jump in a small canyon in that region that points to a catastrophic event in the lives of these people so long ago. This book is based on extensive research and is the first novel to examine these events.
About the Author:
Mary S. Black fell in love with the Lower Pecos more than twenty years ago. Since then she has studied the archaeology and related ethnography of the area with numerous scholars. She has an Ed.D. from Harvard University in Human Development and Psychology and lives in Austin with her husband, an archaeologist, and two cats.
For more information please visit Mary’s website. You can also connect with her on Facebook and Goodreads.
My Opinion:
I have several favorite periods in history that fascinate me and when presented with an opportunity to read a novel in one of those periods I get all kinds of happy. One of the periods that is, in my opinion, severely under represented in my library is the earliest history of the peoples that inhabited our world. Therefore when given the opportunity to read Peyote Fire I responded with a very fast yes.
It’s not a long book like several of the others I have read but a lot of historical detail is packed into the 350 pages. I love the inclusion of so much exacting research into a novel of this nature but some might find more like reading course study. I think it helps to have a strong interest in the time period and the location – and if you want to start appreciating the peoples of this area of what is now Texas this book would certainly be a good start.
The novelization involves orphan siblings Deer Cloud and Singing Grass. Deer Cloud is called to be a Shaman and while attempting a dangerous climb another dies and some feel Deer Cloud killed him. This sets up the main tension in the book. The other being a back and forth over which plant to use for the clans hallucinogenic rituals. The members of the tribe also freely share themselves with each other without any jealousies. While I think I understand where Ms. Black was going with this at times all of the erm, activity seemed more to spice up the book rather than to advance the story.
All in all though, I enjoyed my journey back into the far reaching past and learning about a part of the country I’ve not had the honor of visiting. Maybe someday.
Rating:
4
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