Reviews for Dawn Land

The average rating for Dawn Land based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-10-06 00:00:00 Jessica Bostwick A fascinating book, full of the seemingly well-researched details of a culture very different from that of modern America. I'd recommend it to anthropologists, or those interested in prehistoric cultures or way-old American Indian history, just for that. Its unique voice, too, made the book interesting - the fact that it was written by a traditional Native American storyteller really shows. The descriptions especially are beautiful, simple, and poetic, and the straightforwardness makes the shocking parts all the more shocking. As a novel, Dawn Land has some issues. The protagonist, Young Hunter, is - to me, anyway - annoyingly perfect. As is almost everyone he encounters, although unlike Young Hunter, the rest of the cast has at least one evident flaw: not being as good at anything as Young Hunter is. Young Hunter is, I think, seventeen. A lot of his positive traits are realistic given his upbringing: he's strong, fast, atheletic (in every possible way, extending to sports he's never before tried in his life . . .), easygoing, and borderline obnoxious in his thankfulness about everything. These last two, in particular, appear in most of the characters. They thank various nature spirits for every conceivable thing, leaving small offerings everywhere and frequently addressing creatures and objects aloud. This is pretty neat to see, really, but does get a little tiresome eventually. The easygoing thing, too, seems cultural, but it simply goes way over the top, especially when combined with the competition that frequently arises. It seems like every other chapter, Young Hunter wrestles someone - and not to spoil you, but he wins every single solitary wrestling match in the book - only to have his defeated opponent spring up laughing and embrace him like a brother. Even near-strangers who were, until then, the best wrestlers in their villages. He competes in sports that he's never before tried, beats the village champions immediately, and gets the heartiest cheers from those he's just beaten and those who wagered against him. Seriously? Kind of made me wish we'd find out that one of them was making nice while secretly plotting to kill him. Possibly the way in which I am least able to relate to Young Hunter is his total self-assurance. The only way he ever seems to feel even slightly insecure is romantically, and that's a pretty small part of the book. Otherwise, his "spirit seeing" keeps him pretty darn sure of himself, telling him the way, promising he'll return safely, etc. I think the author really tried to give Young Hunter some nervousness occasionally, but these passages were always brief, and Young Hunter tells himself off every time he even considers faltering. All that while also never getting angry, no matter what happens. Honestly, all of his smiling and laughing was starting to annoy me - I couldn't help but picture some of his smiles as superior, "Oh, you," expressions, even though I'm pretty sure they weren't meant that way. The two big structural issues in the book were the late appearance of the antagonists and the many, many detours into Native American culture. These are absolutely fascinating, but they do slow the story. And I mean "slow" in the sense that the presence of the Atlantic "slows" a trip between America and England. At least one entire chapter consists of a story Young Hunter has heard that actually doesn't turn out to be especially important. Otherwise, just be aware that every time Young Hunter picks up a basket, you are going to read a page about the process by which his people make these baskets, the first time Young Hunter ever made such a basket, and how important it is to thank the spirits of the trees for donating their bark for basket-making. *Some actual spoilers* In the column of good stuff, oddly enough, come the villains, who show up very late to the party but make up for it by bringing a rare vintage bottle of Creepy as Hell. Weasel Tail, when he makes his reappearance - pretty obviously coming, if you read the author's introduction - is also super-creepy. I'm a little unclear on what the Hunter actually is. A sabre-toothed cat? Some kind of giant wolverine? I'll also admit that I was genuinely a little unsure as to whether Young Hunter would go back to Willow Girl or stay with Redbird. I'm glad he went back, if only because Willow Girl was about the only thing in the book to make him nervous. I found his first encounter with Redbird to be patronizing. She's fighting for her life because she's just been raped and seen her family killed and eaten, and here he is, effortlessly blocking her blows while smiling because gawsh, the lady can fight! Not nearly as well as Young Hunter, of course, but then who can? So, an unusual and interesting book. I enjoyed it, but will also enjoy going on to read something with a more well-rounded protagonist and balanced plotline.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-08-17 00:00:00 Oscar Peterson Part of what I liked about this book is that it's set in the area between the Hudson & Connecticut Rivers, north of where we live but similar terrain. Also, it takes place in "pre-contact" and/or "ceremonial" time (terms I learned from the book jacket) at the end of the last ice age and our newspaper has been running a series of articles on ancient stone and cave formations that are mysterious and unexplainable unless, to judge by this book, Indian mythologies provide the answers, which is also to say that farmers removing stones from fields do not explain the formations. Mr. Bruchac is an Abenaki storyteller who says in his forward that the book is, in its way, an historical novel, but his story takes place before language as we know it existed -- makes it rather tricky conveying modern concepts. I think Mr. Bruchac does a fine job of it 90% of the time.