I may have added a bit too many spoiler tags. ;-) Oh well...

This book continues where [b:The Reindeer People|11297113|The Reindeer People|Megan Lindholm|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1334087509s/11297113.jpg|281793] left off. No, really. It's like it was originally one big story, but for marketing reasons the publisher wanted it cut into two parts. Why? As Robin Hobb, she can write thick novels all she wants. Or was it custom back then and now (big novels being "in" / hip / ...)?

Anyway, I ended my review of the first book (see here) with some questions:

Will it shed more light on Carp's influence on Kerlew?
Carp's influence only grew, tearing the bond between mother and child further to pieces. Kerlew was so under Carp's influence that he obeyed diligently, even followed a strict diet plan. He got thinner, weaker. He was sent on a vision quest ultimately and indeed found his vision. He even found the herd's old najd.
Will Heckram and Tillu live together?
Their friendship grew into a relationship and got tighter as the story progressed. So much even that the herdfolk and especially Capiam (leader) began to distrust her or not treat her as friendly anymore, even though she had been accepted as official healer.
Wil Tillu accept Kerlew's change in behaviour, now that Carp is back?
Of course not. Nothing much changes, but she's glad she can for once be herself as Heckram spends more time with her. She also realises that her bond with Kerlew will never be the same again.
Will Carp leave her alone or hasn't he changed a bit when he wanted her as his wife?
Carp sort of left her alone, treated her like dirt. When she was trying to heal Rolke and Ketla (Capiam's son and wife, as they had become seriously ill - due to Joboam, who wanted to become herdlord himself and would do anything, even eliminate people, to achieve that goal), Carp intervened with orders that he could heal them by chanting to the spirits, but for that decent food had to be cooked. Carp also demanded an own tent, luxury goods, etc... Or in short, he manipulated Capiam and co.
What will Capiam (leader of the tribe) say of Carp's proposal (shaman of the tribe)?
Capiam didn't have much choice, as Carp's charm and manipulating ways soon convinced Capiam to appoint Carp as najd. But Carp was a selfish old man, saying beautiful, but meaningless things and never actually helped the people.

Capiam as herlord was actually a tyrant. He didn't want to listen to good advice, he didn't want to hear the truth, even if it involved his children. He and his wife alone knew what his children would have to do to be happy. Who cares if they have own wishes? They just have to do like it's been done before: marry with a chosen one, get kids, have a pack of reindeer, etc.... and so on.

Tillu became friends with Kari (Capiam's daughter), learned her valuable info on plants and their healing power. Until Kari got under the influence of Carp.

Joboam's hunger for power also comes into the picture, now and then. Especially in how he mistreats Tillu, Kerlew (he hates the kid), feels like he runs the place and will take over command anytime soon.

Kerlew, like I wrote, succeeds in being fully accepted by the herd, but it takes a lot of effort, blood, sweat, time, anger, ... Kerlew finds his spirit guardian, even though Tillu never really believed in that sort of stuff. She was like the atheist of the folk. But somehow Heckram also was never fully accepted by his folk and maybe that also caused him and her to come together.

Eventually Carp gets what he deserved. Kerlew has seen the light, so to speak, and is able to take matters into his own hands, now that he's older and wiser. But still only a teenager.

The puzzle about who killed Elsa (Heckram's girlfriend), Rolke (despite Tillu helping as much as possible to get him healed), and yes, Kari even, also gets solved... by Kerlew. Prior to all this, Joboam and Heckram, eternal enemies, fight each other to the death. Strangely enough, despite all the slashes and stabbing, Heckram survives... barely, and thanks to Elsa's bone knife, which apparently contained magic.

And so, all's well that ends well. Or what did you think? ;-) With most of the trouble gone, maybe Tillu, Heckram and Kerlew can now live a peaceful life in the herd?

I found this part a little less good, hence the three and not four stars. At some point things got better, but not enough to increase the overall score. Regardless, it's a nice story about a boy becoming a shaman in a herdfolk not of his own kind and how this isn't all cakes and ale (I had to look it up, indeed). A story, that, again, was needlessly chopped into two parts. Also nice is the descriptive style of Lindholm, about how the folk lived, the plants, ... She even added a bit of info on this at the end of the book.

Add a few annoying typos... Didn't anyone read this before republishing?
* reinder instead of reindeer
* it instead of if
* he instead of she (especially in the last part of the book when it's about a woman)
* ... ( )

3.5 stars.
This book was weird and delightful, and a very good continuation for the first part which I had read a while ago. While I liked it, my main complaint centers around the fact that the end was a bit underwhelming; I was expecting something quite horrific to happen when everything came to a head - and it did, to a certain extent, but it all seemed to settle down quite fast and in a way that felt a bit too good, too convenient. Even so, it was an entertaining, dark read. ( )

Dit vervolg op Het rendiervolk beviel me al veel beter. Ik wilde echt weten wat er zou gaan gebeuren met Tillu, Kerlew en Heckram. Gelukkig worden alle losse eindjes netjes afgewerkt en ik ben blij dat ik deze serie gelezen heb. ( )

I like Robin Hobb's books a lot, so when I found out she has also published a bunch under 'Megan Lindholm' of course I had to go get them! These were the first I read under this name. It's really one story, that was originally divided in two by the publisher, and later pout out as an omnibus called "The Saga of the Reindeer People."
I'm not sure why she uses two different names. The style of writing was recognizably the same, although this story is somewhat darker than many of her epic 'Robin Hobb' fantasies.
The author's note (you can read it here: http://www.trussel.com/prehist/lindholm.htm) said that she originally conceived this story as a fantasy, but was encouraged to write it as historical fiction by the publisher. It's set in Bronze Age Lapland (Scandinavia), but it still has the feel of fantasy, and some essential-to-the-plot fantastic/spiritual elements.
With its scope and early setting, it reminded me at times of Clan of the Cave Bear.
It tells the story of a single mother struggling to raise her mentally disabled young son alone, in a society which is intensely dependent on social, tribal life.
She has survived and been taken in by different groups because of her skill with herbs, but when she encounters a shaman who tries to take emotional control of her son and claim her as his woman, she flees - but has the luck to fall in with another group - one that treats women more fairly, is somewhat wealthier - and includes a man she may actually like.
But not all is perfect - the shaman may be in pursuit, and a series of crimes may be poisoning this tribe from the inside. ( )

...This reread was an interesting experience for me. I can't really remember disliking so many things about this novel. Wolf's Brother is still a decent read but the climax of the novel is so full of melodrama that it's hard to take it serious. Although endings do not appear to be Lindholm's, and most certainly not Hobb's, forte, I felt this one was probably the weakest she has delivered. My reaction to this novel caught me by surprise. The first book in this duology was more or less what I remembered it to be. This one isn't. I guess my taste has developed a bit in the past twelve or so years (or maybe a bit longer, the Dutch edition I read back then was published in 2000) since I last read them. It makes me wonder how some of the other stuff I read back then holds up. Still, if you like prehistoric fiction, you could do a lot worse than these two books. I enjoyed them in a way, just not as much as I did the first time around.

Full Random Comments review ( )