Spirit Walker

Serpent Catch #1

by David Farland

Long ago Earth's paleobiologists established the planet Anee as a vast storehouse of extinct species, each continent home to life forms of a different era. For a thousand years the starfarers' great sea serpents formed a wall of teeth and flesh that protected Smilodon Bay from the ravaging dinosaurs that swam across the ocean from Hotland. Now the serpents are gone and Anee is being ravaged by tyranny, war and slavery.
Tull, son to a human father and a Neanderthal mother, feels doomed to toil his life away as a common field hand, but his mission becomes clear when he takes action to save his homeland. Tull must seek a distant river in the slave nation of Craal, where young serpents can be found. Legend has it that Adjonai, the Neanderthal god of terror, is king of Craal. Yet only by facing this dark enemy can Tull hope to bring home his serpent catch alive.
This is the first installment of a four part series. Originally published under the name "Dave Wolverton."

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Ebooks, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

248 pages, ebook

First published April 1, 1991

About the author

David Farland is the author of the bestselling Runelords series, including Chaosbound, The Wyrmling Horde and Worldbinder. He also writes science-fiction as David Wolverton. He won the 1987 Writers of the Future contest, and has been nominated for a Nebula Award and a Hugo Award. Farland also works as a video game designer, and has taught writing seminars around the U.S. and Canada. He lives in Saint George, Utah. He passed away on January 14, 2022.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidf...

Reviews

[kels · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book expecting to not enjoy it, as I'm not generally a fan of blending sci-fi and fantasy together.

This turned out to be a fascinating world though - I kind of turned my nose up when I realized it was neanderthals and humans live side by side, on a planet that was settled long ago by a starfaring group of people, and dinosaurs exist side by side with sorcerers and shamans and dryads, but once I settled in to give it a chance, I found myself being charmed against my will.

There's a lot of potential here, with an interesting story arc. I was indifferent to most of the characters, but I did really like Tull's perspective, and I thought the concept of "kwea" was really neat too.

I will say, though, that I felt blindsided by the cliffhanger ending. I somewhat expected it, since I knew it to be the first of a series, but I still felt a bit cheated.

[Charles Bush]

A great beginning

Dave is my favorite author, and I found that if somehow never read this series. This first installment didn't disappoint. He has a way of telling the story that makes it timeless. You become immersed and can't help but see reality inside of all of the fantasy.

[Dorene Holt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book

It wasn't my favorite book but it did have some interesting themes. After I read the authors notes at the end I understood more and liked the book more so on to book 2.

[Miki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating first part of a series, in which prehistoric tribes and animals are part of a man-built environment in a far away future. Their world is kept safe from wild fierce beasts by a group of snakes, which apparently stopped reproducing and growing. A mixed team of men and women of different tribes and species start their journey in wild lands in search of a solution. The way the Neanderthals are described and differentiated by humans (of the future) and other tribes and species is particularly interesting and makes the situation of the half breed main character even more fascinating. The novel stops after abig revelation, and still far from the end of the team's journey. The short essay after the novel explains the origin of the story and tells how it was published the same year as Jurassic Park, when such ideas about dinosaurs of the future were still virtually unheard of.

[Jon West · Rating 3 out of 5]

A scifi book with some fantasy overtones, the author has invented an interesting environment for this story. Neanderthals and humans live side-by-side in a latter day world set aside and populated with reintroduced extinct species. The world ins quarantined from external influences and technically backward. Tension comes from human slavers preying on the Neanderthal population.The half-breed protagonist aligns with the Neanderthals. Enjoyable reading except for the end that leaves almost everything unresolved so you are forced to the next book in the (vain?) hope of resolution. Well, I will go for it :)

My rating system (*]star)
1* couldn't finish book
2* finished book, but didn't like it
3* a good read
4* a very good read often with a novel concept or unusual plot
5* an exceptionally good read, a prominent example of the genre

[Kaci Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really feel a connection to Tull. Ayuvah was a completely flat character and I pretty much hated Wisteria and Phylomon. So who was I to root for? Scandal? Certainly not. Tirrilee? Maybe. Little Chaa? Ha!
I'm not sure that I'll read any of the other books in the series. The plot is interesting and the story world that Farland created is fascinating. So...maybe. But I'd have to see Tull do a little more (and maybe ditch wisteria) in order to keep reading. I feel like the ending was ruined by Chaa because he revealed that he wanted Tull to be the next spirit walker early on in the book.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a lot of potential. To start, don't think you're going to get a complete story - this book leaves off on a sort of cliffhanger, or it would be a cliffhanger if I cared about the characters. There's a deus ex machina in the form of a spirit woman who comes by seemingly randomly to get the author out of a hole he dug himself into. Everything in this plot seemed so contrived. The world, however, is pretty interesting - humans and neanderthals and dryads, plus dinosaurs and weird immortal humans in living suits, and satellites. I am fascinated by the world, if only it weren't introduced in gladhanded, graceless ways.

I don't think I'll be continuing this series.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I put this book down at about 70% read...it got to the point that I didn't really care about the characters anymore. The early parts of the book are quite promising - especially given that I've never liked the Neanderthal chic genre. The story doesn't know what it's about - is it character-driven about the main characters? Is it about slavery? Is it about the sea serpents? The more prominent characters tend to be a little inscrutable, and the reader ends up uninvested in them because their decisions make no sense.

It's not terrible, though, just not for me. A lot of my dissatisfaction is the setting.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was okay. I'm glad I read it. Probably my favorite thing about it was the background science-fiction themes about Neanderthals and Humans being dropped on the same world and made to live together. The actual narrative, I think, borrows much from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, in that epic journey sense. It was well written, but other than the science fiction aspect I mentioned before, I don't think it brought a whole lot of originality to the table.

[CinnamonHopes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Set in the far future, Spirit Walker in a sci-fi fantasy set on another planet. It's probably just not my cup of tea, but I didn't care for the anachronisms which occurred in a novel that touched on star travel, dragons, Neanderthals, magic, genetic engineering, and dinosaurs.

All of that, happening at once? The novel just felt hokey and contrived.

[Peter Ravlich · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story felt a little shallow at times (partly due to the limiting perspective of the protagonist) but contained plenty of interesting elements and potential for the sequels. The rating might have been higher if the story hadn't ended on a cliffhanger, but as it stands it's a decent read, and I'll keep an eye out for the next one.

[Modi123 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.. it seemed to want to be too many things at once.. space travelers and advanced tech.. dinosaurs and neanderthals.. slavers and revenge.. it seemed a little too scattered to be effective.

[Corneliu Dascalu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating premise, a blend of science fiction and fantasy. It manages to ask some great questions, and the ending is so powerful...

[Patricia Ferreira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really great story about dinossaurs, Neanderthals, dragons and even quetzalcoatl coinhabiting a world, a most entertaining story.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I struggled through the first half of Spirit Walker before giving up and just skimming the rest. The writing was alright but I did not like the story at all.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting.

Several species, a long back story, conflict, mixed loyalties, action and drama. Sometime I would prefer a faster pace, but overall a pleasant read.

I want to read the sequels :)