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The Testament of Tall Eagle

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"THE TESTAMENT OF TALL EAGLE is myth-making of epic scope. Fultz has rapidly matured into a major fantasist."
-- Laird Barron, author of The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All

The Last of the Mohicans meets Lord of the Rings in this epic Tribal Fantasy filled with myth and adventure.

A young warrior's vision-quest unveils an alien city full of magic and mystery. As a tribal rift threatens to destroy Tall Eagle's people, night-crawling devils stalk and devour them, so he seeks the wisdom of the high-flying Myktu. These fantastic beings offer him hope, a chance for rebirth and prosperity, as two separate realities converge. Yet first Tall Eagle must find White Fawn—the girl he was born to love—and steal her back from the camp of his savage enemies. His best friend has become his deadliest rival, and now he must outwit an invading army of conquerors to lead his people into the Land Beyond the Sun.

THE TESTAMENT OF TALL EAGLE is the epic saga of The People, as told in the words of their greatest hero.

326 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 6, 2015

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About the author

John R. Fultz

57 books70 followers
John R. Fultz lives in the Bay Area, California, but is originally from Kentucky. His fiction has appeared in Weird Tales, Black Gate, and Space & Time, as well as the comic book anthologies Zombie Tales and Cthulhu Tales. His graphic novel of epic fantasy, Primordia, was published by Archaia Comics. John’s literary heroes include Tanith Lee, Thomas Ligotti, Clark Ashton Smith, Lord Dunsany, William Gibson, Robert Silverberg, and Darrell Schweitzer (not to mention Howard, Poe, and Shakespeare). When not writing stories, novels, or comics, John teaches English Literature at the middle/high school level and plays a mean guitar. In a previous life he made his living as a wandering storyteller on the lost continent of Atlantis.

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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Profile Image for Fletcher Vredenburgh.
25 reviews6 followers
November 1, 2015
In his 1978 essay “On Thud and Blunder,” Poul Anderson pointed out that heroic fantasy was “overpast for drawing inspiration from other milieus — Oriental, Near Eastern, North and Black African, Amerindian, Polynesian.” While I’m still looking for Polynesian swords & sorcery, Black Gate alumnus John R. Fultz, has written the first full Native American novel of heroic fantasy that I’m aware of: The Testament of Tall Eagle (2015).

I must admit I’ve corresponded and debated with John several times about heroic fantasy. He’s as deeply conversant with the history of S&S as anybody I know. He brings that knowledge plus a deep love for the genre to his writing. I recommend his collection The Revelations of Zang as well as his Books of the Shaper trilogy — both are wildly inventive and fun. So I went into his new book expecting good things and I was not disappointed.

Fultz’s novel is a wonderful throwback to the golden days of swords & sorcery of the 1970s. In only 324 pages, Testament recounts the adventures of Tall Eagle, a young man of a Great Plains Indian tribe in the days just before the introduction of horses to his people. It’s possessed of a straightforward narrative that’s as lean and fierce as a wolf. Instead of the Clark Ashton Smith-like prose of his previous books, much of Testament reads like a brutally realistic historical saga of 17th century Plains Indian life… until the monsters show up. And they do, in great, slimy droves.

Testament begins with a young man setting out on the spirit trail. Son of Two Elks, of a tribe known to themselves as the People, hopes to encounter an eagle spirit but his trek takes a turn for the unsettling. There is more on the mountain than he expected:

"It seemed the mountaintop was aflame, yet I smelled no smoke. Then came the stench of something foul, something I could put no name to. It smelled vaguely like a snake’s flesh but far more unclean. A terrible cry fell from above, the moaning of a hundred dying elk, their voices joined as one. Yet there could be no elk this high. It was a sound that had never been heard in these mountains. I shrank back as a massive shadow glided down the mountainside some distance from me. I could not tell what it was. A black cloud, yet heavy as a pile of boulders, it seemed to crawl or slither into a deep ravine, dislodging rocks and shale in its wake."

Near a mysterious place of golden spires he encounters a strange warrior astride a giant eagle. The great bird grabs Son of Two Elks by his shoulders and brings him back down the mountain. He returns to his tribe, the only proof of his experience a white feather as long as his arm. The tribe’s wise man believes him and he is given the name Tall Eagle.

Over the course of the summer, the time of plenty during the buffalo hunts is marred by the arrival of white traders from the east called the Aldoneq, who come selling metal weapons and guns. A short time after their arrival an attack by an enemy tribe, the Eenu, armed by the same white men, takes a terrible toll on Tall Eagle’s tribe. Brave men are cut down and children are stolen.

Incensed by the Eenu’s raid but unable to follow them into their lands, the warriors of the People decide to take out their anger on another old enemy, the Urkis. The Urkis have raided and killed the People in the past, so killing them for the sins of someone else makes perfect sense to Tall Eagle and his tribe. It is with the attack on the Urkis that Testament moves deep into the fantastic. Just before the warriors set out, Tall Eagle’s cousin, Rides the Wind, and his uncle reveal they found a bear skeleton stripped of all its flesh. During their attack on the Urkis the People find themselves up against an otherworldly horror, setting in motion events that will alter their existence completely.

“Help me, Rides the Wind! Sharp Tongue! Help me!” Bear Killer yelled at us from the top of the quivering mass. A cloud left the face of the moon, and I saw clearly now. A great mound of snow-white flesh rose before us. Like a vast centipede it crawled on dozens of segmented, pointed legs depending from its slug-like body. It was longer than eight horses standing nose-to-flank in a row. A great stinking worm. It had crawled into our camp and grabbed Bear Killer in its mouth. It raised its eyeless, featureless head toward the stars as it drew him deeper into its maw.

The fight with the worm triggers a series of events that leads to Tall Eagle losing the woman he loves, betraying his best friend, and exiling himself from the People in hopes of uncovering the mystery of the monsters and how to destroy them. His self-imposed quest takes him from the tepees of his nomadic tribe to a gilded city from another universe and into alliance with alien beings of great power. In the end they will present him with the chance to save his tribe if only he can convince them to trust him one more time.

Fultz writes with vigor and assurance, whether he’s depicting a bloody fight at close quarters or the debates around the council fire as the People try to discern the best path for their future. You can feel his love for and understanding of his characters and their world in every chapter and on every page.

Tall Eagle is the best “barbarian” character I’ve read in some time. He seems realistic, being neither a noble savage nor a bloodthirsty one. Instead, he is a man from a culture surviving in a world that’s physically dangerous and peopled with enemies poised to raid and kill when the chance arises. He is a man who can speak and act romantically toward the woman he loves and at the same time express incredulity when the white men’s priest speaks of peace:
"The People had no interest in a life without war. How could a man be judged worthy without walking the warpath and collecting the scalps of his enemies? The Eskarari did not understand us at all."

Too many contemporary writers fall prey to applying contemporary standards to their characters. Fultz clearly has no time for that in this historical setting. Tall Eagle and the People and the tribes around them act in ways we consider barbaric. Prisoners are tortured to death to see how brave they are, their corpses blinded to render them blind in the afterlife. And despite that, unalloyed nobility in Tall Eagle, his bravery and responsibility for the People, make him a hero.

I called The Testament of Tall Eagle a throwback to the genre’s golden age in the 1970s, but its antecedents go back even further. Its roots lie with Manly Wade Wellman’s tales of the caveman, Hok, and Robert E. Howard’s “Spear and Fang.” I consider this a very good thing.

Now, if you’re a reader who only reads books with casts that rival the size of War and Peace’s, and come packaged with maps and glossaries, then this might not be a book for you. If you like concentrated adventure stories that don’t waste words or time on needless subplots and superfluities, then Testament might be right up your alley.
Profile Image for Bitsy Vontrapp.
82 reviews2 followers
August 18, 2015
"I am Tall Eagle, and this is what I say."
This book is perfect in every way. Brilliantly told from the first person point of view of a Native American young man who comes of age just as his people face their darkest hour. We learn of his adventures and his struggles to save his people, who are faced with threats from within and from beyond their world. The pacing is fast and yet there is such great attention to detail and to character development that you find yourself loving Tall Eagle and experiencing his pain and his truliumphs without losing any time bogged down in the usual endless world building descriptions. It's honestly one of the most unique books I've ever read, I keep thinking it would make a fantastic cable series. Hope there's more books to come, set in this fantastic new world.
61 reviews2 followers
June 9, 2015
Enjoyed this a lot. The story involves a tribe that is modeled after native American tribes rather than the usual feudal society of most fantasy. Full of action and vicious monsters, it also does well handling the drama among the tribe and family, with a heartbreaking resolution to the conflict between the hero and his cousin. Stands alone as a complete story, while opening up a whole new world for future stories to take place in if the author wants to do more tales of The People.
Profile Image for Doug.
258 reviews15 followers
June 17, 2015
Fun, different, adventure-driven ... I don't know whether to say Fantasy or Science Fiction. There's elements of both. A pleasant changeup from the typical fare.
Profile Image for C.T. Phipps.
Author 93 books670 followers
January 18, 2016
The Testament of Tall Eagle follows the adventure of the titular character as he goes through his rite of manhood, proceeds to discover his affinity with Eagles, finds out the world is being threatened by monsters from another dimension, meets a race of humans from another world, and proceeds to deal with the more personal problems of tribal politics. It is very much a fantasy novel and while issues of dealing with the White Man and ancient tradition are there, they are minor issues to the larger epic storyline.

The fact this isn't set on Earth anymore than Drizzt's adventures in the Forgotten Realms gives the author a bit more freedom and you can't really say a magic-using character is a "Magical Native American" when nearly character is a Native American. Hell, they're not even Americans since this is a fantasy world like Toril or Krynn. Readers can and should judge Tall Eagle as an awesome fantasy protagonist on his own without predisposition, the same way Conan is a Cimmerian but this gives no real insight into real-life Celts.

Tall Eagle is a likable character who, if a bit on the stately side, is no more so than Connor Kenway from Assassin's Creed 3. He can and does a great number of stupid things in his desire to do the right thing with these flaws making him a more likable protagonist. Watching his empathic and sensitive nature clash with his own people's beliefs as well as those of other cultures is an enjoyable read. I also responded well to his very human desire to continue loving a woman he wanted to take as a wife but who was taken by another man. That is a plotline which transcends cultural boundaries.

I also approve of John R. Furtz giving us a series of villains and complications for our hero to deal with. Tall Eagle has to deal with rivals inside the tribe, rival tribes, the expected evil Europeans (though they're, again, not European), giant monsters, and his own self-doubt. The author crafts a rich world full of strangeness and oddity that, nevertheless, feels quite grounded.

I could easily see more books set in the setting without feeling like it was played out. The fact he managed to introduce concepts like aliens, alternate dimensions, and Cthulhuoid monstrosities without overwhelming poor Tall Eagle also shows he was pretty good at conveying information in a culturally appropriate context. When confronted with the fantastical, Tall Eagle reacts with astonishment but rolls with the punches.

One area I was surprised by is that I really enjoyed the love story between Tall Eagle and White Fawn. We don't get to spend much time with either but their longing is conveyed in the few scenes they get together before things go to hell. I was actually surprised to find I didn't know where the story was going with them, especially when Tall Eagle's other love-interest was introduced. While I continued to root for Tall Eagle and White Fawn, the story kept me guessing and props for that.

A small complaint I do have about the novel is the use of scalping by Tall Eagle's tribe as a method of dishonoring defeated enemies as well as ensuring their ghosts do not haunt them. The history of that particular technique has a long and ugly sort of history which I think would have been best avoided in this book. Otherwise, I have almost no complaints about his conception of his Fantasy World Native Peoples.

This is a good book and while I would have preferred a more causal, less formal set of interactions for the characters, I note that actually wouldn't have been true to the practices of the tribes which inspired Tall Eagle's people. If you want a change from your usual fantasy diet of goblins, elves,, and guys in platemail you could a lot worse.

9/10
Profile Image for Phillip III.
Author 50 books179 followers
August 2, 2015
If you follow my book reviews at all you will have noticed a shift in genres. I went from suspense and mystery novels, to horror, to zombie-specific, and young adult dystopian, to fantasy. My reading selection is diverse. When it comes to fiction, anyway. Recently I purchased a paperback copy of John R. Fultz's latest novel, The Testament of Tall Eagle. It is by far the most unique fantasy novel I have ever read. It is poetic, and well paced. The characters are so spectacularly drawn, that I knew them. The over all book was compelling.

So what is it about? I dare say it is a Native American tale. Because that would not be true. However, it is the easiest way to explain the story. Tall Eagle (son of Two Elks) is from a tribe known as simply, the People. They live in one are during the summer months, and move to another during the winter. They hunt buffalo, and follow ancient traditions as a way of life. Tall Eagle and Rides the Wind are cousins, but more like brothers. When they take steps to become men they each must venture out and seek their own vision. Tall Eagle climbs the mountains. His vision seems real. He sees a giant eagle with a warrior who rides on the bird's back. Rides the Wind encounters horses (something new to the People) and masters riding the animal, returning to the tribe with a horse of his own.

There are many other tribes in the area. None as peaceful. They seem quick on attacking, and vicious during battle. Unfortunately, the other tribes are not the only threat. Giant centipede-worms rise out of the ground and devour flesh and blood, spitting out just bones. Tall Eagle wants to defend the People. The idea is to fight the creatures, seek revenge for those lost.

Tall Eagle calls on the help of his spirit guide, the eagle. Only, there is more to his visions than mere illusion, or the delusion. The beasts are not of this world. There is but one way to stop the worms for good. The plan is dangerous. Most who follow Tall Eagle will not survive. Can there be another choice? Or is war against the alien beasts the only way?

"Sibling" rivalry, family, customs, and jealousy litter the pages of Fultz's novel. Magic, and magical worlds provide hope and a ray of light to the impending darkness. Battle scenes, and an epic conclusion make The Testament of Tall Eagle a most excellent read.

I have already ordered more books by this author, (thankful I'd found him). That's how I am. If I like a book, I tend to buy all the writer has written. I cannot wait to dive into more worlds he's created. Am I recommending this book? I would say that I am. Give it a shot. Don't think you'll be disappointed.

Phillip Tomasso
Author of Damn the Dead and Young Blood
2 reviews1 follower
July 10, 2015
The Testament of Tall Eagle

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I like books of Native Americans, however this book combines fantasy as
well as my love of Native American lore. Keep writing them John...I keep reading and enjoying them!!
Profile Image for Cody Shadowtree.
7 reviews33 followers
September 3, 2015
Perfection

Loved this book my only regret is that it likely doesn't have a follow up, the tale of Tall Eagle and his people will forever be recorded in my heart.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews

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