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Storyteller #3
Call Down the Stars
The thrilling conclusion in the acclaimed Storyteller Trilogy weaves an intricate tale of two storytellers, the quick-witted female Qumalix and the silver-tongued man Yikaas, who vie to entrance their tribe with extraordinary and magical legends that detail the origins and adventures of their people. Reprint.
544 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 2000
35 people are currently reading
574 people want to read
About the author
Sue Harrison
30 books287 followersSue Harrison is the author of six critically acclaimed and internationally bestselling novels. Mother Earth Father Sky, My Sister the Moon and Brother Wind make up The Ivory Carver Trilogy, an epic adventure set in prehistoric Alaska. Song of the River, Cry of the Wind and Call Down the Stars comprise The Storyteller Trilogy. Sue’s young adult book, SISU, was released by Thunder Bay Press . Her newest novel, The Midwife's Touch, first book in The Wish Thief Trilogy was released in February 2023. It was chosen as an Upper Peninsula of Michigan Notable Book and selected as a semi-finalist in the Society of Midland Author's 2024 Adult Fiction Awards. In 2025, her middle-grade readers chapter book, Rescuing Crash, the Good Dog was released by Modern History Press.
Sue Harrison was born in Lansing, Michigan. The first of five children, she was raised in the town of Pickford in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where she lives with her husband, a retired high school principal. They are blessed with a daughter and a son, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.
A graduate of Pickford High School, Harrison graduated summa cum laude from Lake Superior State University with a B.A. in English Language and Literature. She was named Lake Superior State University’s Distinguished Alumna in 1992, and served eight years on the university’s Board of Regents.
Harrison’s first novel, Mother Earth Father Sky, was published in 1990 by Doubleday (hardcover) and Avon (paperback). It was nominated in the states of Michigan and Washington for the Reader’s Choice Award among high school students, and was one of ten books chosen for “Battle of the Books,” a statewide student reading competition in Alaska. The novel as had success in both the adult and young adult markets, and was a national bestseller. It was selected by the American Library Association as one of 1991′s Best Books for Young Adults.
Harrison’s second novel, My Sister the Moon, (Doubleday/Avon 1992) has also received recognition by reading and school groups throughout the United States and was a Baker and Taylor top ten in library sales. Both Mother Earth Father Sky and My Sister the Moon were Main Selections of the Literary Guild Book Club and alternate selections of the Doubleday Book Club. Brother Wind, Harrison’s third novel was released in hardcover by William Morrow, October 1994, and in 1995 as an Avon paperback. The novel was chosen as an alternate selection by both the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Clubs. Song of the River and Cry of the Wind were both published by Avon Hardcover/Avon paperback, a division of Hearst Books. The third book of The Storyteller Trilogy, Call down the stars was published by Morrow/Avon in 2001 and 2002. It was featured alternate of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Clubs.
Harrison’s books have also been published in Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Spain, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Japan, France, Finland, and South America.
Harrison is represented by Victoria Skurnick of the Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency.
Sue Harrison was born in Lansing, Michigan. The first of five children, she was raised in the town of Pickford in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where she lives with her husband, a retired high school principal. They are blessed with a daughter and a son, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.
A graduate of Pickford High School, Harrison graduated summa cum laude from Lake Superior State University with a B.A. in English Language and Literature. She was named Lake Superior State University’s Distinguished Alumna in 1992, and served eight years on the university’s Board of Regents.
Harrison’s first novel, Mother Earth Father Sky, was published in 1990 by Doubleday (hardcover) and Avon (paperback). It was nominated in the states of Michigan and Washington for the Reader’s Choice Award among high school students, and was one of ten books chosen for “Battle of the Books,” a statewide student reading competition in Alaska. The novel as had success in both the adult and young adult markets, and was a national bestseller. It was selected by the American Library Association as one of 1991′s Best Books for Young Adults.
Harrison’s second novel, My Sister the Moon, (Doubleday/Avon 1992) has also received recognition by reading and school groups throughout the United States and was a Baker and Taylor top ten in library sales. Both Mother Earth Father Sky and My Sister the Moon were Main Selections of the Literary Guild Book Club and alternate selections of the Doubleday Book Club. Brother Wind, Harrison’s third novel was released in hardcover by William Morrow, October 1994, and in 1995 as an Avon paperback. The novel was chosen as an alternate selection by both the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Clubs. Song of the River and Cry of the Wind were both published by Avon Hardcover/Avon paperback, a division of Hearst Books. The third book of The Storyteller Trilogy, Call down the stars was published by Morrow/Avon in 2001 and 2002. It was featured alternate of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Clubs.
Harrison’s books have also been published in Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Spain, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Japan, France, Finland, and South America.
Harrison is represented by Victoria Skurnick of the Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
October 27, 2021
A masterful and fitting end to a great series, which you will also enjoy if you have a thing for ancient cultures, Neolithic tribes, and storytelling. More details in my review for the first book in the series, but the gist of it is that it reads fast (in spite of the native words mixed throughout the text) and you can also learn interesting and well-researched things about the Aleut peoples of several thousands of years ago.
February 21, 2017
As I closed this book, the last of Harrison's Storyteller Trilogy, I felt no regret, for the story of more than five thousand years of oral tradition in a colorful and realistic prehistoric setting had been adeptly finished. Instead, I was aware of how much I appreciate authors who really love to write regardless of the subject matter and who are, themselves, gifted storytellers. Sue Harrison's characters all exhibit the qualities and weaknesses that we see in ourselves and become as real to the reader as her neighbors and family members and their stories are as much a part of our 'todays,' as they quite probably were thousands of years ago. But the true magic lies in the details, and Harrison's extensive research allows her to paint such realistic settings that returning to the modern world between chapters is like awakening suddenly from a technicolor dream.
January 11, 2010
All of Ms. Harrison's books are good reads, but his series is my fave. (Do read them in order if possible...this is book 3 in this series).
June 18, 2019
I really liked how each character was another story from the storytellers. And I liked the way the story ended.
December 17, 2025
I have a hard time collecting my thoughts and put into word my feelings about this book, and the entire series. The story feels alive because the author really knows how to tell it in an engaging way. I don't really have any complaints about the story arcs. But still something doesn't feel right about the story, but I can't put my finger on it.
This book felt pretty disconnected from the other two books in the series. This felt more like a spin-off than a continuation of the story. The story ended with the second book and that was enough for me at least.
The first two had a core and a red thread it followed, which came to it's conclution in the second book. What loose ends remained didn't need to be tied up, which is even more clear considering this book gives several different options to how it ended.
The framework of a story within a story is interesting and I like it as a concept, but it makes this book feel even more disconnected from the first two where that framework weren't as prominent (in the first it wasn't there at all).
I had to force myself to finish the last ten chapters. Not because the book was bad but it felt like it overstayed it's welcome.
SPOILERS!!!!
I was tired of K'os before this book even begun, so the fact that this book is more or less her story is a big part of the problem for me. I understand that she is the main antagonist of the entire series, but she lived far too long and was able to do way too much damage. By the end I just felt weary and didn't really care that she killed so many in the end. Way too many wrinkles in the story that allowed her to carry out her plans.
I think the story spent too much time with both Grandfather and Daughter lost at sea, and with Cen lost at sea. It stayed a bit too long and it felt almost like reveling in their misery but also it got boring. We all knew they were going to find land, because the framework of the story is storytelling and if they never reached land they wouldn't be able to tell their stories. So, the suspense of if they would survive was lost from the beginning. I understand that in the framework how they survived is important for oral history but it was a bit too long.
But the end with Qung almost brought me to tears, I'm so happy she got to meet Aqamdax again.
I also like how Cries-Loud and Yaa's story came to a conclusion. It was beautiful how their problem wasn't really with each other but with their circumstances. I was so worried he didn't care for Yaa like she deserve, but when he was with Red-Leaf and thought about how he didn't want another wife was heart-wrenching.
This book felt pretty disconnected from the other two books in the series. This felt more like a spin-off than a continuation of the story. The story ended with the second book and that was enough for me at least.
The first two had a core and a red thread it followed, which came to it's conclution in the second book. What loose ends remained didn't need to be tied up, which is even more clear considering this book gives several different options to how it ended.
The framework of a story within a story is interesting and I like it as a concept, but it makes this book feel even more disconnected from the first two where that framework weren't as prominent (in the first it wasn't there at all).
I had to force myself to finish the last ten chapters. Not because the book was bad but it felt like it overstayed it's welcome.
SPOILERS!!!!
I was tired of K'os before this book even begun, so the fact that this book is more or less her story is a big part of the problem for me. I understand that she is the main antagonist of the entire series, but she lived far too long and was able to do way too much damage. By the end I just felt weary and didn't really care that she killed so many in the end. Way too many wrinkles in the story that allowed her to carry out her plans.
I think the story spent too much time with both Grandfather and Daughter lost at sea, and with Cen lost at sea. It stayed a bit too long and it felt almost like reveling in their misery but also it got boring. We all knew they were going to find land, because the framework of the story is storytelling and if they never reached land they wouldn't be able to tell their stories. So, the suspense of if they would survive was lost from the beginning. I understand that in the framework how they survived is important for oral history but it was a bit too long.
But the end with Qung almost brought me to tears, I'm so happy she got to meet Aqamdax again.
I also like how Cries-Loud and Yaa's story came to a conclusion. It was beautiful how their problem wasn't really with each other but with their circumstances. I was so worried he didn't care for Yaa like she deserve, but when he was with Red-Leaf and thought about how he didn't want another wife was heart-wrenching.
July 14, 2017
I wondered what direction the author would take this book, the last in her series. The plot seemed somewhat resolved in the previous book, with the characters at good stopping points.
In CALL DOWN THE STARS, more emphasis is put on the storytellers who appeared in the first two books. A new character was also added, and through her story, as told by the storytellers, we hear about characters introduced in the previous books.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, but one thing that frustrated me was a number of the tales featuring characters from the previous books felt more like extended epilogue, and didn't really move the main story, that of the new character, along.
Probably the most surprising thing to me about this book was it's handling of two of the main character's fates. The stories regarding these two characters are presented with different endings by the storytellers, leaving the reader to decide for themselves what "really" happened. I'm not sure how I feel about this technique. On one hand, it was innovative and accurate. Stories passed down over generations do change, and sometimes are remembered in entirely different ways. On the other hand, this is a novel, and after spending many hours reading, I felt like I deserved more of a definitive conclusion.
Still, a wonderful voyage into prehistory and highly recommended to anyone who has read the other books in the series or enjoys prehistory.
In CALL DOWN THE STARS, more emphasis is put on the storytellers who appeared in the first two books. A new character was also added, and through her story, as told by the storytellers, we hear about characters introduced in the previous books.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, but one thing that frustrated me was a number of the tales featuring characters from the previous books felt more like extended epilogue, and didn't really move the main story, that of the new character, along.
Probably the most surprising thing to me about this book was it's handling of two of the main character's fates. The stories regarding these two characters are presented with different endings by the storytellers, leaving the reader to decide for themselves what "really" happened. I'm not sure how I feel about this technique. On one hand, it was innovative and accurate. Stories passed down over generations do change, and sometimes are remembered in entirely different ways. On the other hand, this is a novel, and after spending many hours reading, I felt like I deserved more of a definitive conclusion.
Still, a wonderful voyage into prehistory and highly recommended to anyone who has read the other books in the series or enjoys prehistory.
Read
July 7, 2020This trilogy is about storytellers in the Aleutian Islands. They have no other entertainment but listening to stories. As a result, storytellers are highly regarded by all the different tribes. This story touches on the morals (or lack thereof) in some of the people and how they interact with the tribe. Some people have good intentions, some do not.
What I found fascinating was the way they practiced their religion (we would probably call it superstitious). But all were devout to some extent. This trilogy followed one young hunter/storyteller and his trials & tribulations. He takes as mate another storyteller. Their story is retold in centuries to come. Other storyteller stories are unfolding while these ancient stories are being shared.
What I found fascinating was the way they practiced their religion (we would probably call it superstitious). But all were devout to some extent. This trilogy followed one young hunter/storyteller and his trials & tribulations. He takes as mate another storyteller. Their story is retold in centuries to come. Other storyteller stories are unfolding while these ancient stories are being shared.
June 5, 2019
Wonderful stories about these ancient peoples who settled on the North Pacific islands. Their lives are extremely hard, full of calamities and sadness but they are resilient as they do not know anything other then trying to exist and live according to their beliefs. The characters are so believable in their attitudes, thoughts and personalities that is so relevant to the human condition. All their individual stories intertwine easily and satisfyingly for the reader. I am so glad I discovered this set of books but disappointed that I have now read all of them.
March 27, 2023
The final chapters of the Storyteller Trilogy surpasses my expectations. Sue Harrison weaves marvellous tales of the lives of prehistoric peoples on the Alaskan Coasts spanning generations. As I turned every page over I could see, hear, smell, taste and almost touch each new twist. In the end the reader is fully adorned in a skillfully crafted resilient skin, whilst weathered with scars and personal triumph. This trilogy was a perfect trove of stories fashioned into a brilliant epic; a wonderful basket of threads to weave by the fire in the dark days of winter.
August 5, 2021
Excellent. Just sad to see this trilogy done, because Sue Harrison does a really nice job. I particularly enjoyed the structure of this one, in pieces told as stories but written with her same style. So engaging.
June 28, 2017
Good book!... the first two were good enough to keep me in the book - but the third one was really great. It moved well and the ending was excellent! Very VERY good ending!
April 17, 2018
Sue Harrison is an amazing writer and this was an amazing read. The story flowed. Lots of twists and turns. New characters were introduced. Ms. Harrison is a master storyteller.
February 1, 2017
I don't recomend this book. The previous one was so awesome, and the sequence disapointed me. The author includes another story line, about 6000 years later than the story of Aqamdax and Chakliux, where 4 storytellers tell the continuation of the story we know. This makes everything broken! And this new characters are not, really not interesting. I have the impression that it was only to make the book bigger.
Another thing that disaponted me is that the end is told on two different ways. So we don't really kow how the story ends!!! When I read a book I like to think of it as a true story, that the characters really existed and did what is written. Really, I didn't like this book.
If you read this trilogy, stop at the book 2.
Another thing that disaponted me is that the end is told on two different ways. So we don't really kow how the story ends!!! When I read a book I like to think of it as a true story, that the characters really existed and did what is written. Really, I didn't like this book.
If you read this trilogy, stop at the book 2.
February 2, 2015
This isn't my favorite book in The Storyteller Trilogy and I give it only four stars. The book is written in a completely different style from the first two, but makes sense, given it's about generations of storytellers. The writing took a bit of adjusting to, but once I settled in I got swept away by the story. I think the K'Os/Gheli plotline didn't need to be drawn out as much; it felt like I was watching grass grow in parts. K'Os is such a wonderful antihero, though. And I am satisfied with the way this story ended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2017
This is the final book of the trilogy and we add one more important character, a girl called Daughter who escaped with her grandfather across the icy North Pacific to find shelter on the islands of the Whale Hunters. But peace was not to be their lot. For here the mad medicine woman K'os was scheming vengeance against her most despised enemy, the revered warrior and statesman called Chakliux -- her son.
Set long, long ago...80 centuries before us, it demonstrates that evil and goodness have not changed much. good read.
Set long, long ago...80 centuries before us, it demonstrates that evil and goodness have not changed much. good read.
January 20, 2011
Finally finished this trilogy. It's about ancient peoples of Alaska and was a very entertaining, but long read.
Amazingly, but not surprisingly, the main vicious character who you meet in the first book, finally dies at the end of the last book, but true to her character, her death is shrouded in mystery and legend.
Though they can be confusing at times, Harrison has a faculty for weaving many characters through her many convoluted plots and subplots to a satisfying conclusion.
Amazingly, but not surprisingly, the main vicious character who you meet in the first book, finally dies at the end of the last book, but true to her character, her death is shrouded in mystery and legend.
Though they can be confusing at times, Harrison has a faculty for weaving many characters through her many convoluted plots and subplots to a satisfying conclusion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2012
There are two time lines to this story. There is Daughter's story back around 6000 BC and there is the story teller's time of about 600 BC. The bulk of the story is that of Daughter and her growth from a refugee from an attacked village to an adopted daughter to a wife back in a village near her original home. Throughout she is a fish out of water, always trying to adjust and to please and never sure if she's doing the right thing.
March 25, 2011
The technique Harrison used in this, the third of the series, made it very entertaining. The story alternates between storytellers thousands of years later with those of the original storytellers to fill in blanks, and the ending nicely melds the relationships over the centuries. I enjoyed this one most of all.
December 21, 2016
If it has one star I liked it a lot
If it has two stars I liked it a lot and would recommend it
If it has three stars I really really liked it a lot
If it has four stars I insist you read it
If it has five stars it was life changing
If it has two stars I liked it a lot and would recommend it
If it has three stars I really really liked it a lot
If it has four stars I insist you read it
If it has five stars it was life changing
January 31, 2008
I was sad that this was the last one. I love all her books. I would recommend them to anybody.
January 6, 2012
Beautiful, pitch perfect prose made this book a delight.
April 12, 2025
Upon Reread, I would lower the rating to a 4 stars, but it is still a solid conclusion to the series.
August 16, 2012
very good , didn't want the story to end
March 8, 2013
Perhaps my favorite of all Sue Harrison books in any series. I loved how it ended and am only sad that it's over.
November 18, 2014
loved it good ending to a wonderful trilogy.
January 7, 2017
Really good ending to this series. This book was written a bit differently and took me a little while to get into it but it was well worth it.
March 25, 2023
Such an amazing trilogy, the story transports you to another time in another world.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews