Shadow Hunter

by Will Baker

Sealed inside their Choctaw all-terrain cruiser, Frank Drager and his son, Ronald, rappel down a canyon wall. Their agile vehicle scans for the rare wild animals preserved for the most priveleged sportsmen. As shadows lengthen, thirteen-year-old Ronald takes his first tentative steps into the mountain wilderness...and disappears. In the comfortable North American hive of supermalls, feel-good drugs, and computer-guided traffic patterns, the Drager disappearance becomes a media event and a public outrage. The search for Ronald begins, but few suspect the truth: The boy has been captured by a secretive, cave-dwelling people, and is fleeing with them to the desolate south. Pressured by a fearful public, the ruling government prepares to launch a military campaign against the cave dwellers with a chilling final goal; the swift and decisive end of Nature. As carrion birds write cryptic messages in the sky, three top-flight agents track the Drager boy across a forbidding desertscape. Meanwhile, Ronald tastes the raw and intoxicating power of Nature, and glimpses his role in the fate of all living things. But he must lead a fight for sanity in the face of a shockingly real nightmare--a world literally at war with itself.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy

434 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Rik · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting futuristic, post nuclear devastation story, with semi fantasy/magic elements due to the mysterious mind power the Pobla have. The hive mind idea worked well, but sometimes the authors attempt to describe the interaction between it and the characters left me a little unsure what was going on. There were some good characters, and the length of the book allowed them to develop and become well fleshed out.
I have some issues with the Tima character, who is surposed to be 15; she acted with very adult thought processes, and was not credible as a teenager. She also seems very comfortable having sex with much older men, and there is no sense that this is inappropriate!
Would give this 3.5 stars If I could, as the author nicely drew the various strands together for a decent ending.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was actually very engaging with concepts that were thought provoking. With so called humans running things and a race that humans think are sub human and worthy of hunting, the plot draws you in to the life and abilities of the so called subhuman race. They live like savages but surprise the reader at almost every turn.

I liked the book.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this story,sort of brave-new-worldy concept of the noble savage. It also incorporated some elements of the narrative that nature seems to tell itself. The interplay between the moth, the termite and the woodland creature being a story in itself and worthy of our respect and attention.

[Wilte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some nice ideas, the technopeople versus the more in-tune with people (Ginks). But hardly any interesting characters, all kinds of jargon and new lingo (the indigenous rituals). Lots of stuff is set up with specific wording that is never really fleshed out. Cumbersome.

Plot is about Ronnie Drager who gets lost during a hunting sessions and who assimilates with the Ginks/Pobla. Also many words about intrigues and politics. Barely 2 stars.

[Megan]

DNS 7/16/2021

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

i left out 1 star because the ending left things begging for a sequel which to my knowledge doesn't exist. it's a sweet ending don't get me wrong, but i spent most of 3 days reading a novel because i wanted someone to tie It all together for me!! not give me great imaginative tools and drop me off back in reality with the same looming catastrophes just more mutant! I had to spend hours watching my mind create resolutions. and where's the major motion picture?!

I loved the writing style. It kept the A.D.D. in check with so many sub-plots covering many spheres. Will's polished knack for the western sciences makes for an interpretive tour through the specialized trenches of civility, countered by a goulash of indigenous attitudes (which i think Will has practiced somewhat) extrapolated to a severe polarization of each other, and with a bridge between. for temporarily relieving me of that work: the 4 stars!

[Dark-Draco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quite a good book to read in the current climate of...well...climate concerns!

In the future, an apocalypse has laid waste to huge areas of land, where nature is running rampant. Wild tales of animals working together to bring down human hunters are hurriedly put down by those in control, while they stoke the fires of hatred for the Ginks. These human/ape hybrids, who would rather die than touch 'civilisation', are blamed for everything, and when a young son of a government official goes missing in the wilderness, all out war is declared.

The story was a bit hard to follow in places, but I still really liked it. A bit different from the run of the mill SF novel. A bit gory in places though - not for the faint hearted!!

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

After half the world is destroyed by nuclear weapons a hybrid human/monkey race begins to thrive. Threatens sapies, as they work together with all the other creatures who can sense a great ?spirit? between them all. A teenager boy, Ronnie, is stollen from his father by an old she-bear and goes to live with the lapsis (money guys). He's given the ghost of a baby they killed, but eventually has to return to the sapiens to keep a political faction from obliterating the lapsis.

[Wufnik · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books--have read it a couple of times now. There is a sequel, Star Beast. Sadly, Baker died several years ago, and there doesn't actually appear to be a third volume, or one that I've been able to find, anyway. I suppose knowing that one will never know how Baker was going to resolve all of this will likely deter people, but don't let it. It's a thrilling ride.

[Dr. Barrett Dylan Brown, Phd · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was decent enough, I made it half way through, I've just been too busy with computers and lazy video watching lately. I'd like to finish it one day...