The Holy Road

Dances With Wolves #2

by Michael Blake

The compelling sequel to Dances With Wolves

Eleven years have passed since Lieutenant John Dunbar became the Comanche warrior Dances With Wolves and married Stands With A Fist, a white-born woman raised as a Comanche from early childhood. With their three children, they live peacefully in the village of Ten Bears. But there is unease in the air, caused by increased reports of violent confrontations with white soldiers, who want to drive the Comanche onto reservations. Disquiet turns to horror, and then to rage, when a band of white rangers descends on Ten Bear's village, slaughtering half its inhabitants and abducting Stands With A Fist and her infant daughter. The three surviving great warriors - Wind In His Hair, Kicking Bird, and Dances With Wolves - decide they must go to war with the white invaders. At the same time, Dances With Wolves realizes that only he can rescue his wife and child.

Told with the same sweep, insight, and majesty that have made Dances With Wolves a worldwide phenomenon, The Holy Road is an epic story of courage and honor.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Westerns, Historical, Native American, Audiobook, Native Americans

366 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 4, 2001

About the author

The author of several novels, including the New York Times #1 Bestseller Dances With Wolves and winner of the 1991 Academy Award.

Reviews

[Tommy /|\ · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I found out that there was a sequel to "Dances With Wolves" - I was extremely excited and happy. As a movie, DWW was fun to watch and stirred certain parts of my Pagan and Druidic soul. The novel of DWW brought everything into an even clearer focus and made a familiar storyline that much more fun for me. Sadly, "The Holy Road" didn't conjure the same feelings for me - at least not the first two-thirds of the book. Where DWW brought the concepts of daily American Indian life into focus -- THR does nothing of the sort. The storyline meanders through the lives of the major characters from DWW. Nothing sparked the imagination and much of the storyline came off as dull and lacking any spark of the previous story. Even when danger is introduced into the storyline for the character Dances With Wolves -- even this is ground into a fine dust of boredom. For me, it wasn't until the final third that the storyline came alive -- especially in the storyline for Ten Bears and Kicking Bird. The last third of the novel was difficult to stop reading...and was a breath of fresh air that echoed on the differences between the world of the White Man and that of the Indian. Had it not been for the last third of the book -- I would have rated this novel as one and a half stars.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed ‘Dances With Wolves’ so that I was greatly looking forward to reading this lengthy sequel. Blake evidently put a lot of effort into it but I found it hard going. The plot is a lot broader than the first instalment and that was one drawback: the novel presents itself as a hunt for abducted relatives but the hunt is just one strand in a lot of other sub-plots. Of itself that’s not an issue except that the other sub-plots are hard to get into, and the scenes based on secondary (or primary? which is yet another snag) characters’ introspection really bogs down the narrative. There is little dialogue and less pace, and barely a single description of the physical settings. Yes the ending is sad but that doesn’t compensate for the constant feeling of hollowness which I experienced throughout my reading.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I learned I learned from Michael Blake. Met him at the book release here in Tucson, Arizona. He has a true love for the Native Americans and the plight of the Buffalo. He gave me advice as an aspiring writer, never stop writing. His words have always stayed with me.

[Nik Morton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Holy Road is a beautifully written historical novel. Dances with Wolves was published in 1988, the film was released in 1991. Michael Blake wrote the screenplay to his novel, so it is naturally very faithful to the book, with a few exceptions (mentioned below). Blake took some fifteen years before he could put ink to paper to continue the story, and the sequel was published in 2001. Blake now states in the 2011 reprint (Zova Books), ‘Unfortunately, what took place with all, including John Dunbar and Stands With A Fist, has never been known by the vast majority of American readers.’ This seems incomprehensible, that for some reason the book didn’t reach the readers in 2001. I’ve chosen not to use the book title for the blog – I suspect that perhaps it doesn’t pull in readers. In effect, the Comanche are being asked to take the white man’s holy road, a road they have never travelled.

I hope this new version and publisher put that right, because the story is worth reading for many reasons.

Dances With Wolves is about the Comanche tribes, not the Sioux. Film producer Jim Wilson says in the Illustrated Story of the Film, ‘At first I had Oklahoma and Texas in mind (for filming), because the Indians in Michael’s novel were Comanche and they were indigenous to those areas… It was really the buffalo that pointed us toward South Dakota…’ Here, they found the largest private herd of buffalo in the world – 3,500 head. The added benefit of South Dakota was one of the largest Native American communities in the country, the Sioux. The Holy Road continues with the story of the Comanche.

The ending of the film is not the ending of the book; John Dunbar and Stands With A Fist don’t leave the tribe, but stay with them. The book however ended with the pall of inescapable doom looming on the horizon.

Throughout The Holy Road this doom of inevitability hovers. Yet the characters deflect thoughts of the heartbreak to come. We meet again Smiles A Lot, Ten Bears and Kicking Bird, and their personalities shine just as before. The book begins ten years after the events in Dances With Wolves.

For dramatic and historical reasons, Blake writes with an omniscient point of view and voice, which still transports us into the lost world and hearts and minds of the horse people. His prose is lyrical, and at times poetic, laced with heartache and humour.

Ten Bears is a prominent figure in this book, too. He feels impotent. ‘The Comanche and all they knew would be reduced to dust so fine that it could only be seen in a shaft of light before it settled on the earth.’

This is not the story about Dances With Wolves any more, but about his friends and his adopted tribe. It shows the coming of age of Smiles A Lot, and the confusion of a collision of two cultures through the eyes of Kicking Bird and Ten Bears.

We accompany Ten Bears and Kicking Bird to Washington where they witness the greatness of white man’s ingenuity and his absolute lack of respect for nature – as evinced in the slaughterhouse and the sewage system. While many Comanche agree to go into a reservation, others refuse and continue to fight, notably Wind In His Hair and Dances With Wolves…

The ending is sad, but we knew that before we began the book. Having read the book, however, we are enriched.

[Deni Johansson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the movie and the book, Dances with Wolves. I own them--incl the first copy of the book. I had to see what happened to Dances With Wolves, Stands With A Fist, Wind in His Hair, Smiles A lot, Ten Bears, and Kicking Bird. I love all the characters. It was a book I could not put down. Before reading it, I was amazed to discover there was a second book to Dances With Wolves. I wondered why no sequel to the movie had been made. After reading it, I understood why. Despite what happens in the book to our favorite characters (no spoilers!), they still should have made a movie. The truth is not always comfortable, but it is always the truth. Much of it is based on the truth of what happened to Native Americans, and how they were forced to do some of the things they had to do to survive. It left me feeling sad, but I am glad I read it. I recommend it to any fan of Dances With Wolves. I feel lucky to have read it, it was literally the last copy in our library system. I plan to buy my own copy in the future.

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a sequel to Dances With Wolves (which was a novel before the movie). I can't say I totally didn't like it -- but it was disappointing and depressing. It has none of the charm of the original. It also doesn't have a real story in it -- Dances was the story of a man finding his true path, not just a depiction of Native Americans. This book just depicts the demise of the Native Americans, and adds nothing new to the telling.

[Cisz Geverink - Strasters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wat een prachtig verhaal wasdit. Intens verdriet, maar zo mooi geschreven. Echt een aanrader ♡

www.facebook.com/thebookbabecisz

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Michael Blake’s The Holy Road picks up the story of Dances with Wolves and his Comanche tribesmen a decade after the white soldier’s integration into Plains Indian society. Surprisingly, though, the white soldier turned red warrior is not a central character in this sequel. Rather, the story focuses primarily on the welfare and confederation of the greater Comanche tribe as the “white tide” increasingly encroaches on their land and resources, pressing them to adopt the “Holy Road” (civilized, Christian society). In this struggle, Dances with Wolves, the protagonist of Blake’s first novel, is oddly ignored as a potential resource for either knowledge of the enemy whites or as a translator. (Kicking bird, the tribe medicine man, has somehow superseded him as the most qualified to perform these duties.) Frustratingly, Blake treats Dances with Wolves’ unfamiliarity with his native tongue as merely an unfortunate inconvenience. This calls into question the very theme of homage the book relies on; if costly warfare against the whites can be avoided through insider intelligence, then the reader must accept that a grown white man, however assimilated into Comanche culture, can simply forget most of his adult life over the course of ten years. Since Blake establishes that “every Comanche knows that it is foolish to fight if you cannot win," (location 1045) Dances with Wolves’ ignorance of white culture can then be excused, but this certainly compromises his objectivity as an Indian warrior! Other members of the Comanche tribe (including Stands with a Fist) serve as background characters for numerous sub-plots pertaining to family life and internal community statuses that help support Blake’s stereotype of the Comanches as a simple even-tempered and spiritual people. The whites, in as much detail, are represented as a sprawling scourge of ignorant and heartless thieves. These contrasting stereotypes make for a dramatic story condition when considered alone, but since these portrayals didn’t exist in the first book - and are even contrary to the original depictions of each faction, they fail to make convincing elements for a sequel involving the same cast.

[Drick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a sequel to Blake's earlier Dances with Wolves, which was made into a movie starring Kevin Costner. This book starts 12 years after Dances in the mid-1870's when the U.S. Government is moving Comanches, Kiowas and other tribes on to reservations by force. Black tells the story of this painful period from the Native American perspective and its not pretty. Through the story you get a glimpse at the Comanche culture and the way of life they fought so despertely to preserve. The white man's "holy road" appears to be paved with greed, manipulation, deceit and racist hubris. The book is as well written as it is troubling.

[Valley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this sequel more. The characters were well developed and individual. Seeing the beginning of the aboriginal reserve system and how doomed it was from the start was interesting to view from their perspective and shed light on the main issue at hand with the whole idea - forced assimilation. and starvation. Having the three "white" natives not be able to handle it further demonstrating this although the author doesn't mention much of them.
I particularly enjoyed seeing the white culture through Ten Bear's old eyes. It really must have been ridiculous to them and it still is a bit to us what our ancestors did.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the white man continues his relentless journey south and west across the lands held by the Comanche, a team of Rangers identify Stands with a Fist as missing Christine Gunther. Rescuing her leads Dances With Wolves into a new conflict which will bring about the end of his new life.

Blake's 'The Holy Road' is a bitter tale which mourns the passing of the simple way of life idolised in 'Dances With Wolves'. The plot flows easily and the vivid descriptions of a dead way of life make the novel worth reading.

[Mary Brownfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, talk about depressing. I am drawn to stories that detail the human condition in bleak and unforgiving portraiture; this novel did not disappoint me. In beautifully written prose, the plight and subsequent destruction of the Comanche through US policy is detailed in an intimate fashion. You weep at the foretold destruction of these people, and yet you can't help but hope that against all historical accuracy they will prevail.

[Deborah Pickstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sequel to Dances with Wolves. If only Michael Blake had written more! This was hard to obtain (finally got it via Abe Books) but I had to read it and it is just as good. Brilliant, even - and tragic; the destruction of a people.

Read it if you can get it!

[Book Concierge · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sequel to "Dances With Wolves" was very disappointing. I felt the author was just captalizing on the popularity of the earlier work.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The epic story continues as readers follow John Dunbar, eleven years after he became know as Dances with Wolves. Great story that takes readers into the past and the struggles faced in a harsh land.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although well written, this is not a book easily defined as good due to the heartbreaking nature of the story that incorporates the US policies, attitudes, and legislation that decimated the Indigenous tribes through levels of deceit, cruelty, absence of humanity that reflects actual history and its consequences. With gentle humor, warm friendships, and respect for the world around them, all of the familiar characters I came to love with Dances With Wolves return to tell the final chapter of their lives. My only criticism is that the reader for the audio version has a cadence to his voice that was very annoying and he failed additionally to mimic the various voices of the characters in anything close to an authentic manner.

[Caia_In_Wonderland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could only be more devastating if the connection to the characters along with the writing was more intimate. Still, you’ve the privileged if sad truth of what the natives faced— reservations or being hunted and killed. It’s really well done, and really sad. One of the worse genocides ever.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this wayy more than Dances with Wolves! I wish they made this a movie! The writing is so much better and the plot was fantastic. Wish there was more of following for dances with wolves but still loved it.

[Mark Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really hard to read, incredibly slow book. I enjoyed the follow on to the John Dunbar story, however it was dry at times, and long. The story was good and well told over all. It took a long time to get through.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A continuation of “Dances with Wolves” but not as good. Still worth the read because of the description of the horrible treatment of native Americans.

[Dsinglet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sequel to Dances With Wolves although it has less emphasis on him and his family. And more emphasis on the persecution and forced move of the tribes onto reservations. We watch Dances risk his life to rescue his wife and daughter by trying to be white again to pass into the culture to find them. We see the tribal relationships build and eventually split into those who desire peace and those unwilling to give up their homeland and way of life.

He does a great section on seeing white civilization through the eyes of an old wise Indian. When you read it, you want to cry for all that is lost. Some warriors fought to the death again superior forces and superior weapons. Others accepted the inevitable. What a sad event in American history.

My disappointment with the book was that Dances With Wolves did not stay as a main focus of the story. He and Stands with a Fist carried a lot of the emotional interest but were kind of left out of the limelight as the culture disintegrated
Still a fine read

[Jacky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starting this book I knew it wouldn't have a happy ending, given the sad Native American history.
Despite that fact I rate it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Michael Blake draws you in and makes you feel so sorry for the way the white man treated the native Americans and their ( in my eyes beautiful way of looking at life and all the earth gave us ) way of life and afterwards disregard their promises regarding taking care of them...

Specifically the slaughterhouse scene, that is very hard to read and the way he describes Ten Bears reaction to it, is difficult but very understandable.
I read the pages of Kinking Bird laying Ten Bears to rest and suddenly coming to realise that this is the end for their way of life, through tears. That part was just heartbreaking.....

No happy ending if you read on indeed.
Though it's a sad history I still think it needs to be read as this is another black page in American history, like there are many at the hands of our ancestors....

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, this follow up to Dances with Wolves doesn't live up to the the original at all. This is not unusual for sequels, mind you, but I had much higher hopes for this one. The summary makes it sound like this story revolves around the efforts of Dances with Wolves to reclaim his wife and child after they were taken during a raid on their Comanche village by US soldiers. With that premise, there are so many possibilities for how Dunbar would react to being back in white civilization but there was nothing of the sort. In fact, Dances with Wolves is barely a supporting character in this book. The telling of how Indians were "herded and corralled" into the first reservations is a worthy one but this one fell flat because there was no focus. Narration skipped back and forth between characters with Kicking Bird being in the forefront. I guess Dances with Wolves was just too good a story to try to add onto. I'd say, don't bother with this one. 2.5 stars

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I considered giving this book 3 stars because the ending was a lot better than the rest of it. I think the kidnapping of Stands with a Fist was unnecessary and only contributed to the length of the book (though it was kind of fun to read how her family interacted in a white man’s settlement). I think the book would have been super interesting from Ten Bears perspective and not in third person. It made the book feel more like a history lesson and less like historical fiction. I was deeply disappointed in this book, because The Dances with Wolves movie has been my favorite movie since I was a kid and this book did not do it justice. I read some of Michael Blake’s thoughts at the end and he stated that it was a hard book to write because of his attachments to the characters. I think over all it would have been better to let Dances with Wolves be a stand alone book and wrote a factual history book instead. *just my opinion though*

[Conrad Wesselhoeft · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling, worthy sequel to "Dances With Wolves." Michael Blake has nailed the dignity, courage, and pathos of the Plains Indian at this pivotal time in their history. I especially liked the arc involving Smiles A Lot--his vision quest and his love for Ten Bears' granddaughter.

Spoiler alert: I was puzzled by the demotion of Dunbar/Dances to a less-than-central role. Why was he spending so much time on the sidelines? However, as the roles of Kicking Bird and Ten Bears gained momentum, the story began to have an epic feel. I thought this worked well in book form but wonder how Dunbar/Dances' lower profile might square with moviegoers when this hits the big screen.

I'm a firm believer that you don't let the public tell you how to tell a story, you tell it as it needs to be told. And this is one terrific story.

[Donna Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sequel to Dances with Wolves is as tragic as the first book was exciting. Of course there is no way to write a happy conclusion to one of the most tragic events in this country's history — the decimation of the Plains Indians in 1868-69. Michael Blake does a remarkable job of telling the story from the view of Native Americans, specifically the Comanche, Cheyenne and Kiowa. It is surprising to me that this book was difficult to locate (not available at the NYC library). But it was well worth the search.

[Steven Howes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and easy read. However given the history of western expansion in the US, you know from the start that the ending probably won't be a very happy one. If you are looking for some sort of hidden meaning or message, it probably is that basically all humans are pretty much the same and with a little respect, all can get along together. The other is the strength of family and that some people will do just about anything to protect their loved ones.

[Sherri Whittenburg-hampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following the lives of Native Americans as they fight soldiers for their land and then ultimately end up in reservations was a hard to pill to swallow. The realization of what our ancestors put these incredible people through is a difficult reminder of our humanitarian shortcomings. This sequel to Dances With Wolves was written as beautifully as I expected. You care for these people immensely and though you know the eventual outcome, you find yourself hoping it won't happen after all.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sequel to Dances with Wolves’ is well written book with many visuals that stay faithful to the original. Many didn’t like this book I suspect because of the real and unhappy ending it has in complete contrast to Dances where John Dunbar rides off with the girl. It feels melancholy in a way with all the death and destruction that happened in the west. A sad but true realization as the book comes to the end.

[Carol Lemke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always thought I would love a movie sequel to Dances with Wolves, but I can see why a movie wasn't made from this book. It lacked the character focus of the first and instead followed several of the main characters into the future. I did like it for it's historical value and I think it would make a pretty good documentary, giving an accurate (from other things I have read) depiction of the sad ending to the reign of the Plains Indian Tribes.