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Soul Catcher
Soul Catcher (1972) is a novel by the science fiction writer Frank Herbert. Soul Catcher is about a Native American who kidnaps a young white boy and their journey together. It is a story of vengeance and sacrifice. In the conflicted anti-hero, one may see many truths to the feelings harbored by those who were conquered.Many Native American myths are touched upon; e.g. that the bee does not haphazardly sting its victim, rather it chooses that person. The book is committed to seeing the sacrifice through and the “lamb” must be an innocent to represent the many Native American innocents slaughtered. Therein lies the conflict with our tragic hero, that he may actually have found respect for his young white hostage, yet he knows what it is that he must do for his people.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
72 people are currently reading
1289 people want to read
About the author
Frank Herbert
547 books16.5k followersFranklin Patrick Herbert Jr. was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel Dune and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, photographer, book reviewer, ecological consultant, and lecturer.
The Dune saga, set in the distant future, and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science and ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, economics and power in a future where humanity has long since developed interstellar travel and settled many thousands of worlds. Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and the entire series is considered to be among the classics of the genre.
The Dune saga, set in the distant future, and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science and ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, economics and power in a future where humanity has long since developed interstellar travel and settled many thousands of worlds. Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and the entire series is considered to be among the classics of the genre.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
March 16, 2021
Fans of Frank Herbert in general need to check their expectations at the door when picking up this novel. It is his only traditional fiction novel. That is to say, it is not a genre novel at all.
Normally, this shouldn't mean diddly squat to readers, but the world being what it is, a lot of stupidity arises. The author of Dune wrote a novel that is not only on par with the very best novels of ANY branch of literature but he is still not given the honest credit he is due.
A good seven years after Dune, he wrote a complex, multi-layered tale of coming-of-age and revenge with no elements of SF or Fantasy, writing it very well and taking quite a few chances with it. In other words, it ought to have received a lot of critical appreciation not just for its careful representations of a Native American scholar-turned-shaman who takes the path of representational revenge to a very emotional conclusion, but for the careful duality of innocence and experience.
Of course, no novel like this would be written in today's market. That doesn't mean it's a bad novel -- only that many people would object to it on grounds that have nothing to do with the actual writing.
Such as? Well, in today's world, we'd hear cries of cultural appropriation. It's Frank Herbert writing from the PoV of a conflicted American Indian who went through our educational system and rejected it, instead going down a hard path of kidnapping a son of a high-ranking US politician for the sake of killing him in a highly representational, ritualistic way as a way to set things right for what had happened to his people.
The fact that the ending does not conform with the teachings does not say anything bad about the rest of the novel's careful depictions of Native American ideas. It DOES say a lot about the anti-hero of the tale, however. I'm very impressed by it. Dark endings, tragedies, even when they are couched as an inevitable good, are hard to pull off. Frank Herbert did both, equally condemning the white man AND the Native American without doing it obviously. Indeed, the message of eventual respect and spirit and soul, in context, gave me hope that there COULD be true understanding between peoples.
When that understanding is twisted, however, bad things always come.
No. This is not an SF or F novel by a man known far and wide as a brilliant SF novelist. But it IS a great novel full of subtlety, action, and heart.
Normally, this shouldn't mean diddly squat to readers, but the world being what it is, a lot of stupidity arises. The author of Dune wrote a novel that is not only on par with the very best novels of ANY branch of literature but he is still not given the honest credit he is due.
A good seven years after Dune, he wrote a complex, multi-layered tale of coming-of-age and revenge with no elements of SF or Fantasy, writing it very well and taking quite a few chances with it. In other words, it ought to have received a lot of critical appreciation not just for its careful representations of a Native American scholar-turned-shaman who takes the path of representational revenge to a very emotional conclusion, but for the careful duality of innocence and experience.
Of course, no novel like this would be written in today's market. That doesn't mean it's a bad novel -- only that many people would object to it on grounds that have nothing to do with the actual writing.
Such as? Well, in today's world, we'd hear cries of cultural appropriation. It's Frank Herbert writing from the PoV of a conflicted American Indian who went through our educational system and rejected it, instead going down a hard path of kidnapping a son of a high-ranking US politician for the sake of killing him in a highly representational, ritualistic way as a way to set things right for what had happened to his people.
The fact that the ending does not conform with the teachings does not say anything bad about the rest of the novel's careful depictions of Native American ideas. It DOES say a lot about the anti-hero of the tale, however. I'm very impressed by it. Dark endings, tragedies, even when they are couched as an inevitable good, are hard to pull off. Frank Herbert did both, equally condemning the white man AND the Native American without doing it obviously. Indeed, the message of eventual respect and spirit and soul, in context, gave me hope that there COULD be true understanding between peoples.
When that understanding is twisted, however, bad things always come.
No. This is not an SF or F novel by a man known far and wide as a brilliant SF novelist. But it IS a great novel full of subtlety, action, and heart.
January 29, 2018
A few years ago, I decided to read the most important other Herbert novels before starting a reread of the Dune series. A review of Children Of Dune on the always thoughtful Gaping Blackbird, made me eager to start that reread. That review focuses on the Nietzschean inspiration of CoD, and it led to an interesting discussion in the comments. So, I was eager to dive into Dune again, but as I still had Soul Catcher on my TBR, I started that.
Yesterday, after finishing Soul Catcher, I decided to kick the reread of Dune even a bit further back, and I ordered Destination: Void, on account of Joachim Boaz, who praised Herbert’s handling of its characters’ psyches in the comments of my Whipping Star review – as Soul Catcher is first and foremost a character driven novel, and one that even succeeds at that. I have to admit I had given up on Herbert as non-Dune writer, as Whipping Star, The Dosadi Experiment and The Santaroga Barrier all disappointed. So I’m all the more pleased to report Soul Catcher was a good read, and one that invigorated me to give Destination: Void an honest chance.
Genre classifications being what they are, potential readers should be aware that Soul Catcher is not speculative fiction. Rob Weber reported in his review on Val’s Random Comments that the publisher, Putnam, even put the following on the back flap: “This is Frank Herbert’s first major novel. He has written numerous science fiction books, of which Dune…”. Novels were not the same as science fiction books in 1972. Interestingly enough, there is no trace of that attitude on my 1979 edition, on the contrary. As you can see on the 1979 cover I included here, both the illustration and the text try to tap on to a speculative vibe: this is a “terrifying novel of the Spirit World”. Apparently Soul Catcher didn’t really catch on as regular literary fiction, and 7 years later, marketing decided to firmly latch it to Herbert’s other output – it’s pretty clear if you compare the vibe of the covers of the first two editions to the later one. The 2012 cover reverts the approach again. As always, ISFDB has a good overview of all the different cover art.
As Rob also wrote, the fact that this isn’t a SF book should not deter Herbert fans: “the ecological and mythological themes in the book especially, ties it to a lot of Herbert’s other works.”
Soul Catcher deals with a Native American kidnapping a 13-year old boy with the intent to kill him, as symbolical revenge for the rape of his own sister by a gang of white men, and her ensuing suicide – and by extension all the other crimes against the indigenous humans of the continent. As such it is a book that simply would not be published in these times of hired sensitivity readers. It would not get published just because of sensitivity issues: on top of that a white man writing a story like this without a doubt would get accused of cultural appropriation too. The fact that Herbert researched the subject extensively and clearly does not sympathize with white, Western genocidary imperialism would not excuse him. I’m sure today no publisher would dare to take a chance in our era of hair trigger culture wars.
After the jump you’ll find a rather lengthy discussion of a few different things: Soul Catcher as a psychological novel that also teaches us about today’s ‘terrorist’ violence; Soul Catcher as a critique on Western society and its interesting, realistic use of the ‘noble savage’ trope; a discussion on the use of ‘soul’ vs. ‘spirit’; a nugget for Dune fans, and my thoughts on the powerful ending and that ending’s relation to a movie adaptition that might or might not be made.
Certain sections are quote heavy, but obviously you can skim those if the particular topic doesn’t interest you that much.
(...)
Read the full analysis on Weighing A Pig
Yesterday, after finishing Soul Catcher, I decided to kick the reread of Dune even a bit further back, and I ordered Destination: Void, on account of Joachim Boaz, who praised Herbert’s handling of its characters’ psyches in the comments of my Whipping Star review – as Soul Catcher is first and foremost a character driven novel, and one that even succeeds at that. I have to admit I had given up on Herbert as non-Dune writer, as Whipping Star, The Dosadi Experiment and The Santaroga Barrier all disappointed. So I’m all the more pleased to report Soul Catcher was a good read, and one that invigorated me to give Destination: Void an honest chance.
Genre classifications being what they are, potential readers should be aware that Soul Catcher is not speculative fiction. Rob Weber reported in his review on Val’s Random Comments that the publisher, Putnam, even put the following on the back flap: “This is Frank Herbert’s first major novel. He has written numerous science fiction books, of which Dune…”. Novels were not the same as science fiction books in 1972. Interestingly enough, there is no trace of that attitude on my 1979 edition, on the contrary. As you can see on the 1979 cover I included here, both the illustration and the text try to tap on to a speculative vibe: this is a “terrifying novel of the Spirit World”. Apparently Soul Catcher didn’t really catch on as regular literary fiction, and 7 years later, marketing decided to firmly latch it to Herbert’s other output – it’s pretty clear if you compare the vibe of the covers of the first two editions to the later one. The 2012 cover reverts the approach again. As always, ISFDB has a good overview of all the different cover art.
As Rob also wrote, the fact that this isn’t a SF book should not deter Herbert fans: “the ecological and mythological themes in the book especially, ties it to a lot of Herbert’s other works.”
Soul Catcher deals with a Native American kidnapping a 13-year old boy with the intent to kill him, as symbolical revenge for the rape of his own sister by a gang of white men, and her ensuing suicide – and by extension all the other crimes against the indigenous humans of the continent. As such it is a book that simply would not be published in these times of hired sensitivity readers. It would not get published just because of sensitivity issues: on top of that a white man writing a story like this without a doubt would get accused of cultural appropriation too. The fact that Herbert researched the subject extensively and clearly does not sympathize with white, Western genocidary imperialism would not excuse him. I’m sure today no publisher would dare to take a chance in our era of hair trigger culture wars.
After the jump you’ll find a rather lengthy discussion of a few different things: Soul Catcher as a psychological novel that also teaches us about today’s ‘terrorist’ violence; Soul Catcher as a critique on Western society and its interesting, realistic use of the ‘noble savage’ trope; a discussion on the use of ‘soul’ vs. ‘spirit’; a nugget for Dune fans, and my thoughts on the powerful ending and that ending’s relation to a movie adaptition that might or might not be made.
Certain sections are quote heavy, but obviously you can skim those if the particular topic doesn’t interest you that much.
(...)
Read the full analysis on Weighing A Pig
August 19, 2010
...The real controversy about Soul Catcher is probably the ending. In Dreamer of Dune (which mentions the end of the novel explicitly so if you don't want it spoiled read the novel first) Brian Herbert mentions Frank got a lot of responses either confirming the ending as something Katsuk would do or that he got it all wrong. Even the Native American community seems to disagree on it. From a literary point of view I'd say it works very well. It's one of those endings that will stick with you, although I already knew how the story would end it still hit me as emotionally very powerful. Soul Catcher is a very sophisticated piece of writing. It shows Herbert's fabulous capacity to research the topic of his novel but also to write a very intense, character driven story. Herbert shows us a side of his talent the reader doesn't get to see that often. I always considered The Dosadi Experiment to be his best novel but I may have to reconsider. Somebody do us al a favour and bring this back into print!
Full Random Comments review
Full Random Comments review
August 6, 2009
Something different from Frank Herbert, who is most famous for "Dune" and its sequels. This one is related to the relationship between a 13 year old rich-kid boy and a very disgruntled Native American, who kidnaps him with the intent of making him a "sacrifice" for all those native Americans who have died at the hands of whites. VERY well written, multi-layered tale of companionship, deep spirituality (or madness, you decide), the Land and our relationship to it, and ultimately a fine yarn that skirts the edges of ESP, but that's about as close to Science Fiction this one gets. I was extremely impressed by the depth of this short (216 pages) book, a very nice surprise.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2023
Great writing and hard to put down. Nature and spirits, innocence and sacrifice, lots of ravens. A young Native American becomes the Soul Catcher after his sister is gang raped and then suicides. He kidnaps an innocent, a 13yo boy to sacrifice as statement for all the innocent indigenous lives taken. The book follows their journey through the wilderness.
December 7, 2020
Such a simple story about such a complex thing in such a stellar execution. I knew Frank Herbert was an amazing writer after reading Dune and was curious about his other work. I am not disappointed at all — there’s just something so Herbert about his books. It’s a magical experience bathing in the art of his prose and the complexities of his themes. Soul Catcher is one that will stick with me, I think.
content warning: dubious sexual scene with a minor. Didn’t see anyone mention it and it caught me off guard!
content warning: dubious sexual scene with a minor. Didn’t see anyone mention it and it caught me off guard!
November 9, 2012
Blegh. Finished the last twenty pages in an annoyed sitting, because I'm just cloyingly, cherry tree honest enough that I can't say I've 'read' a book until I know for sure that I've read every bit of it. I smoke my cigarettes to the nubs, too.
It was like shredding a dandelion.
Everything is just...goofus...in this thing. Cliches and stereotypes up and down the wall, white guilt and mau-mau-back-to-nature- nostalgie de la boue about the Red Injun, some ol' bullshit about finding true nature in the woods, getting away from corrupt and homogenized honky civilization, blahblah, derp derp.
The friend at work who recommended it to me is a proud Jamaican, middle aged and Ivy-educated, so at least the nostalgie in question isn't coming from white suburban dudes with holes in their jeans wearing Bob Marley t-shirts with nary a whit of curiosity, let alone understanding, to tell their Toussaints from their Toots Hibberts.
I guess the desire to bite into a York Peppermint Patty to get the sensation you're a bare-chested, quiver-totin', sun-markin' wild man of the woods is more endemic to the human condition than I thought. Cuz, I mean, I'm sure plenty of people read this stuff back in the 70's....
Ah, whatever. Who cares? What matters it?
It WAS kind of interesting reading something that (one just knows these things) is pretty much total aesthetic crashdive from the first couple of chapters....after all the time I've spent sweating it out over, say, Nietzsche or Milton it's nice to get away for a while and read some utter nonsense, real poofery, for a time.
It's almost surprising, like I'd forgotten how to read so easily. I kept flipping pages back and forth, shocked that I didn't have to read anything more than once to get it- not the general gist of it, mind, which is about as much as I can ask from one of the Great Writers I fetishize so much- but to get everything there was to get.
Piffle. Jingle-jangle. Boof!
January 26, 2018
Huh.
There's not much more to say about this. I couldn't wait for it to end. It was like reading a long, long dream sequence about absolute nonsense. I only stuck it out to find out what happened to David, the boy who gets taken from his summer camp.
Actually, I could say a lot more about this one. I'm not sure what Frank Herbert was on while he wrote this, but it wasn't good.
Wow.
If you smoke a lot of weed, or suffer from the delusions of white guilt then you might enjoy this. If you live in the real world, avoid at all costs.
There's not much more to say about this. I couldn't wait for it to end. It was like reading a long, long dream sequence about absolute nonsense. I only stuck it out to find out what happened to David, the boy who gets taken from his summer camp.
Actually, I could say a lot more about this one. I'm not sure what Frank Herbert was on while he wrote this, but it wasn't good.
Wow.
If you smoke a lot of weed, or suffer from the delusions of white guilt then you might enjoy this. If you live in the real world, avoid at all costs.
May 24, 2009
Reading this I can clearly see why I fell in love with Dune in the seventh grade. Herbert write in The Soul Catcher a beautifully poignant modern day story of a young Native American man who kidnaps a white boy -- a privileged, innocent white boy. We follow their journey to the bitter end and still we are left with interpretive choices. Is the Native American crazy, going through a psychotic break? Or has he really been chosen by his people's gods to punish white people? Can it be both?
Herbert writes a majestically bittersweet tale finely blurring the difference between mental illness and faith.
Herbert writes a majestically bittersweet tale finely blurring the difference between mental illness and faith.
September 6, 2013
along with the white plague this is one frank herbert's best books that is not in the dune series. a native american man's sister is raped by a gang of white men and then commits suicide. he decides to take revenge, by making a sacrifice of a white child. he kid naps an adolescent boy, and brings him on a journey, preparing him to meet his creator. the book is nothing like anything else herbert has written, and proves he was a fantastic writer in any genre. it has great character development. i've read it several times over the years.
it doesn't placate at the end
it doesn't placate at the end
June 29, 2014
Will he or won't he? Masterful story-teller weaves an unbelievable tale hitting on so many themes and emotional triggers.
Spoiler (read after you've finished the book)
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My soul has been crushed. Emotional trauma mixed with religious brainwashing equals pain and suffering.
Spoiler (read after you've finished the book)
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My soul has been crushed. Emotional trauma mixed with religious brainwashing equals pain and suffering.
April 12, 2013
i tore through this in three days. i put off reading it for about 4 years, because honestly, the synopsis did not seem interesting to me. it looked boring. but it's definitely a poetically written thriller. the entire book is absolutely unpredictable. the ending left me speechless.
March 18, 2022
70/100
February 7, 2012
I remember vivdly the experience of reading this book back in the day, shortly after its publication.
I read it way too fast, bowled over by the articulated rage and the justification it allowed the protaganist for his violent acts.
This time I read it with the attentive consideration this book deserves.
Once again I was bowled over, and quite shocked to find that, although I retained a fair memory of the plot, I had completely erased the ending and somehow substituted my own outcome.
This is a completely devestating but ultimately very important book.
When I finished it, at 3 am the other night, I wanted to run out in the street and yell and scream.
I felt suicidal in fact and went back to sleep instead.
I read it way too fast, bowled over by the articulated rage and the justification it allowed the protaganist for his violent acts.
This time I read it with the attentive consideration this book deserves.
Once again I was bowled over, and quite shocked to find that, although I retained a fair memory of the plot, I had completely erased the ending and somehow substituted my own outcome.
This is a completely devestating but ultimately very important book.
When I finished it, at 3 am the other night, I wanted to run out in the street and yell and scream.
I felt suicidal in fact and went back to sleep instead.
November 23, 2011
I read this book as a kid and I remembered it filled me with so much turmoil both emotionally and intellectually that now 25 years later I sought it out to read again. The emotions are still there, the shame of what was done to the Native Americans, hope, torn between wanting David to escape and wanting Katsuk's message to be delivered. The intellectual battle between wanting to believe in the spirit world against the science of the hoquat is there as well. While Frank Herbert is best known for Dune, it is a shame that Sould Catcher is no longer in print.
January 31, 2013
Having read a good deal of Herbert's Dune books, I was astounded at how different and bland this book is. The setting and characters feel flat, though the story itself is pretty interesting. I feel like the main problem I have with this book is with the ending. Without spoiling anything, I felt like the last 10 pages or so did not really fit with the character development up until that point. The final decision of the characters was a bit of a jump in logic, in my opinion.
November 18, 2008
Adolescent favorite.
January 8, 2025
Charles Hobuhet, a Native American, found his second spirit and renamed himself Katsuk. He was bitter because the white men were ruining the land, and on a more personal note his sister was raped and subsequently killed her self. To make up for this he abducted an innocent in order to sacrifice him. That innocent boy was David. First he has to prepare the boy, renaming him Hoquat. (Also the name for the white people as a race. Not sure of any significance there.) The two of them head off into the wilderness. There are searchers, but with Katsuk’s spirit help and his wiles they aren’t a problem.
Not horrible, but pretty much the two of them trudging through the woods. David not wanting to be there but too afraid to leave, and when he tries it doesn’t work out. David ends up respecting Katsuk’s point of view, and has a dream of one of these spirits making him somewhat a believer. The story never gripped me, and seemed to meander on and on. And the endgame was just the two characters, it wasn't the white man is going to stop polluting the environment and give land back to the tribes. No effect on the outside world, or the spirit world. 2.7 stars.
Not horrible, but pretty much the two of them trudging through the woods. David not wanting to be there but too afraid to leave, and when he tries it doesn’t work out. David ends up respecting Katsuk’s point of view, and has a dream of one of these spirits making him somewhat a believer. The story never gripped me, and seemed to meander on and on. And the endgame was just the two characters, it wasn't the white man is going to stop polluting the environment and give land back to the tribes. No effect on the outside world, or the spirit world. 2.7 stars.
May 7, 2017
Coming off of the high of the Santaroga Barrier, I was excited to try Soul Catcher. I admire Herbert's ability to write about such drastically different subject matter. This ain't a scifi novel, that's for sure, although there are elements of Katsuk that might remind the reader of a Native American Paul Atreides gone wrong. The book (particularly the ending) is somewhat controversial, and I had very mixed feelings about it myself. The book seemed both stereotypical in some ways and too avant garde for me to completely follow what Herbert was intending to achieve. Overall, disappointing.
August 25, 2023
1.4/5
I get the intention of making everyone think about the people who lived in a land before us and the damage we might make to land and culture, but this felt like the main character had a fever dream and kidnapped a kid. And with his amazing power of calling a raven he makes everyone fear him.
Also, the innocent child with barely pubic hair having sex with an adult... Just because it was opposite to what is more common doesn't make it less weird.
And the amount of Frankenstein-like inner dialogue was not of my taste.
I get the intention of making everyone think about the people who lived in a land before us and the damage we might make to land and culture, but this felt like the main character had a fever dream and kidnapped a kid. And with his amazing power of calling a raven he makes everyone fear him.
Also, the innocent child with barely pubic hair having sex with an adult... Just because it was opposite to what is more common doesn't make it less weird.
And the amount of Frankenstein-like inner dialogue was not of my taste.
September 5, 2021
This was audio , unabridged. Very good reading.
The story was intense.
The story was intense.
February 7, 2014
Charles Hobuhet, an intelligent doctoral student in anthropology, is a Native American who holds a secret grudge against the Europeans who came to America, not only because of what they did to his race, but also because a group of them raped and killed his sister years ago. When Charles is stung by a bee and thinks he’s been given the title of Soul Catcher by the bee’s spirit, he believes he’s been tasked with a mission that will make the whites finally pay for their crimes. Renaming himself Katsuk, he kidnaps David, the young son of a wealthy high-status government official, and sets out on a journey with the boy — a journey that is supposed to end with the sacrifice of David. Thus David, an innocent boy, will be the payment for the white men’s sins.
And these sins are numerous. Not only did the whites steal the land from the natives, but the way they live on the land destroys it and they are oblivious... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
And these sins are numerous. Not only did the whites steal the land from the natives, but the way they live on the land destroys it and they are oblivious... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
December 14, 2019
Outside his Dune series, Herbert is the author of several highly imaginative and, I believe, unjustly ignored works combining unique times and places with vexing moral issues. This work is one of these, dealing as it does with native Amerindians, a vengeful quest, an almost Stockholm-syndrome like bond which develops between perpetrator and supposed victim and, above all of these plot devices, a real examination of the disparity between the so-called primitive people's approach to life and belief and the aggressive, destructive ethos of the so-called civilizing forces of the white man.
Although criticized for its ending (which is beyond me to recall a quarter of century later), I still have an abiding respect for this effort. I do remember the protagonist, as a young boy, left alone by his peers since he could stand as if dazed, staring into a puddle of water for extended periods of time. Now, that's vibrant characterization!
Although criticized for its ending (which is beyond me to recall a quarter of century later), I still have an abiding respect for this effort. I do remember the protagonist, as a young boy, left alone by his peers since he could stand as if dazed, staring into a puddle of water for extended periods of time. Now, that's vibrant characterization!
April 25, 2017
I think this book was an amazing take on the conflicts between white people and Native Americans in the Pacific North West in the 70s. It took the realism of the need for revenge for some natives that has had their loved ones murdered by white intruders, and the Spiritual aspect of Native American culture that helps the main character achieve his goal. Overall I gave this book a 5/5 and you should read it if you haven't. Some things Ive learned from this book is that relationships, as complicated as they can be, can thrive in any situation. Some things I like about this book is that the spiritualism is very very awesome to read about, very interesting. Also Katsuk is OVERPOWERED. and I thought that that was awesome.
June 21, 2017
I read this book in the late 70s, hoping for more Dune-type adventure. Well, it certainly was not that, but it took place in my backyard -- the Olympic National Forest. It's always fun to read a story that takes place in an area with which one is familiar. My only memory of that read was WOW! I tried to find it 30 years later and finally discovered it at a 2nd hand book store. I really had forgotten how it ends, I must have gone into psychological shock. Now, 10 years later, I'm looking for it again and find it's available on Kindle, new paperback, audio, and even a movie coming up. I seldom read a book more than once, but this is an exception.
September 10, 2009
Like all of Herbert's work so far, unpredictable. Love when that happens...keeps me interested. This one is a deep examination of the world-view of the Native American contrasted with the tenets of modern living. I found myself reflecting while reading that there might as well be a massive schizophrenic gulf between the two. Herbert is ever Eco-conscious, as always, through this vehicle. The story is short and quite often disturbing.
April 7, 2009
Though Frank Herbert is most well known for writing the Dunes series, one of my ultimate favorite books is by him, and is this book. Very well written and it captures the heartbreaking struggle of the Native Americans.
June 27, 2009
Did you ever read Dune and think Frank Herebert is crazy? He is. And he's a great writer. The ending is very brave. I'm glad Robert Roedford couldn't make this movie b/c he wanted to change the ending.
February 10, 2008
Years after reading this story (that's stayed with me -- very unusual), I enlisted the help of a sci-fi web site to help me track down the title and author. This is not a sci-fi book. It's a story of people, and change and ... and it still amazes me how I feel about the ending.
February 4, 2012
I am wondering why this book is listed as having 0 pages. I have tried to change to other edition. It doesnt want to. I am re reading this profoundly disturbing book on vengance and spirit messages and messengers.I am still reading it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews