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People of the Wolf (The First North Americans series, Book 1)

People of the Wolf (The First North Americans series, Book 1)

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: I read this series of books and I must say that the authors did a fabulous job of bringing the characters and the landscapes to life. As a follower of similar belief systems I found this book hit home with me in a spiritual sense. The authors do a wonderful job portraying the characters and their lives in a very real and believable way. I just can't put the series down.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The characters are vibrant and original.
Review: I so enjoyed The Clan of the Cave Bear series that I wanted to read more novels in the same genre. A story about pre-historic Native Americans, People of the Wolf is set among the mammoth hunters of the ice ages. The people live in clans, and are dependent upon each other for their survival. The undisputed leaders of the clans are Dreamers--men and women who have a connection with the spirit world. The spirits advise them in Dreams, and help them lead their clans. The people must be careful to keep the spirits, happy, of course, or they may abandon the Dreamer or the clan. But what happens when two dreamers in the same clan have differing opinions? The people are forced to choose between the young man with the Dream of Wolf in his eyes and the trusted older Dreamer who may be past his prime. One will lead them to a new land of abundance and promise, the other will lead them to death by slow starvation.

The couple who wrote the novel are anthropologists who obviously know about the lives and customs of the people they portray. Free of the annoying stereotypes that often accompany these topics, the characters are vibrant and original. Even if you've never been a fan of Native American history or novels of pre-history (and I never thought I would be!) you may find yourself loving this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: People of the Wolf
Review: I think this is the best group of books I have ever read concerning the ancestors of today's Native American people. I am on my 9th book in this series. Everyone so far has been excellent. The history in the books is unbelivable! For the first time I really felt like I understood how these people existed in history. The 1st of the series People of the Wolf was wonderful. The magic in the books, the characters, the history, all of this brought to life their lives. The writers did a fantastic job of making you feel like them as they went on their hunts; the dreamers seemed so real. The writers also managed to add love, danger and suspense to these novels which truly made them even more enticing to read. I truly believe the Gears have given a great gift to people who want to understand history. They have made the characters extremely life-like & I for one truly thank them for this wonderful series on the past.
Kathy Riley


Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Overall pretty good...
Review: I'm a big fan of Jean M. Auel Earth Children's series, William Sarabande's First American Series and Also both of Sue Harrison's series. Linda Lay Schuler is also within the ranks. I came across many of the Gear's stories in a local book store that was fairly cheap. After running out of books I gave it a try. I thought The People of the Wolf book was good. I understand many of the readers were upset about the way the characters spoke, but after reading the author's notes i realized it was their intention to make their vocabulary as strong as it is today. I understand that speech of the time is under controversy in the world of archeology as well as how things were of the time. Due to the fact that written records were non-existent of that time it all has to be based on theory. Many of the readers weren't pleased with this particular theory and i think it was because it was compared to some other well known prehistory arthurs. i think it was a particular well thought out theory and should also join the ranks of those other arthurs. I don't like the fact that you can't dream and be apart of the people mainly because I think in those times without the protection of the people survival was in jeopardy. My personal theory is that dreaming is more a sense of knowing and steping into the next "golden haze" but I still don't get why you have to set yourself apart for that to happen. I think it is more of a sixth sense than something you should seek out. You either have the gift or don't, is what I believe. Wolf dreamer I would have liked to have seen a happy ending come to but instead he disappeared into the dream which i was disappointed with. (even though the dream was supposed to be a wonderful warm happy place). I was very impressed with Dancing Fox. She proved to undergo life altering situations and instead of collapsing under the pressure she became an impowering woman with whom many looked up to. She didn't end up with who i expected, she still got her happiness that she deserved. I think the book was researched very well and provided enough details and descriptions with wonderful characters that made the story wonderful

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Overall pretty good...
Review: I'm a big fan of Jean M. Auel Earth Children's series, William Sarabande's First American Series and Also both of Sue Harrison's series. Linda Lay Schuler is also within the ranks. I came across many of the Gear's stories in a local book store that was fairly cheap. After running out of books I gave it a try. I thought The People of the Wolf book was good. I understand many of the readers were upset about the way the characters spoke, but after reading the author's notes i realized it was their intention to make their vocabulary as strong as it is today. I understand that speech of the time is under controversy in the world of archeology as well as how things were of the time. Due to the fact that written records were non-existent of that time it all has to be based on theory. Many of the readers weren't pleased with this particular theory and i think it was because it was compared to some other well known prehistory arthurs. i think it was a particular well thought out theory and should also join the ranks of those other arthurs. I don't like the fact that you can't dream and be apart of the people mainly because I think in those times without the protection of the people survival was in jeopardy. My personal theory is that dreaming is more a sense of knowing and steping into the next "golden haze" but I still don't get why you have to set yourself apart for that to happen. I think it is more of a sixth sense than something you should seek out. You either have the gift or don't, is what I believe. Wolf dreamer I would have liked to have seen a happy ending come to but instead he disappeared into the dream which i was disappointed with. (even though the dream was supposed to be a wonderful warm happy place). I was very impressed with Dancing Fox. She proved to undergo life altering situations and instead of collapsing under the pressure she became an impowering woman with whom many looked up to. She didn't end up with who i expected, she still got her happiness that she deserved. I think the book was researched very well and provided enough details and descriptions with wonderful characters that made the story wonderful

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Are you curious about Native American History?
Review: If you want riveting stories, strong characters and a lot of history and lore on Native Americans, read this series. Each book is connected in some way. I will leave it to the readers to catch those connective parts. You will get caught up in these tales and will want to read the entire series. I feel I know how they lived, loved and died after reading these tales. Don't miss out on some wonderful reading. The Gear's bring this world alive and breathing for you.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Are you curious about Native American History?
Review: If you want riveting stories, strong characters and a lot of history and lore on Native Americans, read this series. Each book is connected in some way. I will leave it to the readers to catch those connective parts. You will get caught up in these tales and will want to read the entire series. I feel I know how they lived, loved and died after reading these tales. Don't miss out on some wonderful reading. The Gear's bring this world alive and breathing for you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A nice
Review: It took a week for me to "get into" this book, but I am looking forward to the next in the series. The characters, while displaying 20th century mind-sets, are engaging, but the scholorship falls short of Jean Auel's classics

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It was a backwards book.
Review: It was good , but one of those ones where you're sure that the ending was written first, because the first ten chapters make no sense until you read the last fifty-six. It was often gory but I liked it. Sometimes it helps to go back and read the first pages so remember what the heck they're talking about; there must be 50+ characters. I actually had the hard cover version and thought there was no paperback. It was pretty interesting...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Like many Jean Auel fans, I've been looking for prehistory novels to fill the time til she gets around to writing book five of her series...it's been 11 years, glad I wasn't holding my breath!

I'm still surprised by the reviews this book has gotten from other readers...especially Auel fans. While their goal is admirable and it's clear that the authors have alot of technical knowlege about their subject, it's their writing style that needs work. Maybe a case of too many cooks in the kitchen? The characters are interesting but their dialogue is improbable. I've read where the authors say they believe that people had complex language skills as opposed to the grunts and groans that we've stereotypically ascribed to them. The dialogue in this book though is somewhat stilted and really not believable. It's too contemporary. There were several times I found myself rolling my eyes and groaning out loud.

I give it two stars because it is readable and I've continued the series because I bought them and I'm stubborn. I will say that so far (I'm now on book 4) they do get somewhat better with "People of the Earth" far and away better than the first two. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars.

If you're looking for well developed characters and more believable plot and dialogue, try William Sarabande's First American's Series or Sue Harrison's Aluetians series.


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