4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Silver John, what more do you want?, March 12, 2009
In my opinion, this is the best Silver John novel. It has a very Lovecraftian feel, with the ancient race existing next to us humans. That's all the spoilers you will get from me right now.
Silver John is ALWAYS worth reading, and this is Wellman at his best. A great story about a wonderful character. Grab this one. It is really worth reading.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good mountain fantasy, but it doesn't address what it could., May 31, 1999
By A Customer
This second (I think) of the John the Balladeer novels is, like all of Wellman's books on this hero, told in an engaging voice, features catchy songs/poems, and combines lore from America and elsewhere to good effect. The story's entertaining and compelling, the characters interesting, but there was, in my mind, one flaw.
The basis of the book is that, even before the Native Americans migrated to North America thousands of years ago, a race of supernatural beings called the Shonokins lived there, and a band of Shonokins in modern times want to reclaim their "rightful place" as the rulers of the land. Certainly, the Shonokins' intention to use black magic to rule by force makes them villains, but no one in the book seems to even consider that, when all is said and done, the Shonokins really do have some cause for retribution. No one expects the heroes to sympathize enough with the villains to allow them to win, but a little extra time given to the Shonokin perspective would have made the story even more interesting. It wasn't enough to spoil the book, but its absence was noticeable.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
out of print, December 17, 2010
i tead this 40 years ago. wellman was steven king before there was a steven king.he wrote some great classic twilight zone episodes etc. this book didn't hold up as remembered, almost like children story. but enjoyable
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