8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great work from Barbara Wood, September 8, 2007
This one made it to my "top 5" list of Barbara Wood books along with "Virgins of Paradise", "The Dreaming", "Green City in the Sun" and "Perfect Harmony". After young Hoshi'tiwa is taken away from the comfort of her home and family, she steps into a world so unlike her own - different ways of life, gods, social structures, etc. In the backdrop of majestic American Southwest, we witness naive and homesick Hoshi'tiwa turning into a courageous, intelligent leader. Along the way, she experiences love, loss, betrayal, loneliness and all other human emotions. I enjoyed getting a glimpse of beautiful pottery making, spirituality and worship rituals of the ancient American Southwest, not to mention the poignant romance between the main characters. I recommend "Daughter of the Sun" to any reader who would appreciate good romance or historical/anthropological fictions.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A mishmash of a historical mystery set in Chaco Canyon, November 30, 2007
One of the most mysterious spots on the American continent are the ruins to be found at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Massive ruins of multistoried buildings, and round underground chambers called kivas dot the landscape, and the visitor can't help but wonder about the people who lived here.
Barbara Wood attempts to take on the riddle of why the sites of Chaco Canyon were abandoned so suddenly, and crafts a novel about the turmoil and times of great change among early native Ameican peoples. The story revolves around Hoshi'tiwa, a young girl of the People of the Sun, who has learned how to craft pottery and jars that seem to have the power to bring rain -- a valuable gift in a land that is starved for water. When gossip spreads, Hoshi'tiwa finds herself forcibly separated from her family and taken to the Center Place, where the Toltec overlords rule over the People of the Sun, and she finds herself the center of plots and threats of death.
The leaders of the Center Place, under the rule of the handsome Lord Jakal, range from Moquihix, who advises and oversees the running of the Center Place, his son Xikli leader of the Jaguar troops, Tenoch the hero and his daughter White Orchid, and the more humble peoples -- all of them want to see Hoshi'tiwa dead, but not before she brings the rain back.
How Hoshi'tiwa manages to survive despite all of the threats, and people plotting against her is the main plot of the story. Throughout it all, she remains true to her people and the strict code of honor that she was raised with. The rites and practices of the Toltec overlords are horrible to her, with violent human sacrifice and the eating of man-corn -- cannibalism. And many of the People of the Sun who have lived in Center Place have become just as greedy and callous as the Toltecs.
And it was this that made the story fall apart for me. Now I don't know huge amounts about this particular time of history, but on a gut level it certainly felt wrong. Not only are there the different cosmological systems to keep straight, the Toltecs are universally seen as nasty, decadent, and evil, while the People of the Sun are all gentle and nature-loving without any violence to them. Hoshi'tiwa takes on the characteristics of the archtypical 'Mary-Sue' heroine, who endures terrible hardship without a whimper, never makes a mistep, and saves the people in miraculous ways only to suffer great tragedy at the end of the story -- you may have guessed by now that I really don't like this sort of character much.
It's a thick stew of a novel, with the leftover feeling that the author took everything she knew about the peoples of the American Southwest and MesoAmerica, and decided to use everything at once. The Toltecs act like Mayans and Aztecs in their customs and language and names. There are coy words for turquoise -- sky-stone, people's names are either exotic such as Xikli, or overly cute such as Yellow Feather and White Orchid. After about fifty pages, I was starting to get irritated with it all, and it was a real chore to get through the rest of the novel.
Which is a pity. Chaco Canyon is one of the most amazing archaeological sites in America, and Wood does use a lot of the recent discoveries and theories to build her exotic civilization. While the riddle of why it was abandoned, and those who built the complex vanished so quickly is still unknown, this particular retelling just rubbed me wrong.
Wood, however, does help the reader with an extensive afterword. She talks about her decision to write about the Anasazi, Chaco Canyon, and the various use of what has survived. There is also an excellent bibliography and a reader's circle guide for book groups to use.
Giving this story a rating is tough. I like the unusual setting, but the overall feel of the tale left much to be desired for me. I didn't really connect with the main characters at all, and while the writing is very evocative and descriptive, there's just something about this that left me feeling unsettled.
Three stars overall. I wish I could give more.
Somewhat recommended.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Riveting from beginning till end!, February 4, 2008
Having enjoyed Barbara Wood's The Blessing Stone, I could not resist picking this book up when I saw it at my local library. I finished it within the day, it was very involving indeed.
The story is set during the Anasazi period in history and centers around a gifted young girl, Hoshi'tiwa, who belongs to the Tortoise Clan, and has humble origins. All she wishes to do is to marry her betrothed, Ahote, and cook suppers for him. Unfortunately, fate decrees a more complex destiny for her -she is chosen by the Dark Lord Jakal, leader of the Toltec people at Center Place and taken away to his court to bring rain [as prophesied by the priests].
At first, Hoshi'tiwa reviles the Dark Lord, but soon finds redeeming qualities within him, a complex man with many facets to his character, and the attraction is mutual, though begrudged. Jakal fights his attraction to the humble corn grower's daughter who is not as sophisticated as the ladies in his court, the beautifully adorned Toltec women, one of whom, White Orchid, will stop at nothing to get the man she desires. Hoshi'tiwa on the other hand, is not a great beauty, but her gift with clay, and her ability to touch Jakal's soul draws them both together, despite the fact that they are forbidden to be together.
This is a sumptuously told tale of history and romance, both interwoven with consummate skill and grips the reader from start to finish. The characters are well-crafted and developed, and we come to really care about some of them. All in all, this is an involving piece of historical romance that will surely enthrall fans of the genre.
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