Customer Reviews

Great Sky Woman

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Steve Barnes has traditionally written in the Sci-Fi genre and more recently with the publication of "Lion's Blood" and "Zulu Heart" has written alternate history tales.

"Great Sky Woman" does not fit neatly into a genre, rather it is a genre all its own: Spiritual Fiction. Barnes has managed to create a world that "might have been" based on a world that probably was. The story revolves around the life of two young people in the pre-historic, fictional tribe of the Ibandi. The Ibandi live in the shadow of Mount Kilamanjaro. T'Cori (the nameless one) is an orphaned girl raised to be a Dancer (basically a spiritual healer, soothsayer and holy woman). Frog is a young man raised by his Uncle to be a warrior; like all young men he constantly compares himself with his brothers and peers and constantly finds himself lacking. Barnes sets these characters in a deeply transitional time for the Ibandi: The coming of a Tribe the Mk*tk that are clearly the physical superiors of a the Ibandi (A tribe that heretofore had been on the top of the "human" food chain) and the coming of a great geological disaster that may forever change the beliefs and the homeland of the Ibandi.

As in all of Barnes' novels, "Great Sky Woman" is character driven. It is a coming of age novel and although these people are interacting in a time before history, one cannot help but see the motivations that still drive us today: Food, sex, love, the desire to fit in and a yearning to see God. This is a deeply human novel brought to a wonderful three-dimensional life by Steve Barnes' talent and in depth understanding of the Spiritual and earthly nature of man.

I highly recommend this book for any that wish to look more deeply into themselves and the motivations that drive each and every one of us.

Great Sky woman is thoroughly enjoyable (on every level)!

While reading I felt what the characters felt, their triumphs and their struggles. I took the journey with them. I don't merely mean an emotional response; while reading I began to meditate. This book put me into a very positive, very aware state. The story is touching and profound and timeless. I'll have to read it again sometime.

Great Sky Woman is perhaps Steven Barnes' best work. As far as his writing ability goes, he's reaching for the heavens with this one. I think there's to be sequel, I can't wait.

Buy the book. Read it. You'll see what I mean!

As always, Barnes has written another phenomenal, detailed piece of fiction that allows African American's to feel like we are truly a part of mainstream literature. When I read Barnes, I feel as if I have a story too--one that is rich with details, hope and beauty. Something that is fiercely lacking in most other literature. The new craze among writers to depict us as one demensional sex-craved vixens and thugs is neither uplifting or representative of what I believe most African Americans want when they go to a book store. We fought too hard for the voices of Langston, Zora, Alice and Toni to be heard to now have them silenced by this new generation of writers that have started "selling themselves" to the highest bidder.

T'Cori (the nameless one) is an orphaned girl raised to be a Dancer. Frog is a young man raised to be a warrior. The two, whose path cross in a way that is unimaginable, allows both T'Cori and Frog to become greater than the selves they started out to be. Both rely on the other's strengths and change their history and the history of their people. We need literature like this. One that allows us to see ourselves as the beginning not the end of what makes this civilization of ours great.

I appreciate writers like Barnes, his wife Ms. Due and the late great Octavia Butler. They allowed us to be a part of the science fiction genre in a way that challenges the status quo and gives credibility to the fact that African American readers want to be challenged and put in the forefront of the literature that is written about us in a way that is classy and multi-layered. Thank you again, Mr. Barnes for another wonderful work of literature. I look forward to the sequel to this book(if rumor proves correct).

I found this book mentioned in a review of one of the books from Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children series. I can't remember which book, or which reviewer, but I wish I could, to send a hearty "Thank You!" If you like the prehistoric genre that Auel basically started, but you'd like to read something less mind-numbingly repetitive, with more attention paid to plot and character than to textbook descriptions of flora, fauna, and geological phenomena, then this is the novel for you! Barnes seamlessly weaves depictions of the environment into his narrative, so you get the science lessons without feeling like the author has paused to whip out a chalkboard. He conveys the societal structure and spiritual beliefs of his milieu with an elegance and believability that invites the reader to inhabit this setting with the characters (much like the best "world-building" of Fantasy and Sci-Fi, even though this novel is more like historical fiction). And, his characters are likable and not-at-all one-dimensional or static. Frog Hopping and T'Cori (the two main characters) each have their own complexity of character, and grow as individuals while they actively participate in their own destinies and the destiny of their people.

I won't go much into the plot (an adequate synopsis is already given in the description), other than to say that I found it engaging throughout, and well-paced. The fact that Frog and T'Cori (and their people) face destruction from geographic and human threats, and how they face these threats and become greater in the face of them, was a touching and engrossing picture of the capabilities of the human spirit. I really couldn't put the book down, and I'm sure I'll be reading it several times, and recommending it to my friends.

On another note, it is immensely refreshing to read excellent fiction that centers around African characters (that aren't either evil savages or one-dimensional caricatures). This novel is a wonderful cure for the snow-blindness that results from seeing nothing but white protagonists blanketing all of literature. (And that's coming from a Caucasian.) Kudos, Mr. Barnes!

For anybody looking at the kindle edition, I read that edition, and as I recall, it had none of the industry-wide issues with editing, formatting, etc. The kindle version was as well-produced as any hardcover would be.

If he always writes this well, Steven Barnes' books will be sitting in the "Read and Read Again" section in my library (and kindle) from now on.

I found this book to be an excellent Historical Fiction work, similar in context and experience to the general work of Jean Auel and her Earth's Children series.

The 'buy-in' of the first few chapters, creates a familiarity with the central characters and their value systems that carries the story to its logical conclusion, without artifice or undo diversion.

I hope that this story is the beginning of a wonderful series.

Dee White

Steven Barnes is truly a master griot(storyteller). All of the characters and situations were well-developed and seemed so real. He has breathed life, death, joy, sadness, and soul into this telling of a tale that happened long ago. This book has been added to my collection of African social anthropology. It must be reread from time to time. T'Cori and Frog as well as the other characters live through Steven. I cannot wait to read his next project! Way to go, Steven!

Great Sky Woman is an epic and takes a couple of CDs to "get into the story", so give it time. I listened to the book on Audio CDs and the narrator Patricia Floyd was superb with her presentation.

I loved the overall story, and also the short cultural and ethnic stories that Barnes incorporates into his tale. His presentation of ethical dilemmas reminds me of Orson Scott Card's fiction works. Whether in the past, present, or future, humans are the same and our choices and struggles are similar.

This book is enjoyable simply as a tale, but it is also filled with lessons and insight you can apply to your life. I loved the story about the bird that carries around every branch or obstacle that he ever runs into, just so he won't ever hit that obstacle again.

Christopher Westra

Excellent read. It was like living within the spiral as the pages passed. A parallel between then and now. A great opportunity to observe our present situation and change our course before the inevietable happens. The human spirit portrayed by Barnes still lives among us and is obvious through his charaters and not to be forgotten his courage and talent presented by writing this book. Was so excited to see there is a sequel and have ordered and will start as soon as I finish this review. Barnes is the voice of so many of us that "see" and "know" but only have small opportunities to share the knowing. Great opportunity given by a very aware visionary. I am grateful.

This was my best read in months. Times change but values don't. I was completely immersed in the story. A cultural gem and spellbinding tale.

If you like the O'Gears' series of prehistoric novels, I think this author makes a great case of setting a stage for prehistoric man's life in Africa.