PEOPLE OF THE LIGHTNING [Paperback]

Kathleen O'Neal Gear (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Tor Books (1995)
• ASIN: B001MRZ2SU
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The White Lightning Boy must face his destiny., October 9, 2000

By 

A. Tresca - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: People of the Lightning (The First North Americans series, Book 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

For the first time in many generations, a White Lightning Boy, Pondwater, is born to a tribe living in what we now call Florida. He has startlingly white hair, pale skin, and pink eyes. Legends tell of Lightning Boys playing great roles in the creation and the destruction of worlds. Pondwater, the 'fifteen summers old' boy, isn't very frightening or imposing, however. He is a kind soul who is sent to marry the great warrior-woman of the small Windy Cove Clan , Musselwhite. Musselwhite, as leader of the clan, is entitled to more than one husband, but her heart is not in another marriage. She must think of her clan, however, and not just her feelings for her first husband. Pondwaters' Heartwood Clan can offer her many warrior allies in her struggle against her old enemy, Cottonmouth. She and Cottonmouth share a secret past that will come to haunt them both....

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating, will keep your attention, January 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: People of the Lightning (The First North Americans series, Book 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

I always eagerly look forwared to the Gear's books. This one I have just finished and it was a hard one to put down. I can't wait to get People of the Silence and People of the Mist.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wow! I must get the others..., May 10, 2006

By 

Silmarillion (Romania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: People of the Lightning (The First North Americans series, Book 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

A great surprise... a book I expected to get bored with and instead spent a sleepless night reading.

The albino power child Pondwader marries the famous warrior woman Musselwhite, whose clan needs more warriors in order to survive the attacks from Musselwhite's ex-lover's clan, Cottonmouth. Musselwhite's first husband has been taken hostage and tortured as a method of forcing the woman to come to his rescue, and Pondwader (though convinced he'll die freeing the lightning bird he believes is lodged in his own body) knows her only chance to succeed is to take him along. Only, his feeble body and limited sight will prove to be hindering to her desperate fight to save her beloved first husband, and the destruction of the clans' world is sure to come if the power child kills its guardian eagles - by releasing the inner lightningbird. Wich is exactly Cottonmouth's plan.

The writing seems a bit naive, and the adventure is slow to build tension, but the outcome is worth the wait.

The insight on the prehistoric Native American is addictive - even if it may be based largely on imagination. This is a "what if it was like this..." book.

I loved this book. So now I'll have to search for all the others...