Shadow of the Watching Star (The First Americans) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "Sunrise at last..." (more)
Key Phrases: little white mammoth, white mammoth totem, great white mammoth, Watching Star, Red World, Land of Grass (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Torn apart by tribal fighting and abandoned by their sacred spirits, a band of prehistoric North Americans called the People put their hope in a young shaman who holds the key to the future of his race.

From the Inside Flap

Ravaged by tribal fighting, cursed by their enemies, abandoned by their sacred spirits, the People wander, hungry and desperate, across a frozen and forbidding land. The leader who guided them, the vision that inspired them, the magic that moved them--all have vanished from their midst. Far away, across a sea of ice, alone and desolate, the young shaman Cha-kwena must make a fateful choice. While he yearns to return to his loved ones, he is sworn to protect the sacred herd of mammoth, the last of their kind. The path he now takes will determine the future of his race: whether they will perish in savage conflict or flourish in a new age of bounty and hope.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books (May 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553560298
• ISBN-13: 978-0553560299
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #139,889 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the 3rd set of stories of 'The First Americans', November 22, 2001

By	Carla J. Schultz "kayceygirl" (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

William Sarabande's "First Americans" series is actually several sets of books related to different generations and different characters. I consider this the 3rd set of characters and this book contains the best story about those characters. The first three books of the series are by far and away the best. The second set is good once you realize that the original characters aren't coming back. This third set really allows the reader to see how myth and history may combine together to create rites and rituals that "people" follow. It is more interesting in these later books how the "truth" of the history gets twisted just enough to make the stories quite different from what really happened. I recommend starting at the first book, "Beyond the Sea of Ice" and reading this series in order, just to get the best benefits and insight out of the stories and the writing style of Sarabande.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars hmm..., September 26, 1998

By	G. Moses "theonlytruegeo" (Men...Of...The...Sea!) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've always liked the First Americans saga, but I have to admit, it can become rather numbing after a while. In this second sequence, especially, virtually all of the characters are pretty much entirely amoral. There are very few with whom the reader can actually sympathize. Still, the imagery is quite vivid--if you've read the others, read this.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Who can stop in the middle of a series?, October 7, 2002

By	cherrylee14 "cherryleefourteen" (Manhattan) - See all my reviews

OKay I'm hooked on these books and I have to know what happens in the next one. Ban-ya was the only reason I bought Shadow of the Watching Star. The only book that was even slightly happy was the first one, The Sacred stones, where I was compelled by Ta-maya and Masau's love and wondering what would happen to Dankan-eh, but can anyone make up their mind? Cha-kwena loves Mah-ree but he has to follow the white mammoth, to realize he loves her and must return, she means everything to him, for him to return, and he's mad at her again. And what about Kosar-eh he was the hideously scarred one-armed clown of the Red World, now he's a brave newly-healed hunter? Can we have some babies in a book where no one kills them because they were born when the tribe is mourning?! I can barely believe a woman wrote these books.