Feel the snow fall lightly...
I wouldn't say that this opening novel in a two-part sequence by Megan Lindholm is quite as gripping as the first book in her `Ki and Vandien' quartet, but as ever- the opening chapter immediately captivates the reader from the very first page with its exploration of a fascinating people and their uniquely foreign land. And to its credit this book is undoubtedly the most well fashioned & researched of any of the other book in that series by Lindholm. As a stand-alone adventure yarn `The Reindeer People' certainly succeeds, but in its cultural descriptions it's by far and away the best of anything by Lindholm I've yet read.
The wealth of detail and the breadth of knowledge evident in this story attributable to the research that clearly goes into all of this author's works actually surpasses itself in this enchanting story. From techniques in healing to the maintenance of livestock, from the preparation of game ready to be consumed to the meticulously observed changes in the seasons- all the little descriptions that imbue each daily chore and everyday event with such exuberance truly do bring this story to life in your hands.
For this book Lindholm writes largely from two character perspectives- that of Tillu and that of Heckram. Tillu is a healer by trade who flees from her life with a nomadic tribe in search of a people more accepting of her unconventional young son Kerlew. Heckram is a young man struggling with his responsibilities as the head of a household and as a potential husband who lives with the people of the title, a people who have seen much more prosperous days. Over the course of the story these two characters are drawn closer to each other in spite of, or perhaps because of the tragic and tumultuous events that befall them. Despite being shown events largely through the eyes of these two characters, Kerlew remains a forceful presence in the story whose warped perspective the reader is occasionally allowed to experience. Having finished this story I imagine it will be his story that will prove to be the most revealing and influential one in the concluding part- `Wolf's Brother'.
In my opinion if you've ever read any other book by Megan Lindholm before then you certainly won't be disappointed by `The Reindeer People'. I found it to be completely in the tradition of the well-crafted, character-driven and engrossing stories I've come to expect of her. For me this book is worthy of a 4-star rating only because it's not the most gripping opening to a series brought to us by Lindholm, but rest assured that it does more than compensate with its engaging characters, exciting story and an immaculately-imagined land.
