3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Smoke by the River is a tale of fantasy, time-travel, and adventure. It was written by David McKibben. The story follows Kevin Whitecoate, also known as Wildcat. Kevin has an interesting hobby – he finds and collects Native American artifacts from the places which these people once inhabited. One day while searching for arrowheads in Kokomo, he takes a bad fall. When he comes to his senses, he realizes that he has traveled through time to the 1600s. He is kidnapped by a tribe of Native Indians who sells him to another tribe. Through his musical abilities, he makes friends easily and becomes a popular village musician who plays a particular tune called ‘Smoke by the River’.
Kevin shares his knowledge of civilization and languages with the Natives. After settling into his new life, he is whisked back into the present. However, Kevin notices that things have changed. The names of people and places, the foods eaten, and the architecture are all Native American. Their community is also like a tribe and they have regular tribal events. At one of these events, Kevin suddenly finds that he’s able to play an ancient flute which once belonged to a Native American musician called Wildcat, who is really his past self. Kevin realizes that he is simultaneously existing in two eras. Uncontrollably, he jumps from the past to the present, and vice versa, living life trapped between two worlds, but finding his life’s purpose in both.
I really enjoyed learning about Native American culture from this book as it provided many insights about their lifestyle. While some things seemed to be the author’s unique twist on things (such as deer-riding being a main mode of transportation), some things I know were factual. Examples of the things which the author included were Native American food, language, and customs. I learned that these people hunted and ate a wide variety of wild animals, such as bears, buffalo, groundhogs, foxes, and deer. Their names referenced nature a lot. This can be seen in characters named ‘Buffalohorn’, ‘Moondog’, and ‘Cloudwatcher’. Some Native American words were included in the book, like ‘ahsena’ which referred to a large stone gathering, similar to Stonehenge. Smoking was also an integral part of the tribal culture as it encouraged bonding between members. Moreover, there were initiation rites for new additions to the tribes.
Another thing which I liked was the simple flow of the story. While there were many characters to keep track of, the author did not complicate the storyline by introducing too many adventures and using complex language. With two different lifetimes unfolding in the story, I was able to follow along easily. Despite the simplicity of the writing, there were enough twists to hold my interest. For instance, there was a ‘Great secret’ which had to be revealed, as well as the strange appearance of another character besides Wildcat, who could also time-travel.
While Kevin’s experiences were explained in great detail, the physical descriptions of the characters were lacking. Besides the tribe-members’ tattooed skin, not much information is given. Even Kevin’s character was not amply described. I would have liked to know what he looked like. While reading, I wondered whether he had Native American features, whether he had Caucasian features or whether he was mixed race. I also wondered if his appearance affected his assimilation into the tribe. I think it is important to paint a picture with words so that readers can have a mental image of the main characters. I also noticed a few errors in the book. These were mainly typos, some proper nouns which were supposed to begin with capital letters, and common nouns which incorrectly began with uppercase letters.
This book deserves 3 out of 4 stars for its simple and enjoyable storyline, as well as its fascinating perspective into Native American culture. I deducted a star because of the errors as well as the vague character descriptions. Smoke by the River will appeal to fantasy and history fans, especially those who have a penchant for reading about time-travel, and different cultures.
******
Smoke By the River
View: on Bookshelves
Like KristyKhem's review? Post a comment saying so!