Shaman

I used to consider myself a fan of Kim Stanley Robinson because of his science-fiction and climate-dystopia novels, but it turns out I am a very big fan indeed. Shaman is a work that contains all the positive qualities of an excellent adventure novel, while at the same time being woven through with historical and archaeological knowledge so solid that it could easily be used for teaching. (Because of a few restrained, symbolically erotic scenes, the novel is not for small children, but for teenagers and secondary-school students it would probably be just engaging enough to help them truly grasp what the world at the end of the Ice Age might have been like.) A few forgotten Neanderthals (“the Old Ones”) still linger in the depths of the forests; KSR portrays them as just as intelligent as the modern human protagonist, only unable to communicate verbally with him. The innovative thinking of modern humans, however, is illustrated through many examples—my personal favourite being the way map-making is described. The novel is set in Ice Age Europe (perhaps around 35,000 years ago), somewhere south of the ice sheets, where cave bears and cave lions are the most dangerous predators, but wolves are also present—and a distant group has even begun the process of domesticating them. Elk, bison, rhinoceros, deer, chamois, wild horses, wildcats, beavers, otters, and many other animals appear, all familiar from contemporary cave art. I will not spoil more than that; I recommend that readers draw on their best knowledge of Ice Age Eurasia, recall where the edge of the ice sheet lay, where the rivers flowed, what kinds of animals and plants could be encountered where, and so on. It is a highly entertaining mental exercise to try to decipher—by backward engineering—the real locations behind these settings, based on how Kim Stanley Robinson has woven them together in the story. The plot follows an orphaned adolescent boy as he becomes a shaman, an adult, and a family man. The novel’s greatest strength, however, is not the story itself, but everything the author builds around it—something very characteristic of KSR’s work. The narrative serves as a stable framework on which to present fascinating situations and compelling environments. Since cave art has already been mentioned: the cave marks important stages in the boy’s development, and the animals painted on the walls, the drawing that places a vulva beside a bison, or the silhouette of a hand can all be seen as directly identifiable with artworks found in real caves (the lions - see the image attached-, vulva, and bison of Chauvet, and the hand stencils of Altamira). The stories of the old shaman and of the travellers are beautifully lyrical, and at the same time they convey the cultural traditions of people of the period. Barter becomes an important element, as do the making of tools and everyday objects, and the realisation that, essentially, everyone speaks slightly different variants of the same language. Belief systems and spiritual development accompany the individual throughout life. One of the central folktale motifs, the Swan Maiden, places the story of a genuine ancient tale—still known across Eurasia today—into the belief world of this era. The novel is highly readable (like everything KSR has written), yet at the same time it conveys an enormous amount of cultural, historical, and geographical knowledge, offering a cathartic experience that very few novels can provide. It is exactly the kind of book one returns to again and again, because it has so many layers.

If I have any gripe about Robinson, it is that sometimes his characters seem to be props for his amazing illustrations of future technologies. Seldom do the characters in his books grab me in a deeply emotional way. This book was a pleasant surprise, because the people propel the story. Perhaps, as others have noted, Robinson could benefit from tighter plotlines, but I say the same thing about Charles Dickens. I think Kim Stanley Robinson belongs with some of the old school greats; Herbert, Niven, Asimov, P.K. Dick, Heinlein, etc... This is one of his most enjoyable books for a fairly fast read.

I've been a fan of Kim Stanley Robinson's science fiction for a long time. So I was interested to see this look into the science fiction of our pre-history. I found it compelling and very likely to be an excellent rendering of the lives of our oldest ancestors. I thoroughly enjoyed all the characters with their challenges and triumphs in a profoundly difficult environment. Superb storytelling in a fascinating primal world.

This isn't Kim's preferred genre and I like his sci-fi works much better. Prehistory is really tough and I give him credit for trying this challenging genre. It's a good story, meaning 3 stars and though I did mostly enjoy it there were problems that kept kicking me out of the story and I think most of that has to do with research of a very distant time and place. Balancing that against Kim's excellent writing skills, I would have to say his writing skills saved what could have been an average story of the time period. This is a good story, but not for everyone. SPOILERS******SPOILERS*******SPOILERS*******The beginning at first had me and then promptly lost me. This 12 year old wanna-not-maybe-wanna-be-a-shaman is cast into the manhood rite of being left alone with nothing but his bare skin to survive in a hostile environment for alone for a few days. Predators were many and to think he could have survived is just too much, even though he did have some skills, a saber-cat, lion, or hyena would have had him for lunch easily. We meet some interesting characters and they are fun. "Mama Mia?" The use of current slang really threw me out of the story and the near constant sexual meanderings grew boring. Sex with a deer--sex with the ground---just not for me really. Overall the research is thin. Alone and without weapons a 12 year old would be toast, I'll stop right there. Snowstorms like Kim has would have been rather rare since the climate was much more arid than today with much moisture locked-up in the great northern glaciers. There are much better books of life in the Upper Pleistocene and of early man. Writing about Cro Magnon's is a difficult slog for any author or scientist or researcher. You may like this book and you may not. It has some problems, but Kim can tell a good tale, just not for everyone.

Robinson, popularly considered a science fiction writer, demonstrates himself an effective observer of human nature and a consumer of scientific theory. This adds up to speculative fiction, and, whether the subject matter is humans on the planets and moons of our solar system or humans as the great ice age grinds towards its close, Robinson suggests we haven't changed and won't change all that much. Of course, Loon, a twelve year-old apprentice shaman as the book opens, obsesses on sex and resents the stodginess and bossiness of his elders - twelve year-old boys still do. The difference in Robinson's setting is that Loon marries, fathers a child and carries out a number of adult actions in the few years encompassed in these pages. Young men and women had to grow up more quickly; archaeology, anthropology, and paleontology all confirm this. We see this at the end of the book - one of the elderly main characters explains he's lived "two twenties." Not written for children, SHAMAN does dwell on matters of day to day existence. Robinson's background as a back country hiker and his evident researches into the lifestyles of more modern cultures employing simpler technologies makes this speculation feel authentic. His recognition that humans feel prejudice against different folk has distinct relevance in our world today. While Robinson does demand the reader's patience in the early chapters, he does open with Loon's Wander, his coming of age journey. This acquaints us with Loon's world and culture while the dangers keep us interested. Loon's later adventure, a real Odyssey of sorts, in places is as gripping as any great action-adventure novel. His characters become people the reader knows and comes to respect. Everyone from Loon to Click, from Elgar to Heather, from Thorn to Wren I would welcome on new pages exploring the complications of their changing world and the adventures that fall in a harsh environment.

I would not have been interested in the subject matter of this novel, were it not written by Kim Stanley Robinson. He has a prosaic style that somehow manages to convey the simple reality of life while still capturing a sense of wonder. To me, he's like Arthur C. Clarke in that way. This novel has that same voice, immediately immersing you in the world of our distant ancestors, and also illustrating what it means to be human. There is a distinct tension between Loon the individual, and Loon the social animal; thus Robinson creates a character that we can all identify with. Loon's world has a simple, direct beauty to it that Robinson takes time to let unfold. As a science fiction fan, I've appreciated many of Robinson's more "futuristic" novels, especially his Mars Trilogy. This story is equally well-written and evocative, though turning to the past instead of the future. A simple story, well told, and in the end fascinating.

This book is a sort of docudrama of life in the upper Palaeolithic, say about 30,000 years ago. The characters are named after animals, or plants, or, in the case of the old shaman (Thorn) parts of plants. This gave me one disconcerting moment, where we have Cat up a tree watching. Sinister? Well, no. It is actually a cat thinking human thoughts. The story starts with the young Loon going on a wander. This involves leaving the tribe with nothing (including clothes) and having to survive for a fortnight. We follow him making fire, making clothes, hunting, gathering food, etc, and this is basically a microcosm of the rest of the book. There is a bit of an adventure in the second half but even this is mainly an outline of what Robinson thinks life in the upper Palaeolithic was like. I found this to be a bit silly in detail. The heroes have a long journey, and when they get home, they have run out of their food and they are nearly starved. Hold on! They are hunter gatherers. Those chasing them start of with wolves on leashes to track them. Again, hold on! Nobody puts a grey wolf on a leash, and even if they succeeded, the wolf will go after its food. There is a sort of innocence amongst all the characters: a sort of part of the garden of Eden transferred to the freezer. Robinson has done a lot of research, and what he describes seems authentic, however the way people behaved is perforce imaginary. And, of course, there is the curse of new discoveries. Robinson has the cave paintings done by male shamans, but recent evidence has indicated that the bulk of the hands are those of women, so it is most likely that many of the other paintings were also done by women. The story ends with the death of Thorn and Loon becoming the new shaman, and it is Loon that paints four horses. Robinson presumably intends this to be the very famous "four horses" painting, which places the action in Chauvet, in south east France. This makes walking north west to the sea a rather long journey, but apart from such considerations, I found this a genuinely interesting and enjoyable read.

Strong descriptive writing with strong identifiable characters, exhibiting a broad and deep imagination - as usual for Robinson. As usual for Robinson however - the plot is secondary. The "chase" chapters were probably the most engaging, but you feel the novel as a whole did not take you on a journey. The novel uses vivid descriptions of natural daily, monthly and yearly rhythms and cycles - much like a house music track with a repetitive back beat that pulses the blood, and you enjoy, but doesn't get you on your feet. If your taste is more for the literary version of a progressive dance track with a build up and crescendo, this novel is probably not your first pick.

This book is set around the Chauvet Cave in France, the subject of the film Cave of Forgotten Dreams (and perhaps the author also read The Mind in the Cave by David Lewis-Williams). We get a very vivid and plausible picture of life in an ice age; the pace and excitement build up with dramatic events, followed by a satisfying ending.

possibly all plausible, sometimes long winded. Lack of inverted commas, strange to read. In parts exciting but too drawn out.

KSR at his best. Only criticism is his outdated understanding of the level of development of neanderthals makes the book not as quite historically based as it could be.

As usual, Kim Stanley Robinson takes you to another world and immerses you in its reality, makes you believe this is history rather than a work of fiction. I found it as convincing as his Mars stories and equally compelling reading.

Robinson al massimo della sua noia. Il protagonista è un americano travestito da troglodita. Il libro si legge con difficoltà e non ha una vera trama. Non lo consiglio.