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Title: Sacred Ground by Mercedes Lackey ISBN: 0-8125-1965-5 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 May, 1995 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.19 (16 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A good mix of magic and reality
Comment: I loved this book! (The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is because I think that should be reserved for that special, book-of-a-lifetime read.) I'm always happy to see one of Lackey's books which meld the world as we know it with an element of magic, and the addition of Native American spirituality made it even better! I first read this book at the public library, but I liked it so much I'm planning on buying my own copy. Jennifer's ambivalent reactions to David were also well drawn. P.S. If you've read this and liked it, you might also enjoy her Serrated Edge series, starting with "Born To Run."
Rating: 4
Summary: A Native American Tregarde?
Comment: Good, clean, fun. Much more enjoyable than Lynn V. Andrews pretentious, Wannabe Indian schlock. Jennifer Talldeer, Lackey's heroine, acquits herself well in this novel. Evildoers get stopped, the world is saved, and the reader has fun. Occult mind-candy fiction, but it's =GOOD= candy, not the cheap kind that comes 99 cents/pound and has a bad aftertaste.
While the situations in this book get favorably resolved, this novel begs the question of our "real" world, in which Native Americans suffer privation, discrimination, and illegal/unjust imprisonment. If you take pleasure in reading this story, you owe it to the "real" characters, people like Leonard Peltier, to learn their stories. Jennifer Talldeer hasn't been able to get Leonard justice--she's not "real." But Leonard's cell in Leavenworth is very real. If you doubt that, get his Prison Writings, and step from Lackey's fantasy into his nightmare.
Have you read Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee yet? Matthiesen's In the Spirit of Crazy Horse? Or even Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States? Sure. Enjoy the mind candy. But feed your soul with something more nutritious. Help make a dream of justice come true for the real Native Americans.
(If you'd like to comment on this review, click on the "about me" link above & drop me an email. Thanks!)
Rating: 5
Summary: Well-researched, extremely readable book
Comment: "Sacred Ground" is one of Mercedes Lackey's more serious urban fantasy offerings. It's steeped in Native American culture, folklore and legend (as much that would have been history was destroyed long before the start of this book -- early 1990s -- by unsuspecting, unthinking or uncaring sorts), and it illustrates several major and growing problems.
1) How are Native Americans treated in this country?
2) Can spirituality be integrated into a modern person's life in a meaningful way?
3) Is it worthwhile to help people, always knowing that there are more people who need help than you can afford to help out there?
The last two are answered with an emphatic "YES!" The first one is problematic at best. Jennifer Talldeer, an interesting character if I've ever seen one, talked about the problems of "registering" with the Bureau of Indian Affairs vs. _not_ registering, and chose not to register (as most of her family, if not all, had also chosen). She also showed the difficulty of doing a tough job (private investigator) well, despite being less than five feet tall and rather slight of build. She uses her mind, her heart, and her spirituality to get her through; I think she's an admirable role model for anyone seeking such, and an excellent protagonist for a whole series of novels (would Tor care to resurrect the series, something that looks highly doubtful at this point).
Jennifer's relationship with her grandfather, Mooncrow, is also intriguing. Mooncrow isn't all that traditional in some senses; he loves Nintendo, he eats lots of pizza, he cooks, and he's after her throughout the book to, um, find a fulfilling lover. Not too many grandfathers do this, I don't think.
Mooncrow is a highly contradictory person, as evidenced by his name. Crows are never white, nor do they fly at night, yet Mooncrow . . . well, he delights in being contrary. So it's no surprise that he's found a spiritual successor in his granddaughter, despite that being highly unusual. It's also no surprise that he's teaching her everything he knows, despite the fact that women normally aren't taught so much. ("Good for Mooncrow" is what I kept muttering while reading.)
Jennifer's true name is Kestrel-Hunts-Alone, which is a far, far more straightforward name by any standard than Mooncrow's, and as such, she's shown to be driven, nearly obsessed, and that obsession has cost her things she hasn't realized. There is external conflict in the mystery, which quickly turns from "who did it" to "why did he do it?" And there is loads of internal conflict provided by Jennifer herself, her mission(s), and her relationship with David Spotted Horse, the man who "got away" years ago. (Of course, he was not worth keeping years ago, either. Perhaps now is different?)
Ms. Lackey effortlessly shows how modern women make a living, and combines that with a spiritual quest, some thrilling action-adventure, and a romance. This is an extremely moving book, it is emotionally honest, and it gets almost everything spot on.
Five stars, highly recommended.
Barb Caffrey
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Title: Burning Water by Mercedes Lackey ISBN: 0812524853 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 October, 1992 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Children of the Night : A Diana Tregarde Investigation by Mercedes Lackey ISBN: 0812522729 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 March, 1992 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Werehunter by Mercedes Lackey ISBN: 0671578057 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Fire Rose by Lackey ISBN: 067187750X Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Charmed Destinies: 3 Novels in 1 by Mercedes Lackey, Rachel Lee, Catherine Asaro ISBN: 0373218338 Publisher: Silhouette Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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