Sumiko Saulson

Cycles of the moon, Generations of women, a young woman unaware of her incredible gift. A delicate weaving of history, character development and esoteric overlay that makes for an interesting saga. I read it twice, I missed a lot in the first round with all the symbolism. A lot of work went into the background and technical aspects of the writing itself and it shows.

I read this book because the premise appealed to me. Who wouldn’t be enticed by the promise of a good folklore/myth played out between man, animal, and nature? And true enough, the initial chapters were as captivating as the premise but as I continued with the story, I grew impatient and confused. Even though the author attempted to help the reader keep the similar-sounding names and family lines straight by filtering and layering in information, that didn’t help. I found myself lost in a maze of characters who did not stand out strong enough for me to latch on to. I kept having to recite relationships in my head and at one point actually thought about drawing a family tree. But that’s too much work for a fiction novel. For me, one of the goals of fiction is to entertain. Perhaps if the author had done more “showing” of the story instead of “telling,” the story would have been easier to follow. Also, I think it would have helped me stay engaged if the author had tackled one generation at a time instead of throwing in the entire kitchen sink (the psychic abilities, the myth, the types of wolves, etc.) in one fell swoop. Or, if not one generation at a time at least reduce the number of generations. The author packed a lot in this story–too much. There were however some strong themes that played throughout: good versus evil, the importance of family, redemption, and more. Unfortunately, the contrived actions and coincidental outcomes did little to underscore these themes. What did I like? I think the author is quite imaginative and her research seems impeccable. I also enjoyed the revisit to the ’70s, a period of time I don’t read enough of. Plus, it thrills me to match a title with the story. I’m surprised at how many books don’t marry the two. A friend asked me if I would read another book by this author and I said, “maybe.” My “maybe” lies in the fact that the author is very creative and as Toni Morrison said (paraphrased), writers improve with every writing. And I do think this writer will.

A layered story. Interesting and intense. Taking you back through time and a girls discovery of her abilities. A fun read.