Rick Revelle

Set in the 14th century, Algonquin Sunset by Rick Revelle is the third book in a trilogy about a group of Algonquin Indians. Over the course of the three books they have been squeezed out of their Ottawa Valley homelands and pushed westward by the fierce Iroquois. In this volume they join forces with some of their Anishinaabe-Ojibwe allies on a retaliation raid on the Lakhota Nadwessioux, who themselves would eventually be pushed out of the Eastern woodlands onto the plains and become known as the Sioux. In this book, we travel around the Great Lakes in lands that would eventually be known as Ontario and Minnesota.

All three of these books have been thoroughly researched and, at the end of the book, we discover than many of the events that are described in this book actually happened. The author is dedicated to passing on his knowledge about the life and warfare of these First Nations people and so there is an abundance of historical details about their culture, religion, food preparation and day-to-day life. And although the story unfolds from three different aspects, that of an Algonquin, an Anishinaabe and a Lakhota warriors, it is less a character driven story and more of a historical recreation.

I have enjoyed all three of these engaging adventure stories and I am sorry to see the trilogy come to an end. In these books the author has given us a tantalizing glimpse of the rich history of the First Nations people in an informative, colorful and fascinating manner.… (mehr)

Algonquin Spring by Canadian author Rick Revelle is the second book in his Algonqin Quest series. I really enjoyed the first book entitled I Am Algonquin and this second book continues the story of the Algonquin Mahingan and his family. In two parallel stories, we are introduced to the Mi’kmaq and Beothuk peoples who live in the Eastern Maritimes and Newfoundland as well as following Corn Dog, the Iroquois who is the enemy to both the Algonquin and the Mi’kmaq. The timing of this story is some 300 years before white people came to the new world, although the Vikings have visited. The story became somewhat of a fable by the author introducing the characters of Glooscap and Crazy Crow as well as a shape-shifter.

The Indians spent much of their time in raiding other tribes and fighting territorial battles and most of this book is the lead up to another violent confrontation. The author has done his research and kept the history and the cultural information accurate. I enjoyed all the descriptions of the woods, rivers, lakes and shorelines that the various tribes travelled and lived by. Their customs are strictly adhered to giving the reader a very clear picture of the lifestyle of the First Nations at that time.

Mainly this was a story of survival, warfare and relationships. I found it to be an exciting and educational adventure. I am looking forward to continuing to read about Mahingan’s family in the next book, Algonquin Sunset.… (mehr)

Book #3, in the Algonquin Quest series

If you are interested in Algonquin history this series brings to life an era rarely written about. Inspired by his own heritage Mr. Revelle provides an accurate description of indigenous life in North America prior to contact with Europeans. The story unfolds in the early 1300’s and is told with an authentic indigenous languages sprinkled throughout. In addition, the Anishinaabe, Mi’kmag, Mohawk cultures, histories and traditions are explored.

Although the book is fiction, according to the author the way the characters live, hunt, harvest, their survival techniques and unique warfare are as accurate as he found during his long hours of research. In “Algonquin Sunset” two native tribes are introduced: the Anishinaabe and the powerful Lakhota. In alternate first person narratives, we follow Anoki, Zhashagi and Waste on their day to day life in a harsh land where they will encounter fierce enemy. The story is full of details of hunting, meal preparation, vision, moving camp and some characters go into long bouts of storytelling making the experience engaging. This novel is not character driven but rather an interesting recreation of Native American life. As I read the book, I had a very realistic feel and a sense of just how Aboriginal people lived, struggled to have enough to eat, keep warm and dry and the need to be alert to the constant threat of enemies.

Although it is always preferable to read series in sequence I did not feel lost to have started here. I melted right into the depiction of Algonquin life. It is so sad that so much knowledge of First Nations culture was lost as a result of residential schools….

I received this ARC for review from Dundurn.com via Netgalleys… (mehr)