RAVEN MOCKER

THE SPANISH BIT SAGA

Book 27 of 29 + three Super editions

By Don Coldsmith

Cover art by Tom Hall

Bantam Books, July 2002

Demon…or Healer?

For years Snakewater, the aging medicine woman of Old Town, has been respected – and feared – by her Cherokee village. Now, as a series of mysterious deaths plagues her village, she finds herself accused of being a Raven Mocker, the legendary creature of evil that steals life from its victims in its relentless quest for immortality. Driven from her people, Snakewater journeys west for the first time with a traveling band to the Cherokee settlements far beyond the Mississippi.

Her trail will be one of perilous discovery. Accepted by a culture new to her, admired and loved by its children, she finds herself feeling more vibrant and youthful. But is her newfound vigor a gift from the spirits…or a sign that her people were right, that she is a life-stealing Raven Mocker? As the annual Sun Dance approaches, Snakewater will learn the fateful truth about herself and the unexplained deaths – a surprising revelation that will confirm her new life…or destroy it.

In this book Don Coldsmith moves away from telling a story about his fictional tribe and spins an intriguing and captivating tale of an old Cherokee woman set circa 1800, who is accused of being a mythical Raven Mocker. Coldsmith explains that this evil spirit steals the life breath of the dying and adds their unlived years to its own life. Coldsmith never mentions the missing hearts that legend says this creature harvests without leaving a mark on the body.

Seeing Snakewater struggle with the horror of whether she could be a Raven Mocker without knowing is the main storyline. Coldsmith also includes other spiritual elements, as he does in many of the book in the Spanish Bit series, and one of the unseen Little People has a major role to play in this story too.

Once Snakewater decides to leave her Cherokee home, the story becomes much more familiar to fans of this series. It turns into a tale of discovery, of meeting new peoples and learning their ways. Unknown to Snakewater there are people on her trail seeking revenge for the deaths of their loved ones. Eventually Snakewater meets up with the Elk-Dog People, Coldsmith’s tribe that has been followed throughout all the previous books, and it is with them that she will finally face her demons, real or imagined. 

As usual Don Coldsmith captures emotions superbly, be they joy, wonder, fear or hate. His dialogue is believable and descriptions of time and place are beautifully told. Even if you are sceptical about the supernatural elements of this tale, Coldsmith will make you a believer, such is the power of his prose. 

In Raven Mocker, Don Coldsmith again proves that he was up there with the very best writers of fiction and, for me and many others, his work is unmissable.

I feel I must mention the artwork fronting this book. Tom Hall’s covers to the entire series are wonderful but his painting on Raven Mocker must rank as one of his very best. The careful thought-out placement of items within the image lit by the fire to cast the giant shadow of a raven is terrific and captures the mood of this story superbly.

Note: Wolfpack Publishing have recently begun republishing the complete series.

THE LOST BAND

THE SPANISH BIT SAGA

Book 26 of 29 + three special editions

By Don Coldsmith

Cover art by Tom Hall

Bantam, April 2001

For the Forest Band of the People, summer is a peaceful time of hunting and gathering. But when a band of Shaved-heads brutally attack, the People’s women and children are carried off into slavery. Most accept their fate, but one of the captives, the courageous widow White Moon, vows to keep the traditions of the band alive until the day the survivors can be reunited with the People. Her dream will inspire many of her tribe as they struggle to preserve their culture: a young hunter and his loyal wife, a troubled warrior on a vision quest, an aged storyteller, a wily trader – until at last the special child is born who is destined to lead the Forest Band back to its rightful place in the Great Council of the People.

A sweeping story that covers generations, even reaching further back into the past than before the first book in the series began as Don Coldsmith finally reveals what happened to the band that should occupy the empty place at the Council fire.

Coldsmith divides the book into four parts, each following a different person as the survivors of the Forest Band’s ancestors try to keep traditions alive, in secret as they often don’t know who they can trust, especially those originally taken by the Shaved-heads. Even though many want to find the People themselves there are a variety of reasons they cannot do so; the birth of children and not knowing where to find the People being a couple of those problems.

The lives of the four main characters, White Moon, Striker, Stumbling Bear and Story Keeper, are fascinating to read. Each is very different to the others but linked by the desire to keep their bloodline hidden and to be reunited with the People. I always thought Coldsmith was extremely good at character studies and they are as strong in this tale as they are in any other book in this tremendous series. Hope, expectation, wonder, happiness, love, fear, anguish, hate and sadness, mould the lead characters as they grow. As a reader I often found myself sharing their emotions as I was captured by the magic of their decades long quest.

Right at the beginning of the book Coldsmith lets the reader know that the Forest Band will return to the People, and the scenes of amazement when Story Keeper arrives at the Sun Dance and announces who he is captured my imagination immediately and I was hooked. I just had to discover what had happened to the Forest Band and the story proved to be just as good as I hoped it would be.

Bride of the Morning Star

THE SPANISH BIT SAGA #19:

By Don Coldsmith

Bantam edition, May 1993

Bear Paws of the Elk-dog People married into the Pawnee Nation and adopted their rituals and customs as his own. But when they abduct a young maiden of the People, he is torn between past ties and loyalty to his new wife’s tribe. His dilemma is complicated by the secret arrival of his old ally Tall Bull, who has come to rescue his beloved Calling Bird – with or without Bear Paw’s help. Both realize that the Pawnee have already chosen her to be the bride of their most powerful god, the Morning Star, and at the end of the ceremony she must die….

Set about five years after the previous book in the series, Return of the Spanish, this story tells of Bear Paws struggles to accept some the traditions of the Pawnee, which in turn put a strain on his marriage and will, perhaps, bring about its end. The main problem that Bear Paws has to deal with is human sacrifice. In an author’s note at the beginning of the book Don Coldsmith tells of how this element of the story is based on fact and events in his story are similar to what happened to the Piegan girl, Lance Woman, that took place in 1856 and is said to be the last attempt by the Pawnee to carry out this traditional sacrifice to the Morning Star.

Don Coldsmith writes a gripping story that becomes a race against time. Characters are beautifully depicted and I soon found myself wondering if Bear Paw would be able to save Calling Bird, even with the help of Spotted Cat, a warrior of the People, who it is said can make himself invisible. Superbly paced, I found this book impossible to put down and all too soon found I had reached the end, and once more find myself eager to read the next book in the series.

Mention must be made of artist Tom Hall who really does capture the mood of the story well with his cover painting right down to colour and style of clothing and shape of the red crosses, along with the different coloured cross poles of the ladder behind the figures. Quite simply an excellent cover painting to front a top class book.