Filled with incredible detail and brought to life by three-dimensional characters, Sue Harrison's magnificent Storyteller Trilogy superbly evokes prehistoric Alaska and the strong people who struggle to survive its forbidding climate. Now, With Call Down the Stars, the saga begun in Song of the River and Cry of the Wind is complete, as Harrison vividly creates flesh-and-blood characters who fight for survival by day and are renewed at night by tales of the brave people who went before. It is the perfect conclusion to a sweeping epic that evokes a believable world sure to enchant all who enter it.
Call Down the Stars"The Bear-god warriors came like a tsunami from the sea, their poorly made and misshapen outriggers sunk so deeply in the water that the Boat People only stood on the shore staring, sure that a wave would swamp the dugouts before the warriors could beach them. But the sea gods were asleep . . . ."
So begins the story of the little girl called Daughter as she and the grandfather, Water Gourd, flee their villagc and promised death at the hands of the Bear-god warriors. At the end of a perilous and daring journey across the North Pacific, they are guided by sea otters to the islands of the Whale Hunters.
Daughter and Water Gourd believe they have found safety but they are soon ensnared in the plots and schemes of the medicine woman, Kos. She seeks revenge against her son, the warrior-statesman Chakliux, whom she blames for her status as slave-wife among the Whale Hunters.
Unaware of Kos's plans, Chakhux, with the wisdom and help of his wife, Aqamdax, and brother, Sok, has brought the River People into prosperous times. Their lives revolve around caribou hunting in the spring and fall, fishing in the summer, and storytelling during the winter. But years of peace are shattered by Kos's planned vengeance, and it is a forbidden love that makes that vengeance possible. Against the wishes of his people, Aqamdax's brother Ghaden takes the girl Daughter as his wife, giving Kos the opportunity to use the secrets of her poisons and plant medicines to devastate the lives of those she hates.
The conclusion of Kos's story of hatred and revenge is told in a traditional manner, authentic to Native American storytelling that is a unique and stunning departure from modern literature that will both surprise and satisfy the reader.
Call Down the Stars is a series of stories within a story Daughter's tale is presented as a duel between two storytellers, the quick-witted female Qumalix and the silvertongued man Yikaas. As they vie with each other to enchant their tribe with astonishing legends that recall the origins of their people, Qumalix and Yikaas grow in wisdom and, more important, learn that love transcends the boundaries of time and enmity.
