Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Genre:
Coming of Age/Native American/Culture/Historical Fiction
Approximate
word count: 20-25,000
words
Availability
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on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
“Andrew
Leon Hudson is an unapologetic genre author from England. In
preparation for life as a writer he has worked in fields as diverse
as prosthetic make-up, teaching, contact lens retail, "intoxicant
delivery" and the services (customer and military). He used to
have his own company, but it died. His first novel was published in
2014 to silent acclaim only to vanish from existence nine months
later, so in 2015 he's doing all that sort of thing for himself. An
‘unapologetic genre author’, he is currently writing End
Trails,
a series of weird western stories, and Dark
Matters,
which presents themed pairs of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic
science fiction, and horror stories with an edge of black humour…”
For more,visit his website.
Description:
“Travel
the End Trails - paths into hidden places, taking you towards the
unknown and from which return is far from certain. Tales of things
not believed from the comfort and safety of civilisation and only
whispered about on the distant fringes of exploration, all waiting in
the wilderness.
In
Given
Names,
a Native American boy comes of age only to have the future he
imagined snatched horribly away, leaving only doubt. No-one knows to
what destination the path through life will lead - but one thing is
for sure: you won't be the same person when you get there...”
Appraisal:
This
novella is a well written account, from a young boy’s
point-of-view, of his life as a member of his tribal community. No
mention of his parents is ever given, so I assumed he was an orphan
adopted by the whole tribe. His name is Circling Bird, which could be
construed a few different ways, since we don’t really know him yet
I assume it refers to a hawk or eagle. He and three of his friends
have been chosen to follow along on their first hunt. They are
excited, they have been training for this experience. No one expects
the tragedy that befalls them.
The
story is Circling Birds healing journey, he has been renamed Three
Spirits. He is taken under the wing of Wide Sky, the village shaman
who has lost his son. As Three Spirits regains his strength he
undergoes a process of selfdiscovery as he learns the healing arts
from Wide Sky. As time passes, Three Spirits feels the need to
confront his past and he separates himself from the tribe to head
back to where he once called home alone. Prairie Wind follows and
guides him in weapon use for hunting and further lessons in tracking.
Until the early morning, when Three Spirits feels he must continue
his journey alone.
The
twist at the end of the story is shocking and totally unexpected.
Whether it is believable or not depends on your own perspective and
willingness to believe in the outcome. It is certainly grievous on
several levels.
FYI:
The
author uses British spelling conventions. Given
Names is Book 2 in the
End Trails
series and can be read as a stand alone. “The
End Trails are stories to
be told around the camp-fire, dark things to unsettle the mind,
before you settle down to sleep.”
Format/Typo
Issues:
I
found no issues with editing or formatting.
Rating:
**** Four stars
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