North Star

I can only echo the praise of the previous two reviewers--however I would give "North Star" five stars rather than four; I don't see how it could be improved upon. You will never go wrong with a novel by Richard S. Wheeler, who blends solid plots with accurate historical settings and complex, realistic characters. Although it is part of a series chronicling the life of Barnaby Skye, "North Star" can be read and enjoyed as a stand-alone novel. I highly recommend it, and I also recommend any of his earlier Skye novels--and any of his work, for that matter, especially his biographical novels.

"North Star" is an extraordinary novel by Richard S. Wheeler. Having written more than sixty of them, the author is among the grand masters of American historical westerns. His prose is as smooth as a velveteen piano scarf, but in this case early chapters are slow albeit beautifully written desciptions of the countryside and native American beliefs. This most recent addition to the Skye West novels astound the reader in presenting Mister Skye and his Crow wife, Victoria, as they battle the onset of old age. Both Skye and Victoria suffer with debilitating bouts of arthritis, made more severe by the bitter cold of rain, snow, and ice in their lodge where they must sleep on the ground. Skye is further incapacitated by diminishing eyesight which radically reduces his ability to hunt and shoot animals for food. In this book, we also learn much about indigenous peoples' accommodation to death and dying, both on the part of individuals as well as tribal custom. I was also caused to think about how very difficult the aging process would make life for those (e.g., frontiersmen and Native Americans) whose lives were spent in migratory patterns following seasons and food sources. Example: this book made me realize how miserable it would be to spend several days on a horse while suffering pains of lower back arthritis. "North Star" is the story of Skye and his two wives, one Shoshone and one Crow, on a journey to find a place to live where they can provide for themselves in a European-style house protected from bad weather. A major feature of the book, too, is their reunion with North Star, Skye's half breed son, who has been educated by Jesuit missionaries. In this subplot, the boy's mother, Skye's Shoshone wife, makes her way to St. Louis to visit her son. This journey, too, has interesting twists and turns as the lone Indian woman makes her way without money on a trip that will take the better part of two months. Among the great offerings of "North Star" is an understanding of the white man's changing role in ruling the country with the red man kept on reservations. A unique book, perhaps because it deals head on with an aging cowboy, married to two Indian women. Skye and his Crow wife, Victoria, who also suffers from aging, depend upon Mary, the younger Shoshone woman, to take care of them in their old age. "North Star" is an enjoyable read, well described in the endless sky country -- an adventure from which readers will learn a great deal about the lives of indigenous peoples and the white men who come to replace them and their cultures. I highly recommend it for a place on your bedside table.

The Skye novels are unique. They are a blend of the historical literary with the tall-tale dime novel. The characters--Skye particularly--are larger than life, but the beauty of the west and the context of the novels is pure literature. North Star is the 17th title and it is no exception. It is well-written, beautifully detailed, and a touch melancholy as, what feels like the final Barnaby Skye story, is told. Mister Skye is breaking down with age. He is sixty-five. His eyesight is blurring, and his body aches from too many cold nights on the hard ground beneath his lodge. He yearns for a home: A white man's home with a wood floor, windows, a soft bed, furniture and rocking chair on the front porch. He has witnessed the west from the early days of the fur trade to the current westward expansion of the white man. It is the end an era--the west is opening up for the homesteader and rancher, but it is closing around the Indian tribes like a noose. Skye is not a wealthy man. The fur is long since gone and there is little need for guide work in these modern times. He and his two Indian wives--Victoria and Mary--live with Victoria's Absaroka People. Skye knows money will be a problem, but he also knows he needs a home to grow old in. He also has a place in mind in the Yellowstone Valley. It is a place where the old trappers would often meet in the old days and share stories and trade goods. It is near water, there are warm springs, game and enough beauty to last forever. Unfortunately--as is usually the case--everything that can go wrong, does. NORTH STAR is a melancholy story. It is a story about age and change, but it is also a story about returns--Skye has stayed clear of his own people. He has lived with the Indians for years, but as age captures him he has the need to return to the life his people--the white man--live: a house, a warm stove, furniture, a bed. The story is told expertly with a weaving and sundry plotline--it isn't straight and clean, but rather it curls around Skye and his family with destiny's own uncaring and callous style. It is told in third person and the perspective changes between Skye, his wives and his son Dirk. The prose is vibrant, melancholy and often beautiful with its subtle textures and understated style: "They reached the riverbank during a spring squall, and continued westward along a worn trail, while wrapped in good blankets. That cold night they raised the lodge and found warmth and peace within." NORTH STAR is a tale that truly captures the spirit of the west. It is beautiful, harsh, and always dependent on the whimsy of nature. If you think the western is dead, you should read this book. -Gravetapping