Shaman

This book proves once again that Robinson's (2312; Antarctica; The Years of Salt ane Rice; "Mars" trilogy) fascination with the human condition and mankind's journey transcends easy genre labels. This journey begins in undated prehistory when ice still covers the land to the north. Loon begins his wander naked and alone in the cold fourth month of the year at the new moon. By surviving and returning to camp in style at the full moon he becomes a man of the Wolf pack. His apprenticeship to Thorn, the pack's shaman, also intensifies. At the great annual gathering of many packs, Loon meets and falls in love with Elga. The following summer, after the two have married, Elga is kidnapped by a clan of northerners who live between the sea and ice. There is a natural cadence to these lives that is reflected in Robinson's prose, whether describing grand adventures, intimate moments, or the work of the pack through the wheel of the seasons.