(With the second (Shadow Valley) I got parts Clan of the Cave Bear, parts Tarzan (Edgar Rice Burroughs style) parts Imaro, parts suffused with his own philosophies, parts modern romance or erotica--I feel like Steve is firmly anchored in the pulp tradition--but we all know even real life is not as violent as a Conan story, mostly, and nothing can beat the 20th Century for violence
I liked that the female character was strong and that females were shown as an integral part of the society and even dominant or essential to some of its workings--think he has something here with the Ibandi-- Again, a difficult sell, the day to day life of hunter gatherers with no written language, few members, no towns, no metallurgy, no philosophy, only rudiments of culture as we enjoy it today He had to juice it up--but there is evidence that warfare, even between different ethnic groups then, was often more ceremonial The innovations of Chaka Zulu--close quarter war, maximum slaughter inflicted on the losers--came as a shock to much of that society Were there any African Stonehenges? The society that raised it was not much more advanced that the Ibandi---" --- In SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.com, "B. Smith" <daikaij...@...> wrote: > > I'll have to give the second one a look because I felt the same way as you do > about the first. It was interesting but not very engaging. > > ---
