Shaman

By: Kim Stanley Robinson

Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm

Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Finalist, Science Fiction, 2014

There is Thorn, a shaman himself. He lives to pass down his wisdom and his stories - to teach those who would follow in his footsteps. There is Heather, the healer who, in many ways, holds the clan together. There is Elga, an outsider and the bringer of change. And then there is Loon, the next shaman, who is determined to find his own path. But in a world so treacherous, that journey is never simple - and where it may lead is never certain.

Shaman is a powerful, thrilling and heart-breaking story of one young man's journey into adulthood - and an awe-inspiring vision of how we lived 30,000 years ago.

©2013 Kim Stanley Robinson (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Slow until it gets you!

I admit, I almost didn't finish listening to Shaman. The first third of the book is very slow-going. Hours of description, both of the exterior world and Loon's thoughts about his environment and his body (ahem), almost defeated me. It was kind of like hanging around a thirteen year-old who has one topic of discussion: him or herself. For hours.

But, I slogged on and by the break between parts one and two, you couldn't have pried my iPod out of my clutching fingers. I was hooked. This is not a fast read, but it is good - if you can make it that far.

Recommend.

great story, first time I enjoyed nature writing,

takes awhile to get into, but we'll worth it
highly recommend 8th you enjoyed mats stores

Not a story about shamanism, though a good story

It’s not a story I expected based on the title. It’s an interesting historical fiction story and I enjoyed it. I was interested in a stronger emphasis on a shaman’s journey among the pack but the story is broader than that.

interesting look into stone age society

what was it like to be a shaman in a Stone age society during an ice age? this book gives some interesting insights and is quite an exciting read at times

Spellbinding

Readers are split on this book, and I understand why. I am an armchair naturalist/zoologist/anthropologist, recently back from our third trip to Africa, which we find mesmerizing on so many levels. This book reads like immersing oneself in a similarly exotic (for us) place, its people, it’s history, it’s geography, it’s climate, etc. And while Shaman is located in a time and place that is totally alien, it feels like home in so many ways. But it’s not a “page turner,” with complex character development and surprise twists. It is a work of prehistoric fiction with characters whose life is agonizingly simple and repetitive, with very basic annual cycles that reflect the simplicity of their lives: stay alive. Store enough food to make it through winter/spring until the animals emerge or return and the plants and herbs grow from the emerging landscape. Avoid being eaten. Avoid being enslaved by other tribes. Live to have children, and hope to live to the ripe old age of 40. Along the way relationships form (some very odd), and change. There’s the coming of age of one character and the slow decline of another. There is inter-tribe politics. And while it is all very simplistic, it foreshadows life in our own culture. Perhaps “thin gruel” for some, but I couldn’t put it down.

The narrator might drive some crazy, with an unchanging cadence. But it is a masterful piece of weaving the story together, in that it perfectly matches the reality of life: there are few surprises in life, and there’s not much people can do about it. Life comes, people prosper one year, freeze or starve or both the next. People have children, pass along what knowledge they can, and die, from starvation or exposure or other violence from other tribes or old age.

I loved it. And if you are new to Kim Stanley Robinson, as I was until recently, don’t miss “Ministry for the Future,” set in the future rather than the past, and wholly engrossing.

Amazing look at survival in the Stone Age

Robinson has made a very empathetic depiction of life in the Stone Age by modern humans, alongside the remnants of older variants of humanity like Neanderthals. Animals are seen as brothers and sisters of Mother Earth. Very concrete examples of survival techniques are explored. There’s even a compelling plot to keep it all moving.
If you like a bit of nonfiction mixed in with your fiction, and if you enjoy the genre, you should enjoy this novel.

Historical fiction

If you could sum up Shaman in three words, what would they be?

Garden of Eden

Any additional comments?

Robinson is a master of fleshing out a world as it evolves through time. I have read some of his future histories such as the Mars trilogy and enjoyed them. Shaman takes us back to some period before history began and illuminates it with a realism that is engaging and rewarding.

His Best Since the Mars Trilogy

Over the years since I read KSR's Mars Trilogy, when I have told others about it, my descriptions of that masterpiece have tended to include the phrases "science fiction, but in a class by itself" and also, "akin to reading history, but written 300 years in the future."

While I have enjoyed other books by KSR, none have been able to measure up to the Mars Trilogy - until now. Shaman, too, is a masterpiece. It is nothing at all like Robinson's other novels, which is a good thing - and testament to the author's abilities.

What makes it so great? First of all, the characters. In Robinson's other works, character development has tended to be something he seems to work at, but perhaps doesn't come naturally to him. With Shaman, his ship has come in. Creating characters who would have lived 30,000 years ago and making them believable is quite an accomplishment. In Robinson's depictions, they are at once Unknowable, mysterious and profoundly ordinary. His use of everyday speech for their dialogue, rather than some wholly imagined, affected "tribespeople" speak (whatever language was spoken 30,000 years ago will likely remain forever completely unknown) is a stroke of brilliance. It's easy for the reader to grasp that the characters are speaking in their own tongue, but with colloquialisms that are synonymic in our language. For example, they might have had an equivalent for "oh, fuck;" or even the quirky meaning behind our present day "mama mia" makes the (single) use that phrase not seem odd, or out of place.

The second bit of greatness, is that these characters, their actions, and the world they inhabit - both Natural and Spirit - come truly alive. Never again will I look at an ancient cave painting or other ancient art in quite the same way. In Shaman, by books end, Robinson has created an emotionally charged, believable bridge between those artistic creations, their makers and the present moment. This achievement by Robinson is no less than High Art itself. He's created Magic, in which the past is brought to life; for this reader, I am forever changed for the experience.

Kim Stanley Robinson + Graeme Malcolm = Happiness

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, Its a good duo, great author and a great performance. It reminds me of the Clan of the Cave Bear timeline for the story. I tried to listen to Clan of the Cave Bear but did not like the sample narration so I sadly passed on it and Shaman provided me with a great substitution and a great new story. Unlike, Clan, It is a story of human tribes but refers to the "old ones" which I took to mean neanderthals.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Loon, of course. its his story, but the supporting characters are great.

Which scene was your favorite?

Hard to say without ruining the book for others...

A+ Escapism

A captivating, poignant, and persuasive imagination of prehistoric life. Bask in your immersion into an alien society. Yet reflect on the parts of human nature that are timeless.This book is 70% setting, 30% plot.