A Snake Falls to Earth

By: Darcie Little Badger

Narrated by: Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Kinsale Hueston

Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She's always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories.

Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he's been cast from home. He's found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake.

Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli's best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven't been in centuries.

And there are some who will kill to keep them apart.

Darcie Little Badger introduced herself to the world with Elatsoe. In A Snake Falls to Earth, she draws on traditional Lipan Apache storytelling structure to weave another unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family. It is not to be missed.

©2021 Darcie Little Badger (P)2021 Recorded Books

Such a fun read!

Had to read this for one of my graduate classes. What a fun book this was, and so modern, too. There wasn’t a single thing about this book that I disliked!

Another hit by Darcie!

I first read the hardcover I got and had signed by Darcie at an Indigenous women’s book reading in 2023. It’s such a heartening story: adventure, some suspense, but mostly I love how it makes me nervous system feel: calm, grounded, and curious.

Wonderful story and characters

I really enjoyed this book. My first by Darcie Little Badger. The story was rich and the characters lovable and well fleshed out. A great blend of modern day problems /situations and a cultural history / lore. Will definitely recommend to others and look forward to reading more by the author.

story

I wish there were more tales within the main story

will check out more by this author

A look at modern oral story-telling.

I really liked this book, but it did have a rough beginning and some rough portions in the middle.

First, I want to say that the book had some great elements: folktales, a loving atmosphere for the reflective world to take on life, charming characters, a way to look at oral story-telling in the present day, and a gentle dose of non-binary love.

It took me a little bit to adapt to the structure of the story. I can't put my finger on exactly how it felt different from other novels I have read. I think I am used to long paragraphs of description, and this book focused more on short bursts of description with lots of internal (and external) dialog. If anyone gets a similar vibe or can pick out why it is different, I'd love your thoughts.

The downside of this novel was some of the author's choices. The characters would say things that didn't exactly make sense with their characters or with the audience. At one point, the author described a cellphone and personal assistant (like Siri) to explain what they were and how they were used. It made it the beginning fairly stilted and hard to get through; however, I think it was a crafty ploy from the author. The novel follows a young girl who is doing her own style of oral story-telling by creating digital videos. I think the author was telling the story from an outsider (in this case, an animal person's) perspective and explaining the magic of the modern world to a people who wouldn't understand it. It's only now, as I write this review, that this understanding has hit me. I like the book a bit more now.

Sometimes the voice actors can be a bit silly with voices, but they did an excellent job. I could listen to them tell stories over and over again.