Shaman

The Cole Trilogy, Book 2

By: Noah Gordon

Narrated by: Ben Owen

Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

Shaman is the prize-winning second volume of Noah Gordon's celebrated Cole trilogy. It is as great a listening experience as The Physician. A New York Times Notable Book.

Dr. Robert Judson Cole travels from his ravaged Scotland homeland, through the operating rooms of Boston, to the cabins of frontier Illinois. In the wilderness he befriends the starving remnants of the Sauk tribe, who have fled their reservation. In the process, he absorbs their culture and learns native remedies that enrich the classical medical education he received at Edinburgh University. He marries a remarkable settler woman he had saved from illness. The details of how their deaf son manages to become a physician also, despite his handicap, and the story of how the Cole family is sucked into the bloody vortex of the Civil War and survives, makes an exceptional listening experience.

©1992 Lise Gordon, Michael Seay Gordon and The Jamie Gordon Trust (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Enjoyed THE PHYSICIAN but loved THE SHAMON!!!

The SHAMON is more multi faceted than The PHYSICIAN whose primary focus was the acquisition of medical knowledge. Excellent narration!

Entertaining story but off-putting mispronunciations throughout!

The narrator did a very good job with the multiple accents required in this story - but so many simple, everyday words were mis-pronounced (‘hearth’ pronounced as ‘earth’ with an ‘h’, ‘arias’ with the stress on the middle syllable, etc.) that it was distracting. Good storyline though and the book was well-paced.

serious historic fiction

For those who love to read, this second of a trilogy is a must. Using the US Plains development as a backdrop, generational stories of life come alive in Shaman. The narration is perfect for the tone of the book. Some may find the detail ponderous. I felt it lent to the timing of events as life was before electricity and cars ( let alone paved roads.) A very worthwhile read: The third part is already in my library.

Interesting at times

This is a historical novel about a physician in the 1800’s. Some interesting and well done parts but the plot meanders and occasionally loses its way. Nice description of Medicine and living conditions of the times. A bit of a stretch that the doc should be involved in both the Underground Railroad and Gettysburg.

The narrator is very good but as in The Physician he mispronounces both medical and Hebrew terms at times.

Overall fairly good but not as good as The Physician, the first book in the series. I won’t be going on to the third book.

We’ll Worth the Work

It took a while to get into this book (unlike his first book that grabbed me immediately), but it is really worth the effort.

Land that I know

My grandparents were pioneers in Illinois, my parents were born in Minnesota, I was born in Wisconsin, and I now live in Iowa. With a heritage like that how could I not be fascinated and smiling when this delightful narrator put living people populating so many name places, and experiencing so much of the history I have loved and studied for more than 50 years! A delightful book and a worthy sequel to The Physician. I highly recommend this book.

Narration unacceptable

I usually enjoy British narrators but Mr Owen’s style of narration - pausing every 3-4 words - sometimes in untimely places, as if reading lines on paper rather than phrases - made it nearly intolerable and extremely frustrating.

The book was great - another good read from Noah Gordon

Very Good Story

I feel this was a very good story very worth the time to listen to. I Really enjoyed that the author incorporated History with the story, so I did not just enjoy the story but learn real background history. I wholly recommend this.

Loved it all.

I like historical fiction redolent with description of scenery... weather.. cooking.. all the manners of the time. And a plot w depth... complexity.. characters who both surprise and inspire me


It's hard to find authors & works that satisfy.
In this case.. I leave the world of this novel reluctantly... but deeply. satisfied on all levels.

Great series

I love historical books...you get a story and a history lesson.. A great trilogy...looking forward to the dthird book !

Loved it.

From start to finish a brilliant historical story. But it, you won't regret it, guaranteed.