Natural High

Natural High (Merle Haggard)
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I was reminded of that song - recorded by Merle Haggard back in 1985 - when reading Dan Simmons's Black Hills.  That was probably due to the constant reference to the Sioux as the "Natural Free Human Beings" in the novel, that supposedly being the literal English translation of what the Sioux people call themselves. But I digress.

The novel, Simmons's latest, revolves around a character named Paha Sapa - a name meaning "Black Hills" in the Sioux language - who at the age of seventy is carrying within him an incredible burden: the soul of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer.  The novel follows two timelines, alternating chapter by chapter.  The first one begins in 1876 with an almost eleven-year-old Paha Sapa navigating his way through the chaos at the Battle of Little Bighorn, whereupon he comes across the body of a dying Custer, laying hands upon him and receiving his soul at the moment of death.  From there we are taken through Paha Sapa's young adulthood, marriage, birth of his son, up until a meeting with Custer's widow in New York City in the 1930s.  The second time line is set in 1936, when Paha Sapa is seventy years old and working as a chief powederman at Mount Rushmore, where Gutzon Borglum is putting the final touches on his sculptural masterpiece, and where Paha Sapa intends to commit a devastating act of enormous destruction to avenge his people.

As is often the case with Dan Simmons's novels - and I have reviewed several of them on this blog - the historical research he puts into the story to surround his fictional characters with an aura of realism is nothing short of  remarkable.  Along with Custer, other historical figures making a appearance are Custer's wife Libbie (Elizabeth Bacon Custer), Crazy Horse, Doane Robinson, and Henry Adams, among others.  He also, towards the end of the novel, seemingly ties the story in with his Hyperion universe - not an entirely surprising development considering that Simmons has used his characters in different stories in the past.

I hesitate to say more as I don't wish to spoil the story for those of you who might wish to read it.  I recommend it highly, just as I have done with other books of his reviewed here.

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Well, today marks the beginning of a few weeks of much needed vacation.  I hope to blog more often during my time off.  There will be at least one more book review coming: The Lotus Eaters by Tom Kratman.  Sorry for being late to respond to comments and e-mails during the past couple of weeks.  My readers, though few, are never far from my mind.