Author: Kurt R.A. Giambastiani
Publisher: ROC
Binding: Paperback
Publication Date: 2004
The world as we knew it is a bit different than those stories of Cowboys and Indians from elementary school. Sure, the Indians are still there. So are the Cowboys (actually the cavalry). Horses, paddle boats, railroads, all are just as normal as could be.
Enter the dinosaurs. While I’ve read the first three books of the Fallen Cloud series, I felt it necessary to bring the most interesting point to the forefront of the review. A lot of people have a hard time swallowing the fact that the Native Americans are riding descendants of dinosaurs. To me, that’s the whole point of fiction, be it considered alternate history or fantasy. There has to be something there that will define the work as fiction. Unfortunately for Kurt, the dinosaurs may have turned some readers off.
Another struggling point for readers (but not me) is Giambastiani’s assumption of intelligence. As in the intelligence of the reader. While many authors tend to speak (or write) down to their audience, Kurt writes at an educated level, thus making you think about what you are reading. Yet another pain point for some readers.
Aside from this depressing news, there the depressing story. But first, let’s shine a bit of light on the back-story. General Custer is President. His son has fallen from a dirigible into the hands of the Cheyenne. George Jr. (also known as One Who Flies) has become as much Cheyenne as American and helps the Cheyenne take their fight to the White House. After surviving an attempted assassination and loosing a close friend, George Jr. heads back to the lands of the Cheyenne in a deep depression.
Which brings us to the fourth installment of the Fallen Cloud saga. George is descending into the depths of hell and self-loathing. Drinking too much, he ends up in a dung and mud filled alley. Only to be rescued by the Devil himself, a Frenchman named D’avignon. D’avignon has worked with One Who Flies before, betrayed him and the Cheyenne people, and yet George still works with him in yet another attempt to bring peace to the Cheyenne Territory.
About this time, Mouse Road (George’s Cheyenne wife-to-be), Speaks While Leaving (Mouse Road’s sister), and Blue Shell Woman (the infant daughter of Speaks While Leaving) find George in his drunken stupor. They head to Cuba then Spain to bring their pleas for peace to the Queen of Spain herself. The Queen agrees to side with the Cheyenne in their fight for peace against the Americans. And just as things start to look good, the bottom falls out.
Enter more depression. D’avignon sets up the Spanish and Americans to fight each other, thus making war imminent in the Cheyenne Territory. Blue Shell Woman dies. Storm Arriving (one of George’s good friends) divorces his wife, Speaks While Leaving. And the Spanish now know about the gold deposits in the Cheyenne Territory.
From The Heart Of The Storm had some strong political overtones at time. Not that I minded, it just seemed to stray a bit from the usual character focus of the previous titles in the series. And while I have not reviewed the preceding titles, I’ve enjoyed them all. I felt this was a good addition to the series, but a bit weaker than the others. And as I thought more about it, I realized that it was actually setting up the fifth book more than anything. As I got closer to the end, I became less distracted by other things. I could almost see where Kurt was planning on going for the next book. And just as things were looking up, the bottom fell out and depression came in. Giambastiani doesn’t have a publisher for the next book. Not good. Not good at all.
