Through the Narrows - Tomahawk and Saber - Volume 2 - by Nathanael Green and Evan Ronan

Through the Narrows – Tomahawk and Saber (Volume 2).  Nathanael Green and Evan Ronan. Calhoun Publishing. October 215. 226 pp.  ISBN#: 9780996495813.

Hugh Pike and Wolf Tongue are again working together on a task that seems to be riddled with mystery and betrayal.  Wolf Tongue is silently mourning the degradation of his Sussquehannock tribe, which has lost many to disease and most of the stronger men and women to union with other tribes.  However, now the tribe is being accused of attacking and murdering residents of Millers Town.  Pike’s superior, the General who seems to despise him and refuses to promote him even after years of commendable service, has ordered him to investigate the Millers Town debacle and report back in three days, an almost impossible task for sure.

When Pike and Wolf Tongue arrive at Millers Town, they are far from welcome and suspicion about their presence is fiercely spoken.  They meet the man who reported the Indian raids, a suspicious character named Dobs and a French woman who knows a great deal but says little initially. As a war with the French is clearly looming, her words are deemed questionable. 

An almost immediate attack by the Indians, composed of members of various tribes, including an enemy of Wolf Tongue, occurs and reveals the cause of their anger.  Pike is given an ultimatum to solve the cause or watch the massacre of the Millers Town residents.  As he’s clearly outnumbered, he realizes he must solve the mystery.

Through the Narrows is the second volume of this Colonial American series.  While the characters and scenes are somewhat loosely constructed as far as actual reality of the Pennsylvania conditions, they do reflect the problems and terrors that truly did exist as colonialists faced divided Indian tribes and the ever-present conflicts caused by the perpetual warlike state existing between France and England, with the Americans caught in the middle.  While colonial characters are rather stereotypical, he presentation of several points of view with respect to the native Indians is remarkable and interesting.

For those who love adventure, a mystery, and an interest in early American history, this series by Green and Ronan is a fascinating, intense and tension-packed story. Nicely crafted!

Language of the Bear - Tomahawk and Saber - Volume One by Evan Ronan and Nathaniel Green

Language of the Bear – Tomahawk and Saber – Volume One.  Evan Ronan and Nathaniel Green. Calhoun Publishing. July 2015. 260 pp.  ISBN#: 9780996495800.

An English soldier, Lieutenant Hugh Pike, and a Native American Susquehannock warrior, Wolf Tongue (named as Isaac for a Christian name although he is clearly not a Christian), are thrown together on a mission.  They are both disconcerted by the ultimate act they must commit – the assassination of a violent, capable killer who is trying to recruit fighters to defeat the English.  Sounds simple, but it’s anything but easy!

To begin with both men have asked for a prize for the risk and completion of their task, a beloved lady – Damaris and Fox’s Smile respectively – each will wed after completing their job.  But their task is an almost impossible one in which they will encounter and perhaps survive every possible danger in the Pennsylvania mountains and country.  Their goal in this first of what will be a series is to find and deal with a man named Azariah or Storm-of-Villages. 

What is fascinating, as this novel progresses are three aspects.  One is the description of the beautiful land Pike and Wolf Tongue traverse, sometimes easily and sometimes with great challenges like climbing cliffs and fording fiercely moving rivers.  One can almost smell the turning colors of leaves and pine of the forests.  Both men are rugged enough to clear paths and camp comfortably even in the fiercest of cold weather.

The second intriguing portion is that Azariah actually has many supporters who believe in his mission to be rid of the English and restore the land to its native status.  His charisma and cruelty bring his supporters to unbridled obedience and fear and it is believed that he is unconquerable.

Friends are really foes and vice versa in this plot that grows complicated because of our main characters never knowing who can be trusted and the crafty movements of their enemy.

The third engaging aspect is the relationship that develops between Pike and Wolf Tongue which includes what they truly believe.  That difference both divides and eventually unites them.  As they journey back and forth between their home territory and that of Azariah, they develop a friendship that will endure physical wounds, struggle in the territory that is untamed and their wavering, private reflections between courage and doubt.

All in all, Language of the Bear is a terrific read whose fans will be looking forward to the next novel in this story of pre-Revolutionary colonials and Native American residents. Nicely crafted, Ronan and Green!

Losing St. Christopher: Book Two of the Cherokee Series. (Cherokee Trilogy: Volume Two) by David Michael Harding

Losing St. Christopher: Book Two of the Cherokee Series. (Cherokee Trilogy: Volume Two).  David Michael Harding. Q&CY Books. June 2014. 352 pp.  ISBN#: 9780985728526.

This second book of the Cherokee Series opens with a disturbing premise.  It seems that Albert Speer, a Hitler henchman, got his idea of ethnic cleansing from early white settlers in American history, those who were determined to get rid of the American Indian race no matter what the cost.  It’s not for this reviewer to deny or agree with this horrific reality, but it is for the reader to follow the notion in this novel.  Educated, so-called Christians are eager to have Cherokee men and women become educated, actually take part in the spread of Christianity among the Cherokee nation, but there the positive mission ends!

Chancellor is the son of well-known, respected leaders of the Cherokee nation.  His mother dies tragically but makes Chancellor promise to get an education among the white men.  He does so with much vigor and agrees to go along with all he is asked to do, although he finds it impossible to reconcile Christian principles of the “three in One God” with what he knows of the One Spirit God his Cherokee nation has believed and followed for many, many years.  He is unable to share his skills in medicine, learned at the knees of his mother as they scouted nature to find herbs and plants of curative value, because white men cannot pray to the Spirit as they should while they administer this medicine.  Ironically, it is this medicine that works many times when white doctors’ remedies are fruitless and actually cause harm rather than healing.

Tensions loom large when Cherokee mission students begin to marry and date white women.  Prejudice is large with death threats, tarring and feathering, and other repulsive practices, meant to frighten the young Cherokee men into submission and obedience, which basically means to “stick to your own kind.” Monterey is a young woman with whom Chancellor has fallen in love; however, they must separate for a while.

Meanwhile Totsuhwa, Chancellor’s father, has survived his personal, spiritual crisis and travels to New Ocheta to meet his son. Both have matured with age and knowledge of the white man’s ruses, Chancellor in particular unjustly accused after a maritime altercation.  On and the story goes, with one injustice after another told in a very real way, without drama and yet carrying the weight of slowly increasing defeat, all the way to the momentous last journey.  The spirit of these incredible warriors is stronger than the travesties forced upon them by white men.  Unique to this depiction is the process of how the Cherokee learned to read and write the white man’s language, which inspired them to create their own alphabet based on sounds and eventually allowed them to create a newspaper in which they strengthened the union of their people, a strategy quickly squelched again by the white man.

Losing St. Christopher… is a solid, fascinating read that depicts the degradation of the Cherokee nation, evidenced by the experiences of Totsuhwa, Chancellor and his family, and other notable Cherokee men.  While many are guilty, the author gives credit to those who refused to take part in the extermination of an Indian tribe and gave respect and honor where it was due.

Daniel Michael Harding has crafted a series that deserves to be required reading in classrooms throughout the United States.  Although it is fiction, it is clearly well-researched, carefully written historical fiction of the highest quality, a revelation of truths beyond comprehension that need to be understood and preserved as a permanent part of American history. Finely written, David Michael Harding!