ONE IS THE SUN

Thirteen-year-old slave girl Tadpole is saved from a life of misery by Earth Thunder, a shaman. Set in the American West of the 1850s and filled with goddess lore and Native American history, the story follows the two women as the older instructs the younger in goddess wisdom, ethics, and strong medicine. The opening is overlong and could prove tedious for listeners. Lorna Raver's narration just manages to keep the elaborate background from becoming drudgery. When possible, Raver invests each of the many characters with a convincing personality, but while the research is thorough, plot and characters take a backseat to the author's preachiness. Not even a performance as compelling as Raver's can do much with the wooden writing. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2008]