BLACK HILLS by Dan Simmons

Finished Tu 8/6/13

My post at Good Reads-

BLACK HILLS provides a startlingly original chronicle of the American West that offers a very unique presentation of its impact on US history. The novel is loosely structured as a biography of Paha Sapa (his name means 'Black Hills' in the language of the Sioux) who we meet as a ten year old Lakota Indian who 'counts coup' with General Armstrong Custer as he lay dying on the battlefield of Little Big Horn. When the boy touches the general, his soul or personality lives within the Indian, and this supernatural element allows the author to blend their stories for over the next sixty years. This 'spiritual twining' gives the author an opportunity to not only explore the history of the American Plains Indians, but also to examine George Custer's military contribution to America's historical record. And, keeping true to the story's primary setting, The Black Hills of western South Dakota, Dan Simmons comes up with an entirely new and captivating story-line as Paha Sapa becomes an expert dynamite worker at The Mount Rushmore National Memorial project during the 1930's.  How this important US public works initiative came to fruition, and Paha Sapa's hidden agenda concerning the sculpture becomes a major focal point of the novel. The novel also contains a fascinating section about the World's Fair: Colombian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 where Paha Sapa meets his future wife, Rain. The book's epilogue adds much additional information about future relatives of the novel's characters that allow the story to continue into the modern era.

So many different complimentary story-lines really communicate a wide-ranging and multifaceted pastiche of American history, and Dan Simmons has really treated the reader a large cast of interesting characters in persuasive situations, and all of it is based on the real history of America!

Dan Simmons's entry at Wikipedia shows that this author writes (and excels) in numerous literary genres, and I can't wait to start another book by this extremely original writer.