The Holy Road

This sequel to DANCES WITH WOLVES finds Dances with Wolves, Stands with a Fist, and their children ten years later, facing escalating threats by white armies and settlers. Attempts to survive will take the characters through battles, a kidnapping, a visit to Washington, and, ultimately, a future that none of the tribe could have foreseen. Bruce Boxleitner's narration in a low, slightly rough voice is rich and intense, interpreting the author's words so fully that the listener feels some of the devastation of facing the annihilation of one's way of life. His voicing of characters is subtle but clearly differentiates between male and female, Indian and white (with phrasing and slightly different vowel accents), and children (conveyed through tones of curiosity and innocence). This engrossing production transports the listener. M.A.M. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

July 16, 2001
Eleven years after winning an Academy Award for the film screenplay of his novel Dances with Wolves, Blake offers this dramatic sequel to his tale of army Lt. John Dunbar and his life with the Comanche Indians on the Great Plains. It is now 1874, 11 years after Dunbar deserted from the army to live among the Comanche. He has married Stands with a Fist, the captive white woman raised by Indians, and they have three children. Dunbar has forsworn the white man's ways and is accepted as Dances with Wolves, a full-fledged Comanche warrior. These are hard times for the Plains Indians, however, as the advance of the white man results in war, misery and a gloomy future. When a party of white rangers attacks his village and kidnaps his wife and youngest child, Dances with Wolves goes after them in a wild attempt at rescue. Alongside his tale of Dances with Wolves's personal turmoil, Blake more forcefully tells of the conflicts among the Indians regarding whether to fight the white man or to make peace. Raids, ambushes, atrocities and bitterness on both sides can have only one conclusion, despite an Indian peace delegation that goes to Washington, D.C., to meet the Great White Father. This novel focuses less on Dances with Wolves and much more on the confused plight of the Indians, who cannot understand the white man's greed, duplicity and brutality. Familiar characters from the original novel reappear here in more important roles, making this a more powerful historical novel with a much wider scope. Blake's ability to evoke sadness and joy, action and emotion is as strong as ever, and the ending hits hard. (Sept. 11)Forecast:Fans of the movie version of
Dances with Wolves, starring Kevin Costner, will fall enthusiastically upon this sequel, though once they've bought it, they may be taken aback by the high ratio of history to heroics. A Western reading tour will attract extra attention.