I have never read a western book or film before therefore did not know what to expect with this novel (I was unsure if I would like it). After looking up some of the words, as I wasn’t familiar with some of the cowboy terminology being used, I found it easy to read. The storyline switches between different characters and we come to understand how they perceive each other at different stages of their life. Based on this book I would be happy to read other books in this genre however I don’t think this book would be suited to all females in their early twenties.

Not the normal type of novel that I would read but I found it very interesting and enjoyable none the less. I liked the time eras that the book spanned and being able to see the family grow and prosper over the generations was fascinating. I particularly liked Eli's story especially his time with the Comanche and seeing their culture. It is a slightly hard book to get into but it picks up later on in the book. I would definitely recommend the book, even if it hasn't made the favourites for me.

While the descriptions of the landscapes of the nineteenth century American west were extremely evocative and very well written, the sections of the book about Eli/Tiehteti were really the only ones that held my interest. The stories of Peter and Jeannie didn’t really seem to have much of a point to them and seemed to be there purely to pad out the novel with very little in the way of character development within either of them. The overall plot of these strands of the novel also feel rather weak, with very little there to engage the interest of the reader and nothing really seems to come to any overall conclusion, in any of the three main strands. The layout of the novel as well, moving back and forward between the stories of Eli/Tiehteti, Peter and Jeannie, is very disjointed and makes following the relationships between the various family members quite difficult at times. Overall, an underwhelming read.

A family saga beginning in the terrible events of a Comanche raid on their homestead and told with all too detailed violence in the language and style of a nineteenth century journal. This account will probably be for those who grew up on the Zane Grey novels but its graphic depictions were not for me!