Book Review: Shaman by  Kim Stanley Robinson — Reviewed by Andrew Robins 

Orbit, 2013,  Trade Paperback edition, 456 pp

Last year, I reviewed Kim Stanley Robinson’s excellent 2312. I very much enjoyed that book, so when the opportunity came up to review Shaman, I stuck my hand up and said, “yes please.”

Shaman is a very different book, in a very different setting. This the Earth of 30,000 years ago. Ice grips the planet, and Mankind’s hold on life is uncertain– but some of the themes explored in the book do echo back to ideas that were explored in 2312. Both books take a good hard look at the human condition, what it is to be human, and what it is to be slightly not human. “Otherness” appears to be a topic that is of interest to the author – which is OK by me, as the theme is deftly explored throughout Shaman.

Firstly, we have the main protagonist, Loon, who is “other “from his pack mates in that he is the designated successor to the pack’s shaman, Thorn.

Then we have Elga, who marries into the pack and is the source of much of the disruption that drives the narrative of the story.

There is also Heather, and Thorn, who are both in their own way knowledge seekers, trying to capture understanding in a pre-literate world – and hold onto it for the betterment of the pack, because knowledge in this world is important, and life changing, and fragile.

What I Liked

This is not a lazy story. Reading the blurb on the back jacket I was half concerned that Elga was going to marry into the pack and be a vile, short sighted manipulator who brought the pack to ruin.

She turned out to be much more interesting than that. And so did the people around her.

I also really enjoyed the exploration of what felt to me like a very plausible model of an ice age mindset. The concerns of the people I was reading about mattered to me, because I felt like the author put me inside the world.

I am also an absolute sucker for stories that explore why knowledge is important, and why we should be thirsty for it, and in Heather’s case, love deeply those who share that thirst.

What worked less well for me

This book is largely about personal journeys for the people in it. There is a narrative, and this is interesting – but the narrative itself is a relatively small and insular story, whereas I sometimes like a bit of “epic sweep”. 2312 definitely had this. Shaman – not so much. I still enjoyed the book though, and am happy recommending it.

Conclusion:

So who would I recommend it to? Well, if you like Ursula K Le Guin’s The Left Hand Of Darkness, then you will like this book – and not just because both stories take place on winter worlds. I would also add some of Iain Banks more introspective work, such as A Song Of Stone, to the list. And of course 2312!

In summary, I enjoyed this book, reading it through in a single weekend. The first half of the story grabbed me mainly through the richness of the world building, and as usual I stayed with the story because I cared about the characters and wanted to see where they were all going. For me this was a less mind-expanding experience than 2312, but I think  the author was encouraging us all to spend a bit more time looking inward, and focusing on the small things, so he might not mind me saying that.

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About The Reviewer:

Andrew Robins is a long time reader – and sometime reviewer – of science fiction, fantasy and history. People pay him to test stuff, mainly radios, which most of the time is more fun than it has any right to be. Any and all views expressed in this review are entirely his own.

To read more reviews by Andrew, see “Book Reviews for ‘on Anything, Really’” in the right-hand side bar, but the most recent include:

• Existence by David Brin
• Great North Road by David Hamilton
• The Fractal Prince by Hannu Rajaniemi