Review: People of the Lightning

Review of People of the Lightning, historical fiction set in prehistoric Florida by Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Please see our full disclosure for further information.

Synopsis

In prehistoric Florida, Cottonmouth has been attacking every village he can since Musselwhite left him 26 years ago. As her clan gets smaller and her husband (Diver) is captured during an attack, Musselwhite must form an alliance with Heartwood Clan. In order to cement the alliance, she must marry Podwader. Pondwader is a lightning boy, so called because of his unusually pale skin, white hair, and pink eyes.

Following the wedding celebrations, Musselwhite receives word that Diver is alive and sets off alone to rescue him. Pondwader follows and Musselwhite tries to send him back, believing that he will be nothing but a hinderance. However, Pondwader has a baby lightning bird inside him and is determined to be there when Musselwhite confronts Cottonmouth.

Review

In the tradition of many oral cultures, People of the Lightning is told by an elder. He narrates the prologue, the final chapter, and interrupts the story at several points throughout the book. I found it amusing how he keeps losing his train of thought and the unnamed child he’s talking to has to bring him back on track.

I loved how there was a lot of detail about the culture, even if there is a bit much about their burial rites (after all, that is most of what we know about these people). People of the Lightning is set in a really obscure time period that no one knows about. It was nice to read something with a setting so different to what I usually read.

The climax of the story was a little underwhelming. Throughout the book we get all these hints of a large confrontation coming up, but when it arrived, it rather fell flat for me. While the events described would have been impressive and frightening in real life, the way the author described it made it seem relatively tame.

I was slightly disturbed by the fact that a 42-year-old woman was married to a 15-year-old boy. I completely understand that it probably fits the historical context, but for some reason I just couldn’t get past it for. Musselwhite is almost three times Pondwader’s age, she has children older than him, and his sister flirts with her son.

Conclusion

Have you read this book? What did you think? Do you agree with what I’ve said about it? Let me know in the comments.