From Publishers Weekly
Novelist and young adult author Spinka continues her compelling narrative of 14th-century Inuit and Viking communities in Greenland in this follow-up to her first adult novel, Picture Maker. Here, Ingrid (Dream Weaver), daughter of a Norse Greenlander and the late Native American visionary Picture Maker (heroine of the first book), holds center stage as the Norse settlement struggles for its survival after virtually being abandoned by Norway. An infestation of grass-eating butterfly larvae and a devastating rampage by English warriors drive Ingrid and her father and two half-brothers to seek refuge in an Inuit village. Ingrid, who was contemptuously viewed as a half-breed by her father's people, and as a lowly pagan by Christian missionaries, once again feels out of place when she is unable to suppress her independent nature to fit Inuit ideals of submissive women. She sets off on her own journey, hoping to find her mother's native village at the base of the St. Lawrence River. Spinka's painstaking research into customs, rituals and social mores of Native Americans and Greenland settlers makes for a captivating history, and much of her storytelling is gripping. Yet the plot becomes overcrowded and messy when she tries to tie in the historic union of the five great North American tribal nations with Ingrid's search for her mother's homeland. As well, Picture Maker looms a bit too large in this tale, which covers much of the same territory-both geographically and thematically-as its precursor.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
When Picture Maker was published last year, readers discovered a heroine every bit as intriguing as the young Ayla of Jean Auel's "Earth's Children" series. Gahrahstah's epic journey, set in 14th-century North America, took her from the East Coast of what would become the United States through Canada to Greenland. This sequel opens with Gahrahstah's death. Because of her non-Christian beliefs, Gahrahstah and her husband, daughter Ingrid, and stepsons have been living in exile for the past 12 years. Upon her death, her husband and children return to their village in Greenland. Regrettably, the church still considers the family a threat to the community. After the village is raided by the English and threatened by famine, the small family makes its way back to Gahrahstah's adopted Inuit family. From there, Ingrid, who has been an outsider all her life because of her mixed Mohawk-Greenland heritage, retraces her mother's journey in reverse and eventually finds her true family. Despite exhaustively researched historical details, Spinka's follow-up pales in comparison with the first book. The characters are not as compelling, and the plot sometimes lags a bit. Still, libraries owning the first volume should get this one. Also recommended for public libraries where Auel has a big following. [A Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selection.]-Jane Baird, Anchorage Municipal Libs., A.--Jane Baird, Anchorage Municipal Libs., AK Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
In this spellbinding follow-up to Picture Maker, Spinka takes readers back nearly a thousand years to the majestic wilds of North America, a place bitterly divided by blood and war.
Dream Weaver FROM THE PUBLISHER
In this spellbinding follow-up to Picture Maker, Spinka takes readers back nearly a thousand years to the majestic wilds of North America, a place bitterly divided by blood and war.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Novelist and young adult author Spinka continues her compelling narrative of 14th-century Inuit and Viking communities in Greenland in this follow-up to her first adult novel, Picture Maker. Here, Ingrid (Dream Weaver), daughter of a Norse Greenlander and the late Native American visionary Picture Maker (heroine of the first book), holds center stage as the Norse settlement struggles for its survival after virtually being abandoned by Norway. An infestation of grass-eating butterfly larvae and a devastating rampage by English warriors drive Ingrid and her father and two half-brothers to seek refuge in an Inuit village. Ingrid, who was contemptuously viewed as a half-breed by her father's people, and as a lowly pagan by Christian missionaries, once again feels out of place when she is unable to suppress her independent nature to fit Inuit ideals of submissive women. She sets off on her own journey, hoping to find her mother's native village at the base of the St. Lawrence River. Spinka's painstaking research into customs, rituals and social mores of Native Americans and Greenland settlers makes for a captivating history, and much of her storytelling is gripping. Yet the plot becomes overcrowded and messy when she tries to tie in the historic union of the five great North American tribal nations with Ingrid's search for her mother's homeland. As well, Picture Maker looms a bit too large in this tale, which covers much of the same territory-both geographically and thematically-as its precursor. Agent, Meg Ruley. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
When Picture Maker was published last year, readers discovered a heroine every bit as intriguing as the young Ayla of Jean Auel's "Earth's Children" series. Gahrahstah's epic journey, set in 14th-century North America, took her from the East Coast of what would become the United States through Canada to Greenland. This sequel opens with Gahrahstah's death. Because of her non-Christian beliefs, Gahrahstah and her husband, daughter Ingrid, and stepsons have been living in exile for the past 12 years. Upon her death, her husband and children return to their village in Greenland. Regrettably, the church still considers the family a threat to the community. After the village is raided by the English and threatened by famine, the small family makes its way back to Gahrahstah's adopted Inuit family. From there, Ingrid, who has been an outsider all her life because of her mixed Mohawk-Greenland heritage, retraces her mother's journey in reverse and eventually finds her true family. Despite exhaustively researched historical details, Spinka's follow-up pales in comparison with the first book. The characters are not as compelling, and the plot sometimes lags a bit. Still, libraries owning the first volume should get this one. Also recommended for public libraries where Auel has a big following. [A Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selection.]-Jane Baird, Anchorage Municipal Libs., AK Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A reverse retelling of the epic that signaled Spinka's attempt to leap from YA to adult fiction (Picture Maker, 2001). Picture Maker's grand adventure took her from mid-America to the European continent in the 14th century. But with Picture Maker dead at the turn of the century, who will teacher her daughter, Dream Weaver (Ingrid), to be a woman? More pressingly, at the beginning of the story, who will rescue Ingrid's brother, Leif, when he's knocked out on a hunting trip? Maybe the Skraelings who once saved his father, Halvard, Picture Maker's unlikely husband, and to whom the Skraelings are indebted. When Leif brings one home, it's only to begin Ingrid's reverse trek on her mother's path. And in case we don't get the comparison, Dream Weaver is a dead ringer for Picture Maker. Regardless, on the way she'll witness a pagan murder trial, attacks by the last vestiges of the Vikings, will get in trouble among the Inuit for emitting "love and hate at the same time," have another close call with the Algonquians, go fast with a Native American called Runs Fast-but will she make it back to the Ganeogaono people, Picture Maker's tribe, and will they recognize her if she does? The first installment in this series had the unforgivingly roaming feel of a picaresque, but what should now be an odyssey is more like a soap opera, with lots of opportunities for hapless Greenlanders to utter things like "It would need the cunning of Loki to escape this situation well." As always, what's interesting is the alternate history Spinka describes, but the retracing of Picture Maker's steps is all we get instead of new plot, and fans of the first are likely to be disappointed that it's dﾽjﾽ vu all over again.Still waiting for Spinka's voice to grow up.
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