Review for Black Hills
Confusing, confusing, confusing. This very perplexing, and sloppy novel begins as General Custer lays dying on the battlefield at Little Big Horn. As he lets out his last breath, Custer's spirit levitates and finds a new body to invade - a Sioux warrior named Paha Sapa. Dan Simmons weaves the two lives together in a retrograding fashion as the story focuses on both the general's and the Native American's pasts. As a reader, I want to go on an adventure,be entertained and think (not too hard) about the story. Simmons demands the reader to pay close attention to the story as the reader struggles to follow diverging pasts. The story can be difficult to follow, particularly toward the beginning of the book before the reader is accustomed to the back-and-forth, decade-skipping flow of the narrative. I had to read reviews while reading the book just to keep up with the convoluted story. This book definitely made me work. ** (two stars).