Daniel Wilton has a nice and normal life, until one day, driving on a lonely back road, he and his family’s lives come to an abrupt end on Earth. Daniel survives, but is surrounded by car and body parts when he awakens; he is the only survivor. He has fallen on an ice-bound planet, imprisoned by the native people. Their skin is different shades of grey, reminding Daniel of corpses. They are intrigued by his light, pink coloring, but he is rather skittish of theirs.
Daniel learns the planet is made up of snow and ice, except for the plateau close to a volcano, where grain grows and hunting is plentiful. The natives call themselves the Winter People. Kelvakantaw, his caretaker and first friend, tells Daniel of an old tale of a man who fell from the sky and made himself from nothing. He tells her that he is not that man. Even so, she tells him that man’s name is Odhikaza and claims he must be a great shaman. During his imprisonment, he has plenty of time to learn the language, with Kelvakantaw’s aid, and when membership into the tribe is offered, he is glad to accept it and only then finds out that he must pass an act of bravery to win his place in the tribe.
During his time of adjustment with a technologically backward people, he is secretly called to visit some very strange beings, who communicate that the planet will soon be in danger and it is up to Daniel to draw all the people together, that they might overcome it. While he travels, informing others of their need to unite, he makes friends and realizes that his tribe is led by a greedy woman, who leaves other tribes without food. In order to stabilize the tribes, he discovers he must form a group of warriors to depose his own leader.
This is an easy read. There is no deep thinking here and Daniel seems to overcome each challenge rather easily, whether it be physical or emotional. He doesn’t appear to miss his home world, and although he occasionally grieves for his family, it doesn’t seem to slow him down much. I also found it rather strange that this pink dude, who spoke grandly of freedom for mankind, was so easily accepted as the man to lead a planet he had so little experience with.
Now for the grading:
- Genre and general reading age – Fantasy for teens and adults.
- Level of sexuality – Extremely low-key, some would say non-existent.
- Is there graphic language? No.
- Did I cry? No.
- Did I laugh? No.
- Character development – None.
- Is this part of a series? The author does not call it a series, but there is a second book called The Ergannon-Largon War.
Overall, I give this book ⭐️⭐️ stars.
Bona Fide Book Reviews 