Quite slow paced, this is more of a preamble for the second volume. The setup is built up gradually, not very much action, more insights and thoughts from the characters. Although it lacks some of the fluency in her later books, I enjoyed it and it made me want to start the second volume right away.

I know a book is amazing when my first thought after I finish it is "I need to re-read this now". I absolutely loved it.

I read and liked Lindholm's Wizard of the Pigeons, but UF not being my thing, I didn't *love* it, not enough to buy something else written by her. It took me years to try again, and I'm glad I finally did. I enjoyed Reindeer People so much that the first thing I did after finishing it was to order Wolf's Brother.I have been giving fantasy a go of late in favor of other genres, and this book was a nice way to ease back into my comfort zone, it not being full of typical fantasy tropes and settings...

It took me a while to get into this. The writing is lovely, but the story just didn't appeal until about 3 or 4 chapters into the book. Once I became a bit more invested in the characters things improved and I got carried along with these early North American tribal people. I really liked how the women in Heckram's group were very independent! I thought overall the book had a bit of a Game of Thrones feel to it, maybe because life is harsh, the winter is brutal and the spirit world plays a role....

I like Robin Hobb's books a lot, so when I found out she has also published a bunch under 'Megan Lindholm' of course I had to go get them! These were the first I read under this name. It's really one story, that was originally divided in two by the publisher, and later pout out as an omnibus called "The Saga of the Reindeer People."I'm not sure why she uses two different names. The style of writing was recognizably the same, although this story is somewhat darker than many of her epic 'Robin Hob...

‘The Reindeer People’ is a novel I have been really interested in reading for a while now. Mainly because the author, Megan Lindholm, is also the epic fantasy writer Robin Hobb. I am already a massive fan of Hobb’s ‘The Farseer Trilogy’ and so I was interested to read one of her earlier novels to see if there were any similarities. On the face of it this novel is completely different. Set in prehistoric North America the story centres on Tillu, a nomadic healer, on the run with her ten year old

Good story but more chick lit than historical fiction, the characters are more modern than you would expect in a pre-historical setting. I prefer the author when she writes Fantasy genre novels under the pseudonym Robin Hobb.

I just couldn’t get on board with this one – not because the writing is bad, let me stress. In fact, early on in the book I was quite optimistic about continuing this series, because I loved the vivid imagery and the quality of descriptions. But because the story was one I just found so relentlessly grim. It's a personal taste thing.

This year I'm reading a lot of books that I'm going to get around to someday, and this is one. It's worth noting that "Megan Lindholm" is also "Robin Hobb" and that both of them are actually Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden. She is, in fact, a fine fantasist.This here particular book is set in someplace kind of like Finland, with a similar set of wildlife. Tillu is the healer for a band of hunters. Her son (by rape; she was taken in a raid and abandoned when she got pregnant) Kerlew is different:

Whether she is penning epic fantasies under the name of Robin Hobb or telling contemporary fantasies set in the harsh wilderness of prehistoric North America under the pseudonym of Megan Lindholm, Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden is undoubtedly one of the best novelists that I have had the pleasure of reading. Not once have I felt let down by one of her novels (11 and counting now) as each is populated by such well sketched characters that you can’t but help being drawn into their everyday trial a...

Intimate. Streamlined. Compelling.This sits securely at the opposite end of the spectrum from her work under her Robin Hobb pseudonym: it’s smaller in scale, simpler in execution and therefore more intimate. None of the extravagant world-building that marks out Hobb’s novels, no pages-long exposition, no waiting until the end of the first book in the trilogy for the plot to really take off… What exposition there is each character shows the reader from their point of view even though the emerging...

A historical novel with fantasy elements mostly about a woman protecting herself and her mentally handicapped son. The style and tone is typical of older fantasy and fits this story perfectly. The book is calm and character-focused but there is always a sense of threat. I love how the main characters aren't the typical protagonists we get in modern fantasy books: a single mum varry of posessive men, unsure how to raise her son best, and a reindeer herder struggling with societies expectations an...

...I remember liking these books a lot when I first read them in Dutch and reading the English original hasn't changed my opinion that much. What I don't remember noticing is the abrupt ending of this novel. I might very well have read them back to back the first time around. When Lindholm wrote these books she already had a few books under her belt and they are much more confident than the first Ki and Vandien stories. Apart from the slightly awkward split, these two novels are among the better...

I’m a sucker for pre-historic fantasy. The writing, especially character-work, isn’t nearly as good as her work as Robin Hobb, but I still enjoyed this, the way that I enjoy popcorn some days instead of “real food”. Reindeer, survival, magic-of-sorts, and finding one’s place.

This is a 4, but its a weird 4. This book is early Robin Hobb, its written in an Inuit-esque fantasy setting with shamanic magic. It has the beautiful prose and rambling storytelling Hobb is known for, but lacks the structure of her later novels. To me, it didn't have a clear climax or buildup and it felt unfinished, even as book 1 of a duology.The mother in this story has a child who is different, and as the parent of a disabled child this story hit home in uncomfortable ways. The frustrations

The book is NOT set in North America, it is Scandanavian or Siberian in setting. Reindeer, despite Rudolf, are not native to the Americas. Oh, and the original paperback copy (which is what I have) also claimed it was about a female healer with magical abilities. She's there, but she doesn't have magical abilities - it is her son who is working towards shamanship. TWO fully different editions decades apart - with no one caring about truth in advertising! BUT - It's a great read and I just ordere...

This book is about the cultural life of a remote aboriginal community in the Prehistoric land of the Siberian Arctic. Reindeer are a part of their daily living.Megan Lindholm is actually Robin Hobb so anyone who has read and enjoyed Robin’s books would probably enjoy this book too. But be warned this book is very different from Robin Hobb's books. The novel is centred in the harsh wilderness of a prehistoric North America. The tribe of aborigines survive by battling against enemy tribes and fier...

Megan Lindholm offers up an interesting tale of nomadic herds people and in specific, the view of a mother with a son she fears may not ever be able to survive on his own due to his mental and physical differences. The portrayal of a mother who deeply loves her child but is also afraid for him while simultaneously being frustrated by his lack of ability to learn even the most basic and vital of life skills is striking and speaks to the human spirit as her works often do.The only reason why this

*3.5* Certainly the best Lindholm I've read so far and while it is not the most eventful story I'm getting some early Hobb vibes throughout the whole structure of the tale with a lot of build-up to what I'm suspecting will be a very intriguing second and final installment of the next volume. She paints a vivid picture of a prehistoric land with all the trials and tribulations of surviving in the wilderness and I feel quite attached to the characters and very much look forward to see how this adv...

I have read about fourteen or fifteen books by Megan Lindholm/Robin Hobb. I have only disliked one of those books. At this point I seriously think she may be my favorite writer ever. I just keeping on getting drawn in to read her books over and over again. I finally figured out why her stories resonate with me so much. They are often about misfit characters who are plagued with anxiety and who have to work hard to survive in a world that was not meant for them. In real life this is how I feel so...