It's come up from time to time that I enjoy reading Dan Simmons. A few years back, it was
The Terror. A couple of years ago, it was
Drood. Both books display Simmons' current penchant for immersion in a true historical narrative, but adding heavy elements of the eerie, the supernatural, or the fantastic.
His new book, The Black Hills comes out on February 24, and I will probably read it right away.
This one spans the Great American West, General Custer, the Battle of Little Big Horn, Mount Rushmore and the FDR adminstration, all from the eyes of Sioux boy who believes that General Custer's ghost inhabits his mind form the moment of his death in battle. (J.E.B. Stuart and the Haunted Tank, anyone?)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/031600698X/?tag=imwan-20
Quote:
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Hugo-winner Simmons, the author of such acclaimed space operas as Hyperion and Olympos as well as Drood, an intriguing riff on Dickens's unfinished last novel, displays the impressive breath of his imagination in this historical novel with a supernatural slant. In the author's retelling of Custer's last stand at the Little Big Horn in 1876, the dying general's ghost enters the body of Paha Sapa, a 10-year-old Sioux warrior who's able to see both the past and the future by touching people. The action leaps around in time to illustrate the arc of Sapa's life, but focuses on 1936, when, as a septuagenarian, he plots to blow up the monuments on Mount Rushmore in time for a visit to the site by FDR to atone for his role in constructing the stone likenesses. In his ability to create complex characters and pair them with suspenseful situations, Simmons stands almost unmatched among his contemporaries. 6-city author tour. (Feb.)
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Product Description
When Paha Sapa, a young Sioux warrior, "counts coup" on General George Armstrong Custer as Custer lies dying on the battlefield at the Little Bighorn, the legendary general's ghost enters him - and his voice will speak to him for the rest of his event-filled life.
Seamlessly weaving together the stories of Paha Sapa, Custer, and the American West, Dan Simmons depicts a tumultuous time in the history of both Native and white Americans. Haunted by Custer's ghost, and also by his ability to see into the memories and futures of legendary men like Sioux war-chief Crazy Horse, Paha Sapa's long life is driven by a dramatic vision he experienced as a boy in his people's sacred Black Hills. In August of 1936, a dynamite worker on the massive Mount Rushmore project, Paha Sapa plans to silence his ghost forever and reclaim his people's legacy-on the very day FDR comes to Mount Rushmore to dedicate the Jefferson face.
