The Story Teller (Arapaho Indian Mysteries)

Book Description

Praised for her vivid characterizations and unique blend of mystery and Indian lore, Margaret Coel has gifted her readers with a glimpse into the law, ethics, and culture of the Arapaho people. Now in The Story Teller she brings back Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and confidante Father John O'Malley to reclaim a sacred treasure of the past...

Customer Reviews:

Solid entry in the Arapaho Indian Mysteries.......2007-06-19

Tony Hillerman, who has provided hours of my reading enjoyment, blurbs this first-rate crime fiction, one in the Arapaho Indian Mysteries. Margaret Coel proves herself adept at handling settings in the big city of Denver as well as life on the Wind River Reservation. Vicky Holden is a young, attractive Arapaho attorney who is trying to establish her practice. Father John O'Malley, the reservation's mission priest, is battling his alcohol demons. Together, they chase down an Arapaho ledger pictorially recording an Army massacre at Sand Creek in the previous century. The missing ledger is also worth over a million dollars, and cutthroats are willing to murder to recover and sell it. This is a well-paced mystery with two likeable leads in Vicky and Father John who have romantic feelings for each other. The Colorado landscape is vivid. Ms. Coel displays a sympathetic touch and astute grasp of the Arapaho culture and history which she conveys to the reader. Very enjoyable.

Murder and justice.......2007-03-04

With her usual skill, Margaret Coel weaves an intriguing tale of murder and Native American issues, both historical and current. The book also highlights the dangers of preconceived notions, as illustrated by the police detective who is too ready to accept deaths of minority victims as "drug-related" and by an array of characters who dismiss the memories of an Arapaho elder because of his age.

The Story Teller combines a compelling mystery with the search for truth about victims long dead. One of Coel's best!

Missing artifacts and murder.......2007-01-10

This fourth book in the Windy River Reservation mystery series is a winner. I truly like how the two main characters, Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley are developing. Ms. Coel has made them into wonderfully well-rounded characters that I can't wait to continue reading about. This book has a wonderful mystery as Vicky and Father John are on the trail of a priceless Arapaho artifact in Denver. Young people keep getting killed while the two of them are trying to find the solution to this mystery. This is a wonderful and different sort of mystery series, and I recommend it highly. Father John O'Malley is my favourite fictional sleuth right now.

Never A Dull Moment.......2007-01-04

Margaret Coel has the ability to transport the reader to a different world, to a place where her characters live and breathe, once opening the first page of one of her books. You will surely not want to put the book down until the mystery had been solved, this one spanning the Wyoming Wind River reservation to the busy streets of Denver, the southern plains of Colorado and back again.

Coel is a stunning Storyteller herself. Skillful, studied, straightforward, smooth, strategic, sublime, sizzling, solid, sonorous, spacious, succinct, spicy, suspenseful, stupendous, substantial, spotless, superb and other superlatives could readily summarize her stories.

Reclaiming the past.......2006-06-05

Coel writes wonderful mystery novels set in the American West and filled with intriguing Arapaho lore. She is a master at exploring crimes from the past and showing how they could affect the present.

In "The Story Teller," Coel takes Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and mission priest Father John O'Malley out of their comfort zone on the reservation to the big city of Denver. They hunt for a missing ledger book that proves Arapaho were killed along with Cheyenne during the Sand Creek Massacre.

Nightrunners of Bengal (Story-Tellers S.) (Story-Tellers)

Average customer rating:

A Great Story
Meaningless and merciless mutiny
A great read, but biased and inaccurate

Nightrunners of Bengal (Story-Tellers S.) (Story-Tellers)
John Masters
Manufacturer: Rupa
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0285635522

Product Description

Novel on the Indian mutiny, a classic

Customer Reviews:

A Great Story.......2006-03-15

I fall somewhere in between the other two reviewers of this book. I believe this is one of John Master's best books (excepting his autobiographical material) and deserves five stars for the quality of the writing and storytelling. There is no denying the very different perspectives on the events recounted in this book, but I believe that one of the reviewers has forgotten that the story is fictional, told from the viewpoint of the English. There is certainly an equally compelling story to be told from the Indian viewpoint, and I would happily read that story too, but I believe that Master's viewpoint of the events is more nuanced than the other reviewer gives him credit for. Mutiny, rebellion, war for independence, call it what you will, it's a compelling read and I heartily recommend the book, or Patrick Tull's excellent reading of the book on audio.

Meaningless and merciless mutiny.......2001-08-21

This book reminds me the masterpiece of Pushkin "The Captain's Daughter". Pushkin wrote about the greatest Russian peasant's mutiny, so calles "Pougatchevschina". Masters wrote about the Indian mutiny. The problem is just the same - the price of justice. You can be absolutely politically correct and think that Pougatchev and Rani Sumitra were the greatest patriots possible. You may be absolutely sure that Russian serfdom & British raj are abominable. But the fact is that the victory of Russian peasants or Indian sepoys will be the beginning of chaos. Pushkin wrote about "meaningless and merciless Russian riot". Masters understands what does it mean. As an Anglo-Indian he lived through the downfall of his world and he write about his own hard earned experience . Rodney Savage, the hero, lived through the destruction and death of everything he thought true: his family, his regiment, his faith and his spiritual innocence. This book is about the acquisition of humanity by the man who has to start all over again. "Nightrunners" is a bit old-fashioned. Of cource, Kipling's influence is very strong, but I recommend it to everybody who want to read about the real mutiny & not about the much praised "fight for freedom and independence".

P.S. English is not my native language, so excuse me for my mistakes.

A great read, but biased and inaccurate.......2000-11-02

"Nightrunners of Bengal" is an exciting and masterfully written gathering of lies and half-truths written from an obvious pro-colonialist viewpoint. It is also a classic of the genre. A telling example of the author's bias is that Indians refer to the, so called, Mutiny of 1857 (the central event of the novel) as the First War of Independence. John Masters considers it to be no more than a Sepoy Rebellion made incoherent by religious fanaticism. His take on the Rani of Jhanci who was a prime mover in the war is of a hysterical nymphomaniac rather than a woman with deep self interest in the preservation of her successor and a patriot. This is not to say that every historical instance is corrupted, but enough to sway opinion away from the Indians. Inaccuracy and bias beside, the author does provide an interesting study of the nature of loyalty. Is it to God, king, country, or contract? His final take focuses on the Bengal Lancers refusal to join the war on the side of their countrymen because they had willingly agreed to serve the Crown (or its surrogate, the East India Company). The Lancers are his heroes precisely because they honor the contract. A man does what he promises to do. My Indian friends find this to be a bit disingenous. I admit, though, prior to learning a few facts I was quite taken by this novel. It is a page turner and a thriller. The sad fact is the truth would have been every bit as compelling as the author's fabrications.

The Walking People: A Native American Oral History

Average customer rating:

What I am reading, by Alice Walker
Wow
compelling narrative Iroquois history=textbook on learning
Real stories about real people from long ago-A MUST READ

The Walking People: A Native American Oral History
Paula Underwood
Manufacturer: Learning Way Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: 1879678101

Customer Reviews:

What I am reading, by Alice Walker.......2001-06-02

This is the book that has been on my nightstand for the past several months. I read several pages each night. It is a big book, over 800 pages, written like a poem, and almost impossibly precious. The wisdom between its covers is astounding. For what this book teaches is something we, at this time in history, desperately need to know: how to start anew after devastation. How to be a whole people after we've been reduced to fragments. It teaches that the wisdom is within us, to survive, to begin again, to thrive. Hallelujah.

Wow.......1999-12-11

Sad, beautiful, wonderful, wise, haunting, and totally relevant to our global issues of change. Destructive paths happen easily. Creative paths are contingent.

compelling narrative Iroquois history=textbook on learning.......1999-07-02

This is a great story, compellingly told with simplicity and beauty. It also happens to be the best single book I've ever read on "organizational learning."

The "Walking People" left central Asia and walked across an ocean, over to another ocean and back to the great lakes. On their way, they had to learn to deal with an ever changing circumstance, both physical and social. In order to survive, they learned how to learn as a people more and more effectively.

This story deals with issues such as the balance between diversity and unity, how to honor individual styles of learning and use these to help the community, ageism, sexism, racism, cooperation and competition, the balance of long term goals and short term necessities, planning and improvisation, war and peace.

Are you beginning to get the picture? This should be read by everyone, but at least by anyone who teaches or manages people. If a CEO or Senator reads one book in this millennium to prepare for the next, this should be it.

Real stories about real people from long ago-A MUST READ.......1999-01-30

Most of our historical evidence about the lives of our ancestors is in the form of tools, bones, fragments of pottery and cloth, and rock paintings. What was daily life really like before even these artifacts were tools? Perhaps something else did survive . . . In "The Walking People", Paula Underwood presents stories of real events lived by real people from the oral tradition of her people. Not a collection of mythological tales, they cover a span of history, geographical locations and events that is intellectuallly staggering and nearly impossible to put down. These are the stories of the Oneida people "from the beginning" which trace their intentional wanderings over three continents including how they crossed what is probably the Bering Strait, explore the events and decisions that made them who they are, and record some of their tantalizing encounters with other people. These are also teaching stories and can be understood on many levels intellectually and emotionally, individually and collectively. They can be seen as a straighforward historical account; an absolute literary delight; the unfolding of a people's culture and society; a presentation of the development of individuality (ego); a process of learning how to learn; an anthropological exlposion of possibilities; the evolution of scientific experimentation and evaluation; a description of ordinary living in various times; stories of individual lives and commitments - and so much more. I have read "The Walking People" cover to cover at least a dozen times, each immersion bringing fresh and expanding comprehension. The language used and the physical presentation on the page combine to make reading this book a nearly "auditory" experience. It invites the reader to walk with these people through time, participating in their experiences, sharing the tears of their misjudgments, the joy in their masterful accomplishments, and the relief that the laughter at their predicaments brings. It is a most extraordinary glimpse into the perceptions and thinking of real people in ancient and historical times. It is very difficult to describe the deep psychological effect of perceiving the actual voices and syntax of people who lived thousands and thousands of years ago - suddenly, "history" becomes an intimate, personal reality. Almost understated in terms of today's world of extremism, rampant emotionalism and dramatic egotistical conflicts, these stories carry a haunting impact quietly hidden in the simple, direct telling that spares nothing. I have no doubt that these stories have been kept accurately for millenia. This is the first presentation I have found that is a sharing of one Native American people's heritage; it has been my experience that such depth has either been lost altogether or is usually carefully preserved as part of the private, heartfelt identity of the Original People of America. Paula Underwood's generous recounting of the Oneida oral tradition is a stunning and manumental achievement in language and scope of material, a very special and unique gift to whoever cares to explore its pages. "The Walking People" blows the western world's catalog of knowledge to the winds, tatters our self-imposed limits regarding what is possible and how the possible may be accomplished, and rebuilds hope in a positive way - provided we can perceive the possibilities contained inthis true epic saga. It is a sharing of the soul for the soul, touching the essence of us all.

A Collection of Classic Southern Humor: Fiction and Occasional Fact by Some of the South's Best Story-Tellers (Collection of Classic Southern Humor Fiction & Occasional Fa)

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A Collection of Classic Southern Humor: Fiction and Occasional Fact by Some of the South's Best Story-Tellers (Collection of Classic Southern Humor Fiction & Occasional Fa)

Manufacturer: Peachtree Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0931948592

The Fortune-Tellers (Picture Puffin Books)

Average customer rating:

The Fortune-Tellers
Fortune Tellers instills good values
The Fortune-Tellers
The Fortune is True
The Fortune-Tellers

The Fortune-Tellers (Picture Puffin Books)
Lloyd Alexander , and Trina Schart Hyman
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0140562338

Customer Reviews:

The Fortune-Tellers.......2007-05-24

"You will be wealthy and famous!" Has anyone ever told you your future? In this book it all starts out when a carpender goes to get his fortune told to him. The fortune-teller tells him hes going to be very wealthy and famous. He will also find the love of his life and live the rest of his life with her! When he goes back later that day to ask more queshtions the fortune- teller its gone!
A minute later a women came in thinking he was the fortune-teller asking him to tell her her future. He didint know what eles to do so he started to tell her exacly what the fortune- teller told him. The lady of course belived him and went and hold her family and friends about him and told them they had to come see him. The first lady's daughter came and he feel in love. What ever happend to the real fortune-teller? Is the new fortune-teller really going to live the rest of his life with the new girl? You will have to wait and find out!

Fortune Tellers instills good values.......2006-05-19

The fortune tellers is great book full of great morals. I think that its message of "learn from being conned" is great. The guy is conned by a fortune teller, and he then uses what he learned to make money.
In conclusion, I think you should read this book. It is good, it has good morals.
READ THIS BOOK

The Fortune-Tellers.......2006-05-19

The Fortune-Tellers is an interesting story about a carpenter who wishes he could have more and wants to know about his future and what it holds. He goes to a fortune teller and asks what his future holds for him. The fortune-teller on the other hand is a fraud as you can tell just by the first thing he says. "Rich you will surely be"..."if you earn large sums of money." This is the kind of talk that the fortune teller tells this poor, innocent carpenter. Unfortunately the carpenter buys all this and he goes back to his work. After thinking, he wanted to know more about his future and goes back to the fortune teller to ask questions. Waiting for him is a special twist you would've never expected.

This book is great for children 10 an under and even some adults. It's a great African folktale teaching one about karma in a sense.

The Fortune is True .......2006-04-20

During this book a young Carpenter hears theirs a Fortune-Teller in the village. He finally finds it, and the fortune-teller tells this curious man that someday he will find true love. During the night this brave, unwilling man goes back to the old man's stand and takes his magic cap, and his crystal ball, and while this is going on a Banker lady is watching him. The next day the real fortune-teller lift, and the carpenter became the new fortune-teller. Everybody from his old crummy village came to ask him some questions in his new, and approved village. Even the Banker lady, her husband, and her beautiful daughter came to visit. That's when the carpenter found his true love after all. The carpenter and the unbelievable woman get married under true, and peaceful love. Read this amazing story to find out what will happen next.

The Fortune-Tellers.......2006-04-13

During this book a young Carpenter hears theirs a Fortune-teller in the village nearby. So this guy went on a outstanding mission to find this fortune-teller in the village. He finally finds it, and the fortune-teller tells this curious man that someday he will find true love. During the night this brave, unwilling man goes back to the old man's stand and takes his magic cap, and his crystal ball, and while this is going on a banker lady is watching him. The next day the real fortune-teller left, and the carpenter became the new fortune-teller. Everybody from his old crummy village came to ask him some questions in his new, and approved village. Even the banker lady, her Husband, and her beautiful daughter came to visit. That's when the carpenter finds true love after all. The carpenter and the unbelievable woman get married under true, and peaceful love. Read this unbelievable story to find out what will happen next, will the Carpenter die, or will he stay alive through his new career.

Average customer rating:

"Teller Will Be Waiting for You..."
A thoughtful and insightful look at life choices
promiscuous homosexuality without consequences
the choices we make
Aunique, amazing reading experience

Story Teller
Amy Thomson
Manufacturer: Ace
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0441012566

Book Description

National bestselling and Joseph W. Campbell Award-winning author.

On Thalassa, storytelling is Teller's life. With the great sea-beast to whom she is telepathically bonded, she travels Thalassa's many oceans. But Teller has a secret--and when her young apprentice discovers it, he will be changed profoundly.

Customer Reviews:

"Teller Will Be Waiting for You...".......2005-03-27

I was hesitant as I started the book - it shuffled along at a halting pace for the first chapter or so as histories and characters were laid out. Once the strong voice of Teller was established, however, the book sailed along cleanly.

The myth of The Pilot, the life of Teller and her adopted son, Samad - all revolving around choices and growth - moved me immensely. Surviving great losses being a central theme to the book - the sort of losses that all involved see no way through and yet years later can look back at with a realization of a passage or a lesson learned.

Amy Thomson handles all of this with extreme care - the tender relationship that grows fiercely personal between Teller and Samad, Teller's long-time lover, Florio, the people that both Samad and Teller interact with.

I agree with another reviewer, however, that Thomson really dumps the emotional growth side of Samad's sexuality right into the gutter. Samad's homosexuality is a casual jibe between he and Teller, a thing that happens after dark at shipyards and parks and fast - a thing that fades in the day.

Some part of that might be a growth process for Samad - wild, reckless and unwilling to form long-term relationships with others outside of his 'family' and perhaps at the close of the book the mature Samad who begins to find his own voice and way in the world of Thalassa & harsels will be the Samad who also develops lasting relationships with other men - perhaps.

But this is just a tic of the book - and should not distract from the central message and themes. This book was cathartic for me and had me a bit emotional (happy & sad) as the book drew the its end and sailed away into the sunset.

A thoughtful and insightful look at life choices.......2005-03-25

I found Storyteller's approach to the issues of loss, abandonment, personal choices and societal compassion to be compelling and insightful. I have consistently enjoyed Ms. Thomson's perspective on our cultural and societal mores and on ways that we might modify them to create a more caring and compassionate culture that still allows for individual choice and personal freedom.

Starting with Teller's hesitance to take on responsibility for Samad the child through to Samad's final determination to forgo a life choice that appeared to offer greater immediate personal freedom and instead make the choice that carried greater responsibility but, ultimately, greater freedom, I found that Ms. Thomson addressed the issue of choices and results in a compelling and intelligent fashion. Her approach to parenting and the limits that a parent can choose to impose upon parental controls and influence in order to assure that a child grows to take on full ownership of personal choices and their results provides a rational and sensible method for our own times.

I did find the representation of Samad's sexual awakening and subsequent choices to be handled in a cursory fashion that left me feeling that his choices were poorly considered and unhealthy. That those choices, as represented, match the choices of many of our own time and place is realistic and unnerving. Since the issue was addressed on any level, I would have liked there to be some resolution to Samad's sexual life. Was he ever able to have a loving and sexually intimate relationship?

Overall, I would recommend this book and all of Ms. Thomson's works. It is intelligently written and well constructed.

promiscuous homosexuality without consequences.......2004-04-17

This could have been a really great book, were it not for the entirely irresponsible portrayal of promiscuous homosexuality. As Samad recognizes and struggles with his sexuality, he is introduced to sex at a gay nightclub, and begins to frequent it, having different sexual partners each time. There is no mention of any sort of safe-sex practices, nor does he reap any consequences for his behavior. In the shadow of HIV, I feel that the author was sadly deficient in this part of the story. At the least, Samad could have received some instruction from Teller about the dangers he had exposed himself to. This is a science-fiction story about another world, but it is supposedly populated by humans who have immigrated from Earth, so in my mind a bit more social responsibility could have been shown in the writing.

the choices we make.......2004-01-05

Humanity has come the the planet Thalassa, but they are not the only sentient beings living there. The acquatic, telepathic harsel live in the oceans. How both come to live together in a harmony as rare as it is wonderful, is this fine story of choices, the choices humankind must make to live in peace out among the stars, to the inner choices we all make. A fine story, beautifully done, I highly recommend it

Aunique, amazing reading experience.......2003-12-03

The planet of Thalassa is mostly a water world with two million inhabitants spread out on numerous islands. The first person who lived on that world was the pilot who burned out on her last Jump and was stranded. Jumping is so addictive that the pilot wanted to die but the harsel (a sea creature similar to a whale) bonded with her and refused to let her pass away. Together they explored The Pilot's new world and when the colonists came, she was able to hide herself in plain sight.

Centuries later in a small village, the Guild storyteller Teller notices the street child Samad and informally adopts him. He learns to love her harsel Abeha, who encourages the closeness Teller feels for Samad for soon she will become a female and have her eggs fertilized. After she gives birth she will die and Abeha wants to make sure her human will not follow her by giving her someone else to love. The plan works better than anyone, especially Samad, expected.

This is a rich, in depth cultural look at a society that is not technologically advanced. Those humans that can bond with harsels form a communication web that allows an island society to stay in touch with another. It is gratifyng to watch Samad change from a frightened street kid to an adult who bears his losses and responsibilities with dignity and honor. STORYTELLER is a unique, amazing reading experience.

Customer Reviews:

A Star Warrior Portrait.......2000-11-21

This book presents one aspect of the Strategic Defense Initiative: namely, the role of Edward Teller in the formation of X-ray lasers and Smart Pebbles. If you are looking for general coverage of SDI, this book is probably not for you. However, this book does present the Teller angle thoroughly and well. It portrays the scientist and his actions in the context of his psyche, the political environment in which he operated, and through the eyes of the scientists who participated in the program.

Book Description

Scooby and the gang are living the high life aboard a cruise ship. But everything changes when the ship¹s fortune-teller predicts bad things will happen to one of the passengers - and her predictions start to come true! Looks like there¹s another mystery for Scooby and his friends to solve!

Customer Reviews:

Scooby-Doo Today........2002-04-25

The Mystery, Inc. gang is traveling aboard an old-fashioned steamboat to have a good old time and eat plenty of food. But something's strange when the star of one of the ship's shows, Madame Aurora predicts that a completely unique computer chip will disappear and it does. But the chip isn't the only thing missing, so is Madame Aurora. It's up to Scooby and the gang to find the false fortune teller and get back the stolen chip.

This is one of the most contemporary of the Scooby stories in this series I have read. A few years ago, the plot would have seemed somewhat far-fetched. However, with the changing times and the increase in security all around, the plot couldn't be more timely.

Great reading for kids.......2001-03-28

I purchased Scooby-Doo! and the Phony Fortune-Teller and my daughter (8) loved it. It kept her interest and made reading fun. Our son (10) even found it very interesting. Since they watch Scooby-Doo on Cartoon Network, it was easy to visualize all the characters. My daughter wants to use this book for a school book report.

Average customer rating:

The Story Teller
Mario Vargas. Llosa
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GQVB4C

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