Beyond the Sea of Ice: The First Americans, Book 1 (First Americans Saga)

The story beginning with a tragedy caused by a giant mammoth, Torka's people were nearly wiped off from the earth, except Torka himself, Lonit, a plain-looking girl by her people's standards, and his grandfather, the magic man. With his grandfather's courage and perseverance, they managed to survived. During their search for people like them, they found the abadoned boy, Karana, and took in a band of ungrateful and greedy hunters and their women and children. Living in the cave found by Torka and made comfortable by Lonit, this band of unlawful hunters took control of the cave and expelled them from it. Going back into the fierce and merciless tundra, they moved on slowly, fighting the terrible weather conditions and in search of game and shelter, only to encounter the Ghost Band, who killed Torka's grandfather and some of his people and captured a pregnant Lonit and Karana. The frantic and anger-driven Torka chased this band. In the process of pursuit, he met Karana's people and persuaded them to help him slaughter all members of the Ghost Band, promising to teach them how to use his lethal spear-thrower. He stayed with Karana's people after the successful rescuing attack. But after the initial thankfulness and adoration, he was nothing more than one of the hunters, though a very skilful one. What was worse, their magic man, Navahk, who caused the abandonment of Karana, hated him most because he brought Karana back to his people. Conflicts and tension arose in their confined community, which is one of the scenes in "Corridor of Storm (Book II).

I read so many of his pre-history books and enjoyed them all.

I saw mention of this book in a review here on Amazon for another prehistoric fiction book, and decided to give it a try. Although I was upset that the publisher doesn't (yet?) offer this title for sale via Kindle, I was very happy indeed with my purchase.First off, let me say that the characters are very endearing and well fleshed out. I was actually driven to caring about them when they got into trouble, and apart from that, each of them have very distinctive personality traits. It's very easy to keep them apart.Another thing I truly liked about this book was how great it was at portraying the grimness and the danger of the setting. Even today, Arctic tundras are no walk in the park, so back before the time of modern technology (like guns, for example) living there was pretty much a day in and day out. This novel makes the daily struggle to survive very vivid and intense.One of the drawbacks, however, is that some parts felt rushed. It was true that fast pacing kept the suspense levels very high, particularly at key scenes, but towards the end I felt that a lot of really interesting events were just blown through with minimal description.Despite that slight reservation, I feel confident that anyone interested in prehistoric fiction would be happy to pick this book up.

Great books!!

I enjoyed this, although the book felt long and labored at times. The secret of the book, and its best part, are the main characters, including beloved first dog, Arr. On the one hand: you'll enjoy the story, a slow burning one. Other other hand: the same slow burn may frustrate you. Keep at it, it delivers.

Bought for teen reader, great buy

The Good. The characters are very realistic. I found myself getting upset at Torka for being a jerk and somewhat upset at Lonit for not thinking better of herself. I also enjoyed who Umak, the Spirit Master, acted towards others. This is a good sign. Badly made characters don't get such reactions from me. Only good character design could get such reactions.The Bad. I could tell what was about to happen chapters ahead of the events. I knew what was going to happen to Galeena and his tribe. I knew what was going to happen to the Ghost Band when they showed up in the last few chapters. I even saw what was going to happen to the relationship between Torka and the Mammoth.The Ugly. Much of the culture, traditions and customs of the people in the book is guess work, based on modern hunter-gatherers, the idea of Man The Hunter and ideas based on evidence found in fossils and American artifacts. The end result is a simple, cruel, hard picture of life in the Ice Age, a life that might NOT have been as cruel and as harsh as the people in the 1980s may have thought. This book came out in the late 80s and many of the ideas were, and are still, up in the air.For example, Alaska was populated well before the glaciers retreated, leaving a pathway to the Great Plains of North America. The First Americans would have been there, living near the Corridor of Storms, for hundreds of years before Torka even showed up. It also means many of the scenes are horrible and, while being fictional, they made me put down the book a couple of times in disgust. Many times I felt like I was watching a mixture of all the bad parts of Survivor, Fear Factor and the Playboy Channel all in one. Like the author was trying to gain viewers and increase ratings for a television show. In the end Beyond The Sea Of Ice barely gets three out of five.

I ordered this book off one of the recommended lists and have been pleasantly surprised. I loved this book- it has everything people love about the Auel series- but without all that "caveman sex." I guess some like it- but I think Auel overdoes it a bit (I just finished Mammoth Hunters). It has great action and characters that you take a stake in their survival. I also have to say that the last 20 pages have to be some of the most exciting reading I've ever experienced at the end of a book- I can't wait to get a hold of the rest of the series- you can get them dirt cheap from some of the used sellers.

Wonderful subject that only William Sarabande can so sensitively write to cast those of like minds back to a world of pre-historic sagas. Easy to immerse & lose oneself in this world of man & woman's struggle of survival in such a changing & challenging environment. Mans interaction with the natural world around him expertly totally convincing & beautifully told. A truly amazing writer. I too had enjoyed Jean Auel's books but William Saranbande infallible sensitivity & knowledge of her subject is, by far, a more wonderful read . I have nearly completed the whole series. Not one of the her books has disappointed,even though the tribal characters change along the paths of climatic change & envolving belief systems. Perhaps one day our ice age may still return to consume us. In our complicated technological world today I urge anyone who has a desire to learn much about our first ancestors who struggled to survive in their world to read the complete series of this fantastic gifted writer.

First book of the First Americans series. First book of William Sarabande. Was not disppointed, have already orderedbooks two and three of the series.