Official Review: "Full Circle" by Michael "Hawk" Spisak
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starla1781
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- Latest Review: "Full Circle" by Michael hawk Spisak
Official Review: "Full Circle" by Michael "Hawk" Spisak
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Full Circle" by Michael hawk Spisak.]
"Full Circle" by Michael "Hawk" Spisak is the story of a half-blood Native American on his journey to self-discovery and fulfillment and ends up on a bloody trail of vengeance.
Jackson Themal, an orphan raised in the state foster care system and still trying to heal from the emotional and physical wounds suffered as a child, travels around the country from ceremony to ceremony on several different Indian reservations with many different tribes. He floats from place to place trying to find the reason for his visions and a direction in which to lead his life. At one of these Sundance ceremonies, an Elder tells him a very revealing and harrowing account of his parents and where he comes from. He takes this with him as he goes back to what he calls home at the time and tries to make sense of it. Within a few months, the death of this Elder catapults him onto a course that there is no turning back from.
I give this book a 2 out of 4 stars. It was very difficult to get into the story of the main character. The author tended to wander off into tangents that seemed to be a rant against anything and anyone that was a white American and all that America stood for and had been built upon. He focuses so much on the past and his interpretation at what led up to the fate of the Native Peoples of America that it made it difficult to continue reading.
I also didn't feel that the characters were very believeable. In the case of the protaganist, Jackson, there were so many contradictions in character and personality it was hard to form a real image of him. For example, Jackson grew up in several different foster homes and was abused sexually, emotionally and physically in each one until the last home he went to as a child. The author describes a dragon in his soul that would rear up and break through at times, unless sedated with alcohol or drugs, driving Jackson to commit atrocious acts against helpless animals in order to lock it up again. While reading about Jackson's past, the author gives you the impression that Jackson has extremely violent tendencies that would explode at the slightest provacation and yet when he is sorely insulted and used by various people, he rolls over like a tame mutt and you don't feel satisfied with the explanation given.
When Jackson finally reaches his breaking point, it was almost anti-climatic. The action at the end was rushed and disappointing. There wasn't enough time spent in developing the characters that had a main role in the ending or in describing their final demise at Jackson's hands.
There was also a confusing blend of fact and fiction while the author was villifying certain leaders in America's past. One specific President that he chooses to focus on as the catalyst of Jackson's vengeance never even existed and yet he uses others that were very real in developing this country's present state as a target for Jackson's revenge.
Lastly, there were some mechanical errors, such as grammar, punctuation, and the switching back and forth between past and present tense, that were distracting and detracted from the flow of the story.
Overall, I feel that "Full Circle" could have been an interesting and informative story if the proper care had been taken to develop the characters and main scenes more fully and if the author's own bias hadn't so often taken over the story.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.
***
Buy "Full Circle" on Amazon
"Full Circle" by Michael "Hawk" Spisak is the story of a half-blood Native American on his journey to self-discovery and fulfillment and ends up on a bloody trail of vengeance.
Jackson Themal, an orphan raised in the state foster care system and still trying to heal from the emotional and physical wounds suffered as a child, travels around the country from ceremony to ceremony on several different Indian reservations with many different tribes. He floats from place to place trying to find the reason for his visions and a direction in which to lead his life. At one of these Sundance ceremonies, an Elder tells him a very revealing and harrowing account of his parents and where he comes from. He takes this with him as he goes back to what he calls home at the time and tries to make sense of it. Within a few months, the death of this Elder catapults him onto a course that there is no turning back from.
I give this book a 2 out of 4 stars. It was very difficult to get into the story of the main character. The author tended to wander off into tangents that seemed to be a rant against anything and anyone that was a white American and all that America stood for and had been built upon. He focuses so much on the past and his interpretation at what led up to the fate of the Native Peoples of America that it made it difficult to continue reading.
I also didn't feel that the characters were very believeable. In the case of the protaganist, Jackson, there were so many contradictions in character and personality it was hard to form a real image of him. For example, Jackson grew up in several different foster homes and was abused sexually, emotionally and physically in each one until the last home he went to as a child. The author describes a dragon in his soul that would rear up and break through at times, unless sedated with alcohol or drugs, driving Jackson to commit atrocious acts against helpless animals in order to lock it up again. While reading about Jackson's past, the author gives you the impression that Jackson has extremely violent tendencies that would explode at the slightest provacation and yet when he is sorely insulted and used by various people, he rolls over like a tame mutt and you don't feel satisfied with the explanation given.
When Jackson finally reaches his breaking point, it was almost anti-climatic. The action at the end was rushed and disappointing. There wasn't enough time spent in developing the characters that had a main role in the ending or in describing their final demise at Jackson's hands.
There was also a confusing blend of fact and fiction while the author was villifying certain leaders in America's past. One specific President that he chooses to focus on as the catalyst of Jackson's vengeance never even existed and yet he uses others that were very real in developing this country's present state as a target for Jackson's revenge.
Lastly, there were some mechanical errors, such as grammar, punctuation, and the switching back and forth between past and present tense, that were distracting and detracted from the flow of the story.
Overall, I feel that "Full Circle" could have been an interesting and informative story if the proper care had been taken to develop the characters and main scenes more fully and if the author's own bias hadn't so often taken over the story.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.
***
Buy "Full Circle" on Amazon
Latest Review: "Full Circle" by Michael hawk Spisak
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wekaiyoetay
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 07 Jul 2012, 07:21
- Bookshelf Size: 0
Thank you, for your honest review. Yours is the first dissenting opinion I have received. Although not a negative review, it is average at best.
I'm still pondering how someone hurries a 430 page book.
The reviewer appears very conservative and in my biased opinion missed most, if not the entire, point behind the novel. Its supposed to be biased, its supposed to ramble, the protagonist is supposed to roll over. Until the consequences of rolling over after years of abuse snaps his hold on reality.
I assume the reviewer was expecting another "Dances with Wolves." This is the anti-Dances, and its meant to be. History, this country, as seen through the eyes of original inhabitants and the resulting effects of 500 years of Manifest Destiny. In other words, the truth, not guilt absolving lies and propaganda.
I'm still pondering how someone hurries a 430 page book.
The reviewer appears very conservative and in my biased opinion missed most, if not the entire, point behind the novel. Its supposed to be biased, its supposed to ramble, the protagonist is supposed to roll over. Until the consequences of rolling over after years of abuse snaps his hold on reality.
I assume the reviewer was expecting another "Dances with Wolves." This is the anti-Dances, and its meant to be. History, this country, as seen through the eyes of original inhabitants and the resulting effects of 500 years of Manifest Destiny. In other words, the truth, not guilt absolving lies and propaganda.
