The Children of First Man
Eight centuries ago, Madoc, an illegitimate son of a mediocre Welsh king, may have led ten boatloads of his countrymen across the Atlantic and settled them in the Tennessee and Ohio River valleys. Thom's multigenerational historical novel skillfully enlarges the scant evidence for this legend. Madoc's Welsh build a benevolent colony (complete with castles), die by hubris, and repeat their history, always as nastier people with shoddier castles, until their decline (as Thom sees it) into an illiterate but not unspiritual people. Though generally sensitive to Native American culture, he hits some patronizing notes in rendering the interior monologs of some Indian characters. Also, reader interest may wane with the endless succession of protagonists that such a time span inevitably produces-Thom's most fleshed-out character dies with 700 years and more than half the book still to go. However, the passages on medieval sea-faring and smallpox epidemics are quite riveting. Recommended for public libraries.Scott H. Silverman, Bryn Mawr Coll. Lib., Pa.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.