Book Review: The Chief of All Time (Medicine Man #1) by S.R. Howen.

Synopsis: Shannon Running Deer is American Indian by blood, he has forsaken his people's ancient ways to embrace the "modern" world as a wealthy, highly successful trauma surgeon.

His comfortable existence begins to unravel when, seemingly by chance, Shannon finds himself gradually drawn into the past. Pursued by an ancient evil, he knows he can change the future, if he can survive the past.

In the tradition of Diana Gabaldon, S.R. Howen's MEDICINE MAN is a distinctive and atmospheric novel full of spirituality, mystical time travel, romance, passion, and suspense.

The Nerd Rambles: The Chief of All Time is a wonderfully written piece, that weaves together both modern story telling, and ancient lore to create a tapestry of lush story telling. The main character, Shannon Running Deer has abandoned his Blackfoot ancestry to focus on the modern world, and modern medicine. However, he gets entangled in a battle that sends him teetering into the past, the present and tangles with reality and mysticism.

The love for this story and the research and time it took to create it is obvious in each scene. The characters are wonderfully written and the balance between each is really nice. The conflict in this story is well thought out and fits the story well.

I really love how this book has taken Native American culture, their practices and beliefs, and not exploited it as a fetish, or a story quirk, but really made them the focus of the story. They’re thoughtful and real and I found myself getting caught up in that aspect of the story.

However, this really wasn’t the book for me. I found myself getting distracted, and at times confused as to what was going on, and with the shift between present and past I got a little frustrated. While it’s not my personal favorite, the writing was wonderful and while I did enjoy it, I could only recommend it to a certain few of my friends. Simply put, if you enjoy intricately woven stories that blend reality and mysticism with well researched aspects of a culture, don’t hesitate to pick this up. If it sounds interesting at all to you, don’t hesitate to pick this up. You might just fall in love with it.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Total Length: 278 pages
Available Format: All Epub formats and traditional publication.
Publication Date: November 9, 2012 (Wild Child Publication)
Author's Webpage: S.R. Howen on Goodreads
Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book by BTS Magazine in return for a review. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts are my own.