Win’s books, particularly RavenShadow and Stone Song, are written with gratitude for his Native American friends and experiences. Silk and Shakespeare is a romp through Crow Indian Country.
“RavenShadow has the impact of a hurled war lance.” —Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
RavenShadow, from a three-time Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers Writer of the Year, is a tale of lost faith and crowning redemption. It follows one Native American’s spirit journey to heal his past and claim his future. Haunted by the loss of his Lakota heritage and the woman he loves, Blue sinks into alcoholism and despair. He finds himself on the precipice of oblivion, and only his best friend’s words can save him: “You got to go on the mountain.”
Blue is guided by a shaman and a spirit bird under whose wing lies the shadow of the past. He relives the massacre of Wounded Knee, standing beside his ancestors and his people as they fall under fire of guns. Blue seeks, and finds, redemption and healing throughout the course of this extraordinary story.
“Blevins’ prose is razor sharp, his characters are clearly defined, and his heart, like so many, is at Wounded Knee. An outstanding novel.” —Booklist
“Blevins, whose book Stone Song fictionalized the life of the legendary Crazy Horse, has stated his aim is to write ‘mythic novels of the American West.’ He meets that goal in The Rock Child.”—Library Journal
In The Rock Child, an unlikely trio comprised of a Shoshone, named Asie, a Tibetan nun, and Sir Richard Burton—the famous soldier and explorer—flees from Utah Territory to California in 1862. The Destroying Angel of the Mormon Church, Porter Rockwell, relentlessly pursues them. The journey is jam-packed with unforgettable incidents and colorful characters, including a fledgling journalist named Mark Twain.
In the end, Asie discovers why he was named the Rock Child, what it means to be a man of color in America, what spiritual path will nurture him, who his people are, and the strength of love. Go along for the ride!
“Tibetan-speaking Sir Richard Burton, a brilliant opium addict, is in Salt Lake City to persuade Brigham Young to form a separate Western Confederacy. Burton saves Asie and Sun Moon from Rockwell and joins their quest . . . This is a rich, funny, fascinating, meaningful, and memorable novel from the author of that incredible masterpiece about Crazy Horse, Stone Song.”—Rocky Mountain News
“Win Blevins displays an antic imagination, not only in mingling actual and invented characters, but in melding gritty action-adventure with metaphysical musings.” — Dale Wasserman, author of ‘Man of La Mancha’
Historical characters, close calls, and good-natured fun abound in this light-hearted romp through the West with adventures worthy of Don Quixote. Here are two of the most improbable mountain men ever to trap and explore the Rocky Mountains. Shakespeare is a former actor, an older man of gargantuan proportion. His sidekick, Silk, is a rail-thin teenager with all the brains that Shakespeare lacks.
They get into flabbergasting scrapes from wrestling bears, to falling in love with off-limits women in Santa Fe, and a Crow woman warrior. Along with historical characters, the pair gets into jams with dreaded enemies of the Crow and the Blackfeet. That’s to be expected of characters who, like Don Quixote, dream of “enchantments, quarrels, battles, challenges, wounds, wooings, loves, tempests, and other impossible follies.”
“Win Blevins is the best writer in America.” —John Milius, screenwriter of ‘Apocalypse Now’