I half-wondered if Boyden's second novel would engage me as his first, Three Day Road, did or whether it would turn out to be a case of a wistful "Oh well!" for another author lacking staying power. It was the former; I didn't want to put the book down.

Like his first novel, this is told by alternating narrators. The first is Will Bird, a well-known Cree bush pilot, who lies, comatose, in the hospital while his thoughts spin out the tale of how he got there. The second is his niece, Annie Bird, who has returned to Moosonee to sit with her uncle because her friend, a nurse, has told her that talking with a patient may help to rouse him. While sitting there, she tells him the story of her search for her missing sister, who went south to Montreal and New York to be a model. Eventually, you start to see the two threads merge naturally into a single story that's exciting and tense.

This book has the same clean writing style that I admired so much in both his first novel and his collection of short stories, Born With a Tooth. It's fluid, quick and compelling, and takes you right into the First Nation communities around Moosonee, or out into the frozen bush on the borders of Hudson Bay. He has also crafted another set of vivid and complex characters that engaged me from the opening pages.

Though this book won Canada's top prize for fiction, I still rank his first novel ahead of it. Will's story line is gripping and forceful—there wasn't a chance I was going to set the book down while in the midst his chapters. Some of Annie's tale, however, is a bit more prosaic. Though the portions of her story set at home drew me right in, when she recounts her sojourn in the drug-fueled lifestyle of the glitterati, there's a bit of dullness to the story...almost as if the superficiality of that life had colored the writing. I wanted those parts of the book over so I could get back to the North. I also found a faint hint of blockbuster in the ending as, after a climactic scene, everything begins to wrap up tidily.

But...don't interpret this as damning—I was delighted with this story and have added Boyden to my Favorite Authors list.

By the way, if the characters' surname sounds familiar to those who have read Three Day Road, Will and Annie are Xavier Bird's son and granddaughter. Since he has stated he will always write about the First Nations, I'm hoping there will be more stories about the inhabitants of Moosonee and Moose Factory. ( )

An absolute delight, transported me to another place, another culture...yet I was so at home there ( )

This is a wonderful yarn which I totally loved while reading and not quite as well afterward. The the excitement of the story and setting made me gloss over the flaws until I reached the end. Honestly, it is a page turner and I couldn’t put it down until I finished.

The story is told from two points of view in alternating chapters: Will Bird, a middle-aged Oji-Cree bush pilot living in Northern Ontario and his niece Annie in her early 20’s. Will is in a coma, recalling the events that led up to this crisis point. In the hope of reaching through to him, Annie visits him daily in the hospital, telling him about her dangerous search for her sister who, after achieving brief glory as a model in the big apple, has disappeared.

Boyden skillfully and with affection and respect portrays Native life in the bush and in urban settings. He successfully tells not one, but two love stories, which, as I’ve said in other reviews, is challenging. And he does it convincingly, with a pair of would-be lovers in midlife and another in their early 20’s. All of this while spinning a gripping tale of drugs, sex, life at the heights of fashionable New York and in the remote northern bush. It is literary fiction and the attention to detail, dialect, and the inner life is captivating.

It was only after I finished that I realized that the tale was pretty tall, and there were a couple too many scenes of partying with ecstacy (the drug, not the feeling) among the rich and beautiful.

Boyden is a terrific writer and though he isn't Cree himself has spent a lot of time in the community. The novel reads authentically to me, but not having that background, I would love to hear from First Nations readers whether they felt it was an accurate portrayal.

Crossroads

The best way to describe this book is that it is fundamentally about people at the crossroads -- between the traditional and the modern, good and evil, young and old. The novel is a slightly complicated read since Boyden uses a double monologue of both his protagonists Will and Annie. Although slightly distracting at first, both narratives intersect together nicely so it isn't all that difficult to follow.

Boyden is a great storyteller there is no doubt about that. I would have appreciated slightly more lyricism in his writing though which at times feels a little mechanical -- for such a great story, it lacks that literary touch. The characters are rich and complex and Boyden does a great job to explore their inner feelings.

Overall, I highly recommend "Through Black Spruce" -- it is well-deserving of the Giller Prize. I would call it a Canadian classic, but definitely a true gem. ( )

The sequel to Three Day Road. Like its predecessor, the characters speak true, but truer when they are up north in Moosonee and Moose Factory than the scenes in Toronto and New York. The story that unfolds in the cities seem a bit forced and unrealistic. However, the unrealism of the city scenes may in fact help create the stark contrast with the 'up north' scenes, which seem entirely realistic. It is in these small communities where 'real people' are, to which the main characters are always drawn. ( )