The Last Great American Magic by L.C. Fiore

The Last Great American Magic by L.C. Fiore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Last Great American Magic is a retelling of the story of Tecumseh, “a Native American Shawnee warrior and chief, who became the primary leader of a large, multi-tribal confederacy in the early years of the nineteenth century” (per Wikipedia). In L.C. Fiore's novel there are elements of mysticism interwoven with history in a way that captures the spiritual side to the Shawnee culture. Tecumseh's brother, Rattle, was renamed Prophet after he died and returned to life, which indicates how important mysticism is to the plot.

This novel won third place in the 2017 CIPA Evvy awards in historical fiction. (My book, Hopatcong Vision Quest won a merit award in the same competition, which is why I decided to read the other winners.) All have been excellent books. The Last Great American Magic captured my imagination and kept me turning the pages. It was filled with action and taught me a great deal about the Shawnee people at a time when the Europeans were pushing them off their land. There is violence and hatred, but this is also a story of love. Tecumseh falls hard for a young white woman captured by the Shawnee, even after she returns to her people, and even after she marries William Henry Harrison.

I highly recommend this novel for readers who enjoy stories of Native Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Steve Lindahl – author of Hopatcong Vision Quest, White Horse Regressions, and Motherless Soul


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