Michael Punke's The Revenant

I was expecting an explosive slam-bang ending but the epigraph (Romans 12:19) stated it clearly albeit differently. It's basically a revenge story with a surprising kill-joy ending, but the commendable quality of this novel by Michael Punke hinges on the realistic and brutal depiction of a frontier life ever since the historical adventures of Lewis and Clarke. If you love scouting and surviving the outdoor life mostly within the winter-spring seasons, you will enjoy this book.

The reader may be treated with a story of one man's obsession for vengeance, but the author's effort in searching historical documents about the life of Hugh Glass and the history of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company while infusing them with legend aptly defined the novel. What stood out here is the balance between fact and fiction, history and legend.

Passing that balance category probably made the novel also pass the threshold of a film material, as the movie adaptation will be released by December this year with the main hero Hugh Glass being portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio. The ending may be different from the novel and I'm looking forward to it.





Category: Historical Fiction, Survival, Action, Adventure
Rating: 3-foot hunting rifle