Finalist, 2006 Crawford Award
Recommended Reading List for 2005, Locus Magazine
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Praise for Bear Daughter
"Richly blending mythology and folktale, Berman catapults readers into a fantastic world of shamanic wars, talking animals, and immortal beings of frightening power and awesome beauty....Berman's imagination seems to know no bounds....Her utterly absorbing, unforgettable first novel announces a truly original and unique voice in fantasy."
--Booklist (starred review)
"Gripping, moving, frightening, enchanting... one of the very best books I've read all year."
--Terri Windling, editor of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror
"A brilliant book, tapping into the roots of primal myths...Characters are multifaceted and flawed, and the lyrical prose overflowing with authentic details of Native life describes great beauties as well as chilling horrors."
--VOYA
"A gorgeous and visceral and amazing book... It will have immense crossover appeal to teenagers."
--Holly Black, author of Valiant and The Spiderwick Chronicles
"Judith Berman's first novel begins with a nod to another great story involving metamorphosis: 'When Cloud was twelve years old, she woke up one morning to discover she had become a girl.' But while there is an homage to Kafka in that line, what comes after is more apt to evoke Le Guin and Tolkien... Berman's intricate world building, the grace of her writing, and her memorable characters all herald the arrival of a significant talent. "
--Realms of Fantasy
"A revelation! Judith Berman shatters the cliches... without sacrificing the celebration of spirit and strangeness that has always defined classic fantasy. From the very first sentence, when Cloud changes from a bear to a girl, this novel sets off for lands you've never been to and adventures like no others you've ever read. Bear Daughter is a book people will be talking about for some time."
--James Patrick Kelly, author of Burn
"Berman balances the story's mythology with convincing emotional subtext... With its sympathetic young heroine and density of action, this richly re-imagined folk tale may straddle young adult and adult audiences."
--Publishers Weekly
"Cloud encounters magic and breathtaking beauty as well as terror and brutality, and the reader stays with her every step...An essential YA purchase."
--Kliatt
"Cloud's quest is full of vividly imagined magic and adventure, as well as compelling, realistic emotional drama...Filled with mythical wonders and a deep sense of compassion, Bear Daughter is a highly original and rewarding fantasy novel. "
--Interzone
"Arresting fantasy from an original new voice."
--Juneau Empire
"Bear Daughter is that rarest of fantasy novels, one which takes you to places you've never been before. Cloud is a wonderful, fully-realized heroine... It's a great adventure, gorgeous and gory, treacherous and exciting, rich with texture and nuance."
--Gregory Frost, author of Fitcher's Brides and Attack of the Jazz Giants
"This tale of shape-shifting grizzly bears, Spirit-World versions of salmon and orcas, and personified Seasons reads nothing like a casual venture into the exotic realms of someone else's culture. As Berman says in her August Locus interview, it's a hybrid of Old World, New World, and the inner workings of her own mind. And it's powerful indeed... A richly imaginative tour de force."
--Locus
"An extraordinary novel...draws readers in and holds them captivated until the end."
--Green Man Review
"Exciting...full of magic and mystery, rich with shapeshifting, mysterious prophecies, powerful wizards, and physical danger, Bear Daughter fulfills all the requirements of a great quest fantasy with true originality and heart... A fully realized world of gritty realism and powerful myth, unlike anywhere I've visited before!"
--Ellen Kushner, author of Swordspoint and The Privilege of the Sword
"If you have long awaited the next book from Ursula K. Le Guin or Mary Doria Russell... you need wait no longer. Judith Berman's first novel, Bear Daughter, belongs in this lofty company.... With her, the reader journeys into a world made so real, mystical, and profound, that the experience is not unlike reading such well-wrought classics as The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia... It is also an adventurous page-turner. There's just one caveat: don't pick this book up unless you're ready to leave everything else in your life undone until you finish it."
--Expedition Magazine
"One to keep on the shelf and read again and again."
--Broad Universe
"Berman's landscape with bones of myth is utterly convincing....the profusion of scents and sensations can be almost miraculously powerful."
--Vector
"A perfect read for an autumn evening."
--Romantic Times BOOK Club
"Highly recommended to both teen and adult fantasy readers."
--Bookloons
"Judith Berman's first novel ... creates a hard, heightened world of bloodcurdling destruction and dogged renewal. Berman flexes narrative muscle and magic...conjuring a distinctive world of moss, rotting fish, cedar bark, cold rain, and pungent smoke...Cloud attempts to sidestep the magic that swirls around her, flees her dreams, and denies in terror her capacity for rage.. At last Cloud takes up an active role in her journey, fighting off foes and carrying bones on her back toward the end of the world, discovering step by messy step her own balance between restraint and rage."
--Strange Horizons
"An appealing heroine and an intriguing world. A good choice for adult and YA fantasy collections."
--Library Journal
"Fresh and innovative...A superb job."
--SF Revu
"Fascinating!"
--Philadelphia Weekly Press
"Magical... I love the way Berman writes: it is alive and clean and to the point. "
--Emerald City
"Judith Berman does more than borrow from Native American mythology; she consumes the old stories and creates something new and unique."
--Fantasy Magazine
Ace, September 2005 Mass-market paperback edition: November 2006
• Sources (coming soon!)
• My LiveJournal--say hello
• Interviews: Strange Horizons; Locus
• "Bears, Bombs, and Popcorn"--on cultural appropriation, Bear Daughter's cover, and more