The Gold Hunters

The gold-hunters is the second in the series that relates the story of friendship and discovery in the wilds of the North American continent, between Roderick Drew, Wabigoon and Mukoki. This time they are in search of gold; following a map drawn previously by an unknown Englisman, a map that caused two Frenchmen to kill each other about 49 years previously. Again the story line enthrals the reader but in this case Curwood places us in a position (insofar that we are naive non-woodsmen) where we reach an empathy and uneasy feeling that we could be the brave but naive white man, Roderick. It seems that Curwood is doing this to debunk from us as readers some of unrealistic beliefs we may hold about how wild animals and native peoples behave in their natural habitat.

The madness of a central if somewhat obscure character slowly erupts out of the story line - and frames the pages as a type of Gollum - and indeed it would not be surprising if I later learned that that character had some influence upon Tolkein's later works. Of course that is just subjective opinion on my part. All in all this book is another excellent read - although it misses some of the descriptive punch of The Wolf Hunters; somewhat as a result of Curwood's feeling that several components of the first book need to be repeated so as to assist the new reader in understanding this storyline.

I have thoroughly enjoyed Curwoods books. I’ve read “The Wolf Hunters” and now the “Gold Hunters”. I’m wondering if there is another book in this series? I would like to read about more adventures of Muky, Wabi and Rod.

It is so good to see the works of such a great wilderness author in this format. Most of Curwood's works are found in old book stores, on back shelves, even though he was hugely popular in his time. His novels take you back into the wilderness in a lost way through the eys of both the hunter and the hunted. It is great refreshing reading very suitable for those bedtime stories without the mishmash of political correctness and imputed morality. Love them! I only wish that his very best historical novel, "The Plains of Abraham" was on your reader list. Of all his novels made into movies this should be the prime, though it is much unknown & unheralded. Greg Gilbert