THE LAST MIGRATION

This is the second novel in a saga about the Lapps. The first was The Raid (1959) and this continues a story of potential tragic power, one in which the boundaries of modern society extend to swallow up the nomads of the North. Simon Sokki and his tribe of reindeer herders are bought off and brought under the supervision of the Scandinavian governments, chiefly the Norwegians. Simon's daughter Kristina and her betrothed, Paavi the Finn (a sort of cold weather drop-out from civilization turned on by Kristina, Lappish discomforts and freezing in freedom) resist the lucre offered and, together with one other couple and a legendary Old Man (repository of the old ways and virtues) sled off into the midnight sun ""creating the future by continuing the past."" Sagas demand figures of some stature and these aren't. Heroic figures are generally forgiven for being and sounding a bit wooden, but since these characters are more romantic than heroic, the saga, although authentic to the last deadly detail, sags.