"The Legend of Thunder Moon" is the first in a series of stories that Faust wrote about a young Cheyenne warrior, Thunder Moon. In this tale, Faust tells us about Big Hard Face -- disfigured as a young man, he grew to be a mighty and respected warrior, yet he never took a wife, for none of the young women of the tribe wanted an ugly husband. So Big Hard Face makes a great journey to the east, where he steals away a herd of horses and a small baby from a white man's plantation.

Big Hard Face raises the child as his own. Although the child, Thunder Moon, is never told of his white heritage, he notices that he differs from his fellow Cheyenne: his skin is slightly different in color, he does not withstand pain so easily. He relies upon the Sky People to give him strength and wisdom, and he belittles the tribe's medicine man as a fool.

Still, Thunder Moon grows to be a mighty warrior like Big Hard Face. He is respected by the tribe, but always is treated as someone different.

Faust tells this story in his usual well-paced manner, and the reader is fully engaged with the exploits of Thunder Moon. The young man tackles his travails in the usual larger-than-life manner, but Faust seems to restrain his mythic style to some extent. Perhaps this is because he was relying on actual anthropological research to create a realistic depiction of Cheyenne life. Still, the story imparts a sense of the action happening in a lost land that is far, far away. And in truth, it is.

"The Legend of Thunder Moon" is available in paperback from Amazon. Got to this URL to view a selection of sample pages:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0843945834/thepulprack-20

"The Legend of Thunder Moon" is also available in hardcover in an edition published by the University of Nebraska Press. Go to this URL to purchase:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0803212690/thepulprack-20