O'Dell's books are characterized by their evocative and unique style. This, his last novel, offers fewer of the colorful and detailed descriptions that are found in his earlier works. This may be because the book was completed by his wife, based on notes he was developing before his death. Where the dialogue in his earlier books was descriptive and added a unique dimension to his characters, here it mostly chronicles events.

One of the reviewers of the book, Margaret Bush, says of the novel: "Events and characters are sketched quickly, and the many short scenes of the trek and the fighting become a sort of awful travelogue." There is little room for descriptions of natural harmony between the people and their land, perhaps because such a harmony is no longer possible.