Finished the last part of the "Once were warriors" trilogy earlier this week. Brilliant final book of a Maori tale which started off in a menacing fashion in "Once were warriors".
The movie version was able to capture the first novel perfectly and can be considered a modern day classic.
"What becomes of the broken hearted" was a great follow-up book but the movie version deviated considerably which is a shame since the book had so much more to offer than the action focussed on in the movie.
In this final part "Jake's long shadow" there's almost no violence. Well, not entirely true but the four instances that do lead into violence are cut off right when people start bashing each other. Quite effective.
But the focus of this final part lies much more in the drama of the remains of the Heke family so many years after Beth and Jake's explosive marriage. There's superb dialogues here and the frequent exposure to Jake's thoughts makes up for a thrilling read.
If they ever do make a movie of "Jake's long shadow" then I hope they'll get Temuera Morrison to play Jake Heke again. Not only has he played that role in the first two movies but he's a great actor who deserves to play this character who's been through so many soul searching after the break up with Beth.
Mark my words, if this movie is ever made and Temuera plays Jake again then he might very well win some fucken awards. The Jake is character is THAT intricate and interesting. And Temuera simply owns that role.

To end the rant, huge kudos to Alan Duff for writing about Maoris and their culture so candidly. He's brutally honest and never strays from exposing the spots where it hurts most.
Excellent writer.