This is a wonderful tale in its own right, and although it does not pretend to be an accurate retelling on the Tongan or any other Polynesian people’s creation story, it can be seen and understood as such by Western readers. James Norman Hall is a fine writer and brings his finely wrought and finely balanced prose to bear on this ancient tale (in fact, not so ancient in Western terms, but old enough in terms of the oral history from whence it springs).