[15] Jennifer Reid, who became interested in Riel self-admittedly "probably before [she] could read" and recalled her parents arguing about him during her youth,[16] was inspired to write the book by her doctoral advisor Robert Choquette, as well as by religion historian David Carrasco.
[17] In a tie-in interview, Reid said that this book is intended to "explore the complicated nature of identity in modernity in general, with Canada as the entree", as well as to re-examine the idea of the nation state.
[18] Sheila McManus and Diane Payment called the book "thought-provoking" and a "powerful narrative", respectively, and the former said it inspired her to consider centering her Canadian studies education on métissage.
[8][9] Kevin Bruyneel and Andrew Nurse praised the book's stable nature within the academic studies of Riel and exploration of Canada's geopolitical evolution,[4][21] and Coates and Payment both drew comparisons with John Ralston Saul's similarly themed A Fair Country.
[23] Albert Braz criticized the shortage of coverage of Canadian and Métis political similarities and Riel's volition towards national hero status,[2] while Coates and MacManus, respectively, found the religious themes insufficiently developed and said that the book had no clear, separate introduction for its arguments.