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North America's Forgotten Past #19
The Broken Land
A novel of North America's Forgotten Past
Twelve summers after the events of The People of the Longhouse and The Dawn Country, the Iroquois nations remain locked in bitter warfare. Atotarho, the cannibal-sorcerer who leads the People of the Hills, schemes to set into motion a cataclysmic battle that threatens to destroy the Iroquoian world. His warriors spread fear and death wherever they go, taking captives and burning villages to the ground.
Only five people are brave enough to challenge Atotarho. Odion, Wrass, Tutelo, Baji, and Zateri, kidnapped as children and sold into slavery, are now grown, and they have forged a desperate alliance that just might be strong enough to stop the madman.
Odion, now a disgraced warrior known as Dekanawida or Sky Messenger, must convince his people that his visions of a great darkness will mean total destruction for all. His friend Wrass, who has become War Chief Hiyawento, and a powerful clan matron, Jigonsaseh, are his only hope. They must find a way to bring five warring nations together.
Award-winning archaeologists and New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear continue their retelling of the story of the Peacemaker, one of North America's most beautiful epics in The Broken Land. Dekanawida's message of compassion and spiritual unity is as powerful today as it was six hundred years ago--perhaps even more so.
Twelve summers after the events of The People of the Longhouse and The Dawn Country, the Iroquois nations remain locked in bitter warfare. Atotarho, the cannibal-sorcerer who leads the People of the Hills, schemes to set into motion a cataclysmic battle that threatens to destroy the Iroquoian world. His warriors spread fear and death wherever they go, taking captives and burning villages to the ground.
Only five people are brave enough to challenge Atotarho. Odion, Wrass, Tutelo, Baji, and Zateri, kidnapped as children and sold into slavery, are now grown, and they have forged a desperate alliance that just might be strong enough to stop the madman.
Odion, now a disgraced warrior known as Dekanawida or Sky Messenger, must convince his people that his visions of a great darkness will mean total destruction for all. His friend Wrass, who has become War Chief Hiyawento, and a powerful clan matron, Jigonsaseh, are his only hope. They must find a way to bring five warring nations together.
Award-winning archaeologists and New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear continue their retelling of the story of the Peacemaker, one of North America's most beautiful epics in The Broken Land. Dekanawida's message of compassion and spiritual unity is as powerful today as it was six hundred years ago--perhaps even more so.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 3, 2012
160 people are currently reading
884 people want to read
About the author
W. Michael Gear
181 books730 followersW. Michael Gear was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on the twentieth of May, 1955. A fourth generation Colorado native, his family had been involved in hard-rock mining, cattle ranching, and journalism. After his father's death in 1959, Michael's mother received her Master's degree in journalism and began teaching. In 1962 she married Joseph J. Cook, who taught tool and die making, and the family lived in Lakewood, Colorado, until 1968. At that time they moved to Fort Collins so that Joe could pursue his Ph.D.. During those years the family lived in the foothills above Horsetooth Reservoir.
It was there that Mike developed a love of history, anthropology, and motorcycles. They would color his future and fill his imagination for the rest of his life. During summers he volunteered labor on local ranches or at the farm east of Greeley and landed his first real job: picking up trash at the lake and cleaning outhouses. It has been said that his exposure to trash led him into archaeology. We will not speculate about what cleaning the outhouses might have led him to. On his first dig as a professional archaeologist in 1976 he discovered that two thousand year old human trash isn't nearly as obnoxious as the new stuff.
Michael graduated from Fort Collins High School in 1972 and pursued both his Bachelor's (1976) and Master's (1979) degrees at Colorado State University. Upon completion of his Master's - his specialty was in physical anthropology - he went to work for Western Wyoming College in Rock Springs as a field archaeologist.
It was in the winter of 1978 that he wrote his first novel. Irritated by historical inaccuracies in Western fiction, he swore he could do better. He was "taking retirement in installments," archaeology being a seasonal career, in the cabin his great uncle Aubrey had built. One cold January night he read a Western novel about a trail drive in which steers (castrated males) had calves. The historical inaccuracies of the story bothered him all night. The next morning, still incensed, he chunked wood into the stove and hunkered over the typewriter. There, on the mining claim, at nine thousand feet outside of Empire, Colorado he hammered out his first five hundred and fifty page novel. Yes, that first manuscript still exists, but if there is justice in the universe, no one will ever see it. It reads wretchedly - but the historical facts are correct!
Beginning in 1981, Michael, along with two partners, put together his own archaeological consulting company. Pronghorn Anthropological Associates began doing cultural resource management studies in 1982, and, although Michael sold his interest in 1984, to this day the company remains in business in Casper, Wyoming. During the years, Michael has worked throughout the western United States doing archaeological surveys, testing, and mitigation for pipelines, oil wells, power lines, timber sales, and highway construction. He learned the value of strong black coffee, developed a palate for chocolate donuts, and ferreted out every quality Mexican restaurant in eight states. He spent nine months of the year traveling from project to project with his trowel and dig kit, a clapped-out '72 Wonder Blazer, and his boon companion, Tedi, a noble tri-color Sheltie.
That fateful day in November, 1981, was delightfully clear, cold, and still in Laramie, Wyoming. Archaeologists from all over the state had arrived at the University of Wyoming for the annual meetings of the Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists. It was there, in the meeting room, way too early after a much too long night, that Mike first laid eyes on the most beautiful woman in the world: Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The BLM State Archaeologist, Ray Leicht, introduced him to the pretty anthropologist and historian, and best of all, Ray invited Mike to lunch with Kathleen. It was the perfect beginning for a long and wondrous relationship.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/wmicha...
It was there that Mike developed a love of history, anthropology, and motorcycles. They would color his future and fill his imagination for the rest of his life. During summers he volunteered labor on local ranches or at the farm east of Greeley and landed his first real job: picking up trash at the lake and cleaning outhouses. It has been said that his exposure to trash led him into archaeology. We will not speculate about what cleaning the outhouses might have led him to. On his first dig as a professional archaeologist in 1976 he discovered that two thousand year old human trash isn't nearly as obnoxious as the new stuff.
Michael graduated from Fort Collins High School in 1972 and pursued both his Bachelor's (1976) and Master's (1979) degrees at Colorado State University. Upon completion of his Master's - his specialty was in physical anthropology - he went to work for Western Wyoming College in Rock Springs as a field archaeologist.
It was in the winter of 1978 that he wrote his first novel. Irritated by historical inaccuracies in Western fiction, he swore he could do better. He was "taking retirement in installments," archaeology being a seasonal career, in the cabin his great uncle Aubrey had built. One cold January night he read a Western novel about a trail drive in which steers (castrated males) had calves. The historical inaccuracies of the story bothered him all night. The next morning, still incensed, he chunked wood into the stove and hunkered over the typewriter. There, on the mining claim, at nine thousand feet outside of Empire, Colorado he hammered out his first five hundred and fifty page novel. Yes, that first manuscript still exists, but if there is justice in the universe, no one will ever see it. It reads wretchedly - but the historical facts are correct!
Beginning in 1981, Michael, along with two partners, put together his own archaeological consulting company. Pronghorn Anthropological Associates began doing cultural resource management studies in 1982, and, although Michael sold his interest in 1984, to this day the company remains in business in Casper, Wyoming. During the years, Michael has worked throughout the western United States doing archaeological surveys, testing, and mitigation for pipelines, oil wells, power lines, timber sales, and highway construction. He learned the value of strong black coffee, developed a palate for chocolate donuts, and ferreted out every quality Mexican restaurant in eight states. He spent nine months of the year traveling from project to project with his trowel and dig kit, a clapped-out '72 Wonder Blazer, and his boon companion, Tedi, a noble tri-color Sheltie.
That fateful day in November, 1981, was delightfully clear, cold, and still in Laramie, Wyoming. Archaeologists from all over the state had arrived at the University of Wyoming for the annual meetings of the Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists. It was there, in the meeting room, way too early after a much too long night, that Mike first laid eyes on the most beautiful woman in the world: Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The BLM State Archaeologist, Ray Leicht, introduced him to the pretty anthropologist and historian, and best of all, Ray invited Mike to lunch with Kathleen. It was the perfect beginning for a long and wondrous relationship.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/wmicha...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
December 30, 2023
Another excellent book by the Gears. This is the third book in a series of four on the founding of the Iriquois nation. It's a fantastic continuation of the first two. The five young children of the first two books have now grown up. They are still all close friends even though their villages are enemies and are continually fighting one another. One of the friends, Sky Messenger, has a vision for the villages to band together to help one another rather than destroying themselves. At first only his friends and his mother, the former war chief, Koracoo, believe in his vision. The resulting battle is a well-written nail-biter. I'm really looking forward to the fourth and final book though I'm sure I'll miss the characters, as I always do when I finish a Gear book.
October 19, 2022
I love these books so much! Such great detail and imaginings of how it might have been. Almost sad to only have one left
August 24, 2018
Set twelve years after the previous book in the series, the children of The Dawn Country have grown into adults with responsibilities and burdens of their own. Warfare between the Iroquois nations puts friends on opposite sides of the battle. As the death toll rises, a boy's dream may signal either the end or the salvation of the Iroquois.
This being book #3 of 4 in the series, favorite characters have aged into new roles while hated villains lurk in the shadows. In this retelling of The Great Peacemaker and the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Gears once again showcase their remarkable talents as writers, historians, and archaeologists. A highly recommended series, especially for those curious about America's history before the Europeans.
This being book #3 of 4 in the series, favorite characters have aged into new roles while hated villains lurk in the shadows. In this retelling of The Great Peacemaker and the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Gears once again showcase their remarkable talents as writers, historians, and archaeologists. A highly recommended series, especially for those curious about America's history before the Europeans.
November 24, 2012
The Gears are the best at what they do, which is writing about pre-history based on archeology, creating a plausible fictional story to help us to understand the facts and thus preserve our own Native American history. Kathleen and Michael have been my lamplight in becoming a Native American historical fiction writer. They alone are responsible for peeking my interest in our dim past and have provided a window to that time and place of which they write. If you desire to see the past of our unknown history of the Native tribes of North America, I advise you to make all of the Gear's books your first choice. You can do no better. Kitty Sutton
July 28, 2024
The Broken land
W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear
The 5th book in the Peacemaker Series. The children have grown up in the last twelve years. They have made choices and connections that will influence the future. Its their connection through surviving trauma that will always bring them together. Odion has to face the choices he has made. He is haunted by Dreams and memories. To find the solution he will have to face and understand his past. Finally he has to accept his responsibility to his clan and marry.
The book shows the depth of the Gears writing and research. The characters are flawed and human. This situation explains many of the stories Legends and variations in those stories as each group adapts the story to their concepts. A new great bad is coming out.
W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear
The 5th book in the Peacemaker Series. The children have grown up in the last twelve years. They have made choices and connections that will influence the future. Its their connection through surviving trauma that will always bring them together. Odion has to face the choices he has made. He is haunted by Dreams and memories. To find the solution he will have to face and understand his past. Finally he has to accept his responsibility to his clan and marry.
The book shows the depth of the Gears writing and research. The characters are flawed and human. This situation explains many of the stories Legends and variations in those stories as each group adapts the story to their concepts. A new great bad is coming out.
December 3, 2017
This was the third book in a four book series. It is sad to finish a good book. But, it is nice to know there is more to the story. This one was exciting and spiritual, as are all the books by these authors. We have now seen our heroes grow to man and woman-hood and become strong leaders for their people. But, though the beginning of bringing the peoples to peace has been accomplished, there is still a very long way to go.
July 30, 2024
Fellow Gear followers, we have a new book in the Pacemaker series, which is totally awesome!
"The Broken Land," the latest installment in the Pacemaker's series by W. Michael Gear, is a gripping continuation of the saga set in the tumultuous world of the Iroquois nations. This book delves into the complex dynamics of a society on the brink of collapse, torn apart by famine, war, and witchcraft. Gear's meticulous attention to historical detail and his ability to weave a compelling narrative make this book a standout in the series. The story follows Sky Messenger, a character haunted by visions of an impending apocalypse. As he navigates the treacherous political landscape, he must confront the malevolent forces threatening his people. The antagonist, a sinister sorcerer named Atotarho, adds a layer of dark intrigue to the plot. His schemes to incite a catastrophic battle create a sense of urgency and tension that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.
One of the strengths of "The Broken Land" is its rich character development. Sky Messenger's internal struggles and growth are portrayed with depth and nuance, making him a relatable and compelling protagonist. The supporting characters, including a band of loyal companions, are equally well-developed, each contributing to the story's emotional and thematic richness. The relationships and interactions among the characters are realistic and engaging, adding layers of complexity to the narrative. Overall, "The Broken Land" is a masterful blend of historical fiction and fantasy. Gear's vivid descriptions of the Iroquoian world, combined with a fast-paced and suspenseful plot, make this book a must-read for fans of the series and newcomers alike. The themes of identity, survival, and the struggle between good and evil are explored with depth and sensitivity, leaving readers eagerly anticipating the next installment in the Pacemaker's series.
• ASIN: B0D54D433C
• Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing
• Publication Date: 7/30/2024
• File Size: 5076 KB
• Print Length: 258 pages
• Genre: Historical Fantasy Fiction - Native American History
"The Broken Land," the latest installment in the Pacemaker's series by W. Michael Gear, is a gripping continuation of the saga set in the tumultuous world of the Iroquois nations. This book delves into the complex dynamics of a society on the brink of collapse, torn apart by famine, war, and witchcraft. Gear's meticulous attention to historical detail and his ability to weave a compelling narrative make this book a standout in the series. The story follows Sky Messenger, a character haunted by visions of an impending apocalypse. As he navigates the treacherous political landscape, he must confront the malevolent forces threatening his people. The antagonist, a sinister sorcerer named Atotarho, adds a layer of dark intrigue to the plot. His schemes to incite a catastrophic battle create a sense of urgency and tension that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.
One of the strengths of "The Broken Land" is its rich character development. Sky Messenger's internal struggles and growth are portrayed with depth and nuance, making him a relatable and compelling protagonist. The supporting characters, including a band of loyal companions, are equally well-developed, each contributing to the story's emotional and thematic richness. The relationships and interactions among the characters are realistic and engaging, adding layers of complexity to the narrative. Overall, "The Broken Land" is a masterful blend of historical fiction and fantasy. Gear's vivid descriptions of the Iroquoian world, combined with a fast-paced and suspenseful plot, make this book a must-read for fans of the series and newcomers alike. The themes of identity, survival, and the struggle between good and evil are explored with depth and sensitivity, leaving readers eagerly anticipating the next installment in the Pacemaker's series.
• ASIN: B0D54D433C
• Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing
• Publication Date: 7/30/2024
• File Size: 5076 KB
• Print Length: 258 pages
• Genre: Historical Fantasy Fiction - Native American History
February 20, 2019
A great adventure
All of this series of books are enthralling, and this, like the others, was so much so that I could not put it down. Continuing the saga of the same Iroquois nation’s people, this book starts when the children become adults. They shape the future for all the villagers, trying to align the different villages with each other to fight one common enemy. Wonderful book!
All of this series of books are enthralling, and this, like the others, was so much so that I could not put it down. Continuing the saga of the same Iroquois nation’s people, this book starts when the children become adults. They shape the future for all the villagers, trying to align the different villages with each other to fight one common enemy. Wonderful book!
August 24, 2024
Great
This whole series is great, not one disappointment. If you think life is a bunch of tangles be glad you weren't an Indian back then. You never know who is your friend and who is your enemy. This is a must read but start at the beginning because it's always a cliffhanger ending. Great job. Can't wait until August 27th. Thank you.
This whole series is great, not one disappointment. If you think life is a bunch of tangles be glad you weren't an Indian back then. You never know who is your friend and who is your enemy. This is a must read but start at the beginning because it's always a cliffhanger ending. Great job. Can't wait until August 27th. Thank you.
April 26, 2021
This is the best book that I have read this year. It moves the story lines along quickly and I did not want to put it down.
June 14, 2021
Another fantastic read!
I've read all the books in this series and rate this one 5 stars as I've rated each book. The Gears are fantastic authors.
I've read all the books in this series and rate this one 5 stars as I've rated each book. The Gears are fantastic authors.
May 25, 2015
Starts ten years after ‘The Dawn Country’ in the land of the Standing Stone and Flint peoples. This isn’t as bad as the previous book. There’s not as much torture, etc. and what there is and more a talked about memory. Actually it turns out to be one of my favorites so far.
Korakoo is now Speaker for the Women of Yellowtail village, Standing Stone people. Her son Odion is now Sky Messenger. After he’s ordered to join in an attack on their allies the Flint people, he abandons his warriors to help the imprisoned children escape. The voice of Shago-niyoh tells him he is no longer a warrior but a holy man. After he has a prophetic dream, he has to risk returning to his mother’s clan to warn them of the coming dangers.
Meanwhile his best friend Hiyawento, aka Wrass, formerly of the Standing Stone people, has married Zateri of the Wolf clan, Flint people. He is ordered to take an ultimatum to the Standing Stone people to warn them against further attacks. Not only war, but a deadly disease is threatening the land and both friends must find a way to save their people.
This was exciting up to the very end. Atotarho is a piece of work, isn’t he? I love how Taya matures and grows into the woman she’s meant to be. The scenes with her and Gitchi are cute. Looking forward to seeing her in next book.
Quick Thoughts: 1)The dimensions given for the longhouses must be off. One is 400 hands/feet long and 40 hands/feet wide with space for 10 families along each side. If you do the math leaving out 4-5 feet along the middle for the fires and walkway and no extra space on each end, that gives a space 400 ÷10= 40 feet wide by about 40÷10 -5=15 feet deep. That feels too wide for one family. You could fit more if they were 20 feet wide and still have plenty of room. Especially if there’s supposed to be a curtain across the front. A 40-foot wide curtain?
2)The black wall. Volcano eruption?
Fave Quote: ‘Kindness does not dwell in souls that are whole’.
Fave Scenes: the moon-lit clearing, the empty village, Taya’s eavesdropping, Taya and the blankets and a knife: tool or weapon?
Korakoo is now Speaker for the Women of Yellowtail village, Standing Stone people. Her son Odion is now Sky Messenger. After he’s ordered to join in an attack on their allies the Flint people, he abandons his warriors to help the imprisoned children escape. The voice of Shago-niyoh tells him he is no longer a warrior but a holy man. After he has a prophetic dream, he has to risk returning to his mother’s clan to warn them of the coming dangers.
Meanwhile his best friend Hiyawento, aka Wrass, formerly of the Standing Stone people, has married Zateri of the Wolf clan, Flint people. He is ordered to take an ultimatum to the Standing Stone people to warn them against further attacks. Not only war, but a deadly disease is threatening the land and both friends must find a way to save their people.
This was exciting up to the very end. Atotarho is a piece of work, isn’t he? I love how Taya matures and grows into the woman she’s meant to be. The scenes with her and Gitchi are cute. Looking forward to seeing her in next book.
Quick Thoughts: 1)The dimensions given for the longhouses must be off. One is 400 hands/feet long and 40 hands/feet wide with space for 10 families along each side. If you do the math leaving out 4-5 feet along the middle for the fires and walkway and no extra space on each end, that gives a space 400 ÷10= 40 feet wide by about 40÷10 -5=15 feet deep. That feels too wide for one family. You could fit more if they were 20 feet wide and still have plenty of room. Especially if there’s supposed to be a curtain across the front. A 40-foot wide curtain?
2)The black wall. Volcano eruption?
Fave Quote: ‘Kindness does not dwell in souls that are whole’.
Fave Scenes: the moon-lit clearing, the empty village, Taya’s eavesdropping, Taya and the blankets and a knife: tool or weapon?
January 18, 2012
This is the third of four books in the People of the Longhouse series - the fourth one is scheduled to come out in October 2012.
I have read the People books since I was 12(they are not YA, but my Dad let me read anything that interested me) so the writing style of Kathleen and Michael Gear is almost a part of me. Reading one of their books is like putting on an old warm sweater for me. I'm grateful they are such prolific writers!
This book is a fictional story that incorporates the Iroquois nations and the situations that are believed to have been taking place prior to the development of the league of nations. It is quite relevant to our current time and place both ecologically, and politically. These Peoples were facing economic hardships, climate related issues, and basically stealing from each other to try to survive.
Through the eyes of (now adult) Odion, Wrass, Tutelo, Baji, and Zateri, we see the impact of these issues from the perspectives of the different villages. We see the political wranglings, the impacts of poor harvests, warfare, disease, and politics, while simultaneously learning about the cultures and the peoples themselves.
As always, I found myself wrapped up in the story, and wound up finishing the last 150 pages in one sitting - staying up past midnight when I had an early meeting the next day, but I could. not. put. it. down.
Oviously there is still one more novel to go, so the story was not complete, but I did not feel like this one was a cliffhanger - you knew there was more coming, but it didn't leave you on complete tetherhooks, so it didn't lose a star for that.
I'm looking forward to reading the last book and finishing the series.
I have read the People books since I was 12(they are not YA, but my Dad let me read anything that interested me) so the writing style of Kathleen and Michael Gear is almost a part of me. Reading one of their books is like putting on an old warm sweater for me. I'm grateful they are such prolific writers!
This book is a fictional story that incorporates the Iroquois nations and the situations that are believed to have been taking place prior to the development of the league of nations. It is quite relevant to our current time and place both ecologically, and politically. These Peoples were facing economic hardships, climate related issues, and basically stealing from each other to try to survive.
Through the eyes of (now adult) Odion, Wrass, Tutelo, Baji, and Zateri, we see the impact of these issues from the perspectives of the different villages. We see the political wranglings, the impacts of poor harvests, warfare, disease, and politics, while simultaneously learning about the cultures and the peoples themselves.
As always, I found myself wrapped up in the story, and wound up finishing the last 150 pages in one sitting - staying up past midnight when I had an early meeting the next day, but I could. not. put. it. down.
Oviously there is still one more novel to go, so the story was not complete, but I did not feel like this one was a cliffhanger - you knew there was more coming, but it didn't leave you on complete tetherhooks, so it didn't lose a star for that.
I'm looking forward to reading the last book and finishing the series.
July 9, 2012
It's tough to try to be the person who challenges those who are fighting each other into worrying about a larger cause. In this case, the world as the characters know it will change. We have this same problem in the United States. We're off busy fighting wars and worrying about how to beef up the economy, while warming of the world presents bigger dangers. In the novel, it is the Iroquois nation infighting with its various villages. Their habit is to take and adopt the best specimens from the losers to replace those who died in battle. This often gives the young adoptees a new and loving family but does not erase the specter of watching their own parents killed and village burn ed. The hero, Sky Messenger, talks others who were adopted while children into banding together to end such fighting and embark on being examples of living in peace and with nature so that his vision of a great darkness will not overtake the earth.
People and villages tend to be confusing so sometimes it is difficult to tell who is from where fighting for what.
People and villages tend to be confusing so sometimes it is difficult to tell who is from where fighting for what.
June 29, 2020
Typical great story by the Gears, but this one was a challenge to get started on. The names of the previous characters have changed, and there was no recap of the previous storyline in the first few chapters. Typically, authors of serial books tend to insert a paragraph here and there (usually as they introduce the characters or situations) that recaps who the character is, what they've been through, etc., but none of that here. Thus, having read the previous Longhouse novels months or years ago, it was a little tough to remember a) which series this belonged to (in terms of characters, tribes, etc.), b) who the characters were in their previous incarnations, and c) the events that shaped them and brought them to where they are in this book. The story itself is amazing, but be sure you have a copy of the previous Longhouse novel on hand for reference (or read it again before you read this one, to refresh your memory). :)
March 26, 2024
Book #19 in the series: North America's Forgotten Past; and book #3 in the sub-series: People of the Longhouse.
This book wasn't nearly as dark as the previous two in the sub-series. The story takes up 12 years after the previous, when the stolen children are now adults and most in prominent positions in their clans. Despite being in different villages, even in enemy clans, they all are bound to each other. They will always be friends after what they went through.
War is taking over, due to illness sweeping through the land, and cold weather that provided a poor harvest. A huge war seems to be coming, can peace prevail? We don't know that really as there is another book in this series.
I enjoyed this book much more than the previous two in the sub-series. There is enough filling in of the past that one doesn't necessarily have to read the previous books. But where this one ends, you definitely want to read the next one. Hopefully I won't wait to long to get to it.
This book wasn't nearly as dark as the previous two in the sub-series. The story takes up 12 years after the previous, when the stolen children are now adults and most in prominent positions in their clans. Despite being in different villages, even in enemy clans, they all are bound to each other. They will always be friends after what they went through.
War is taking over, due to illness sweeping through the land, and cold weather that provided a poor harvest. A huge war seems to be coming, can peace prevail? We don't know that really as there is another book in this series.
I enjoyed this book much more than the previous two in the sub-series. There is enough filling in of the past that one doesn't necessarily have to read the previous books. But where this one ends, you definitely want to read the next one. Hopefully I won't wait to long to get to it.
December 5, 2016
This continues the series of the Iroquois. I know a volcano exploded around the 4th century AD with the force of several nuclear bombs bring on a nuclear winter. As the growing season shortened, Man was devasted. Europe was nearly swept clean of people as crops failed and the climate turned cold. In the American lands, tribes turned on each other, attacking other tribes in order to get food. Crops filed and animals began to be hunted out.
A new leader arises calling for a peace alliance, insisting they would all have a better chance of surviving if they all banded together to help each other.
A new leader arises calling for a peace alliance, insisting they would all have a better chance of surviving if they all banded together to help each other.
January 19, 2012
The Gear's have done it again. This book is full of exciting events. If you like any of their books this will be another that you can't miss. It is a love story, a story about wars ands a story about peace. It will catch you and take you through it. This is the third book in a four book series. Can't want until the next one is here.
J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"
J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"
August 15, 2012
Sky Messenger has a dream, foretelling of dire events if the People do not stop warring and killing each other off. His bride to be thinks him crazy and his soul lost to him , until she learns of the age of this dream and then she becomes a believer as they rush to save their People, Nation and the World.
This was a great story that has yet to see it's ending and I look forward tot he next installment of the Longhouse series.
This was a great story that has yet to see it's ending and I look forward tot he next installment of the Longhouse series.
December 13, 2012
This was the third book in the series and I have to say I liked this one the least of the three. I found it very confusing and had a lot of trouble keeping the different characters (who have different names from different tribes) straight. All of the tribes just kept getting all intertwined in my mind. Still like these authors - have been reading their stuff for years and years, but I don't think this series stands up to the quality of previous books.
June 14, 2012
I was especially interested because I do have a small tie to the Iraquois confederacy. Although I wished I had read the 2nd book before the 3rd, that didn't make the book any less enjoyable. I love the Gear books since I am fascinated by the development of the Native American population from the Paleo period onward. There is so much here about the evolution of a civilization.
January 10, 2013
Love the Gears. Love this series. I did, however, have a little difficulty keeping up with all of the names, change of names, and villages in this volume. Part of the problem, I'm sure, is that there was quite a space of time between reading this book and the previous one in the series. This series is excellent though. The usual espionage and realism!
March 6, 2013
I've been a fan of the Gear books, not for their lack of nuanced characters or plot surprises. However in the short term I can put that aside for their fascinating rich historical detail but in this latest group of stories the politics have over run the plot and as an observer I blunder about confused and missing the thread.
August 16, 2013
Fascinated as I am by both historical fiction and Native Americans., and living in the Northeast, I love this series concerning the founding of the Iroquois Federation among the most interesting of the many books by the Gears I have read, and I've read most of them. Not for everyone , but I enjoy them.
August 5, 2012
I enjoy these books by the gear's, they give you an idea how it may really have been to be a native american vs. many of the wrong ideas we have been taught about native americans and how they lived. Read 1491 for much more information on the mis perceptions most of us have been taught.
August 16, 2012
After finishing the novel I realized I had jumped into book 3 of 4, but didn't feel lost for not having read the previous books. Enjoyed the culture of Naive Americana, I'm planning on reading the rest of the series.
February 28, 2013
Well thought out story that deals with the political aspects of the Indian culture. Everything that happens to the children impacts on their lives as adults. I can't wait until the fourth book to see how everyone fairs as Sky Messanger's dream comes to light.
February 1, 2015
I always enjoy reading historical fiction and I always enjoy books written by the Gear's. I highly recommend to anyone interested in the Iroquois nation and speculation on how it was formed. Thank goodness our democracy was mirrored in similar ways to theirs.
July 7, 2015
Great stories
As always, the characters of the Gear/O'Neill stories sing the story.
It is a very significant manner in which to bring scientific work to the
general public. Yes, it is fiction, but thoughtful fiction.
As always, the characters of the Gear/O'Neill stories sing the story.
It is a very significant manner in which to bring scientific work to the
general public. Yes, it is fiction, but thoughtful fiction.
June 6, 2012
I still get alittle confused with the charcters , but storie is good as it contiues
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