People of the Canyons

People of the Canyons is number twenty-six (!) in the Gears’ sweeping forays into North America’s epic deep past. Canyons visits the American Southwest, whose tribes dwell amidst cave and canyon. As always, the trademark spirituality of the series shines through.

Blessed Sun Leather Hand- a Powerful witch cursed by an even more Powerful shaman- is approaching the end of his long life. If he cannot break the curse, he will not be able to Travel to his Ancestors once he dies. Leather Hand forces and coerces two Powerful people- Tocho and Maicoh- to seek out an artifact charged with the energy of the one who cursed him in order to break it.

I love this series! The Gears’ are both archaeologists, and their love and respect for the cultures they bring to vibrant life show in the attention to detail. The continuity of ancestral memory and the blurred lines between the mundane world and the spiritual world tugs this poet’s heart, this philosopher’s soul.

Highly recommended, especially if you enjoy historical fiction, speculative fiction, or enjoy archaeology, anthropology, or philosophy.