Customer Reviews

People of the Mesa

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This is the author's reconstruction of the life of the Anasazi cliff dwellers of the Southwestern United States, based on clues and artifacts discovered by archaeologists about this mysterious culture that thrived before the Pueblo Indians and before the arrival of the Europeans. Little factual detail is known about the Anasazi.

This historical fiction attempts to bring to life the character and culture of the Anasazi. The author portrays the mystical life of these people, connected spiritually to their environment, under pressure from invaders from the north and the south. The story deals with the development of the cliff dwellings as a defence against these periodic waves of attack from other native American populations in the prehistory of the North American continent.

The story is told through the eyes and thoughts of a seer of the tribe, called He Who Dreams the Past. A person of this name in each generation is responsible for mystically and factually knowing their history and projecting where the future will take them. He can also see current events through mystical out-of-body views of the surrounding countryside.

His skills are complemented by a woman with a similar role, named She Who Sees the Future. Together with others of the clan who have special gifts, the Anasazi people are guided and protected. But they still have to have warrior skills and defensive cunning to take advantage of their seers' knowledge of the enemy and their movements.

One of the goals of He Who Dreams the Past is to convince the various families of their people of the need to move into the hill caves that have been previously prepared and which are now being extended and new living areas prepared.

The plains people are more vulnerable, but some believe the attacks their people knew in previous generations will not occur again. But attacks do come, and the story portrays the changes that are coming about in the Anasazi culture due to the new challenges and opportunities.

Even though this story dosen't stack up to "Voice of the Eagle", it still is a good light read. The creation of the cliff houses is really kinda skipped over, and about 10 years pass by in less than half a page and I am still trying to figure out the "gift" that Uhtatse has, I think it my be that he is an empath or something.
A nice light read.