Customer Reviews

People of the Silence (The First North Americans Series, Book 8)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

_____________________________________________

This is a fine, thick speculative historical-political novel about the prehistoric American Southwest, specifically the enigmatic Chaco culture and its neighbors during the early 12th century. This is an impressive book. It's well-researched, and features complex people, muddling through life, in cultures much different than our own. The Gears' characters are exceptionally well-drawn. They're presented sympathetically, but with warts and all. Besides history, there's romance, treachery, greed, slavery, rape, murder, humor, exotic religion, mystery.... and fine masonry. A great deal of fine masonry. Did I mention the murals? The masks? The macaws?

The Chaco phenomenon has been puzzling and fascinating people since the rediscovery of the Chaco Canyon ruins in the 19th century. I've followed the debate with interest [note 1], and the Gears' story is as likely to be tru(ish) as any. Although I'm kinda partial to the more recent "Mexican cannibal terrorist warlords" hypothesis [2] for Chaco's Secret Masters -- which isn't incompatible with (but is darker than) the Gears' interpretation. Both Gears are (IB) working archaeologists, and they've clearly spent some time around the campfire with the Chaco guys, listening to stories too outrageous to be published...

And if you've never visited Chaco, well, you should. Fall is the primo time. Bring a sturdy vehicle, and plan to camp out for a night or two. And don't miss Earl Morris's stunning recreation of the Great Kiva at Aztec Ruins -- which you'll recognize from the novel. There are no finer Precolumbian buildings in this country. And no finer masonry anywhere.

SILENCE is a gripping and successful long novel, which held my attention throughout. This is the best novel of the prehistoric Southwest I've read (this is an uncrowded niche). An impressive achievement, and a definite keeper. Highly recommended for historical-fiction and Southwestern US fans.

__________________
Note 1) Fellow Chaco fans will enjoy catching up by reading "In Search of Chaco: New Approaches to an Archaeological Enigma" (2004), edited by David Grant Noble -- though he unaccountably left out the "Mexican cannibal terrorist warlords" theory.

2) MCTW is largely the work of Prof. Christy Turner, as documented in his book "Man Corn" (1998). The cannibal part is well-supported -- Turner even found a fossil human turd in a burnt-out pueblo, above a mass-grave, in southern Colorado. On analysis, the coprolite had relict proteins found only in human muscle tissue. Yup, burn out your enemies, eat them, sh*t on their graves. Yuck.

So much for the "peaceful Anasazi" wishful-thinking, which still hangs on in a few romantic holdouts.... Turner's work has not been greeted with cries of joy from the archaeological or Pueblo Indian communities.


Review copyright © 2005 by Peter D. Tillman
Consulting Geologist, Tucson & Santa Fe (USA)

I really enjoy this series in my oppion it is best to read the series starting with Book 1 so that you know what is being talked about. If you are a Indian or love to read about Indians and their history then this is a Great Series of Books to read. It gives great in sight to the beliefs of the Indian Nations and their ways of life.

I absolutely love this series! The stories are compiled with archaeological data and Native American creation stories. Each story is carefully woven with details of the villages and lifestyles, their spirtuality, and with the authors imagination, a powerful saga of what could have brought the destruction to the Anazasi. The story of Poor Singer, learning to be a spiritual singer, and Cornsilk, searching for the indentity of her real parents after her village is destroy, and their joining up on a quest to a village that may destroy one or both of them is just too fascinating to put down.

The first book I bought from this series was People of the Mist.I really enjoyed it so I bought People of the Wolf.After reading the second book I realized the story followes through from one book to the next.I went out and got the entire series.I am now on my third time reading these books.I never get tired of them.There is history,romance,action,adventure and mystery all wrapped up in every book.Well worth the investment.Not for young readers,adult content.

The Anasazi empire flourished in the southwest, and was at its height in 1150 A.D. They lived in great cities surrounded by walls. In this story, a clan leaders wife is accused of adultery. It is a crime punishable by death, and her own son, who's mind has been twisted, becomes the judge of her behavior. It is suggested that the union produced a child. But where is this child today? Dead? Living in another village? And who has been killing people and sprinkling corpse powder over the bodies? Is there a witch in the village? When the dust settles, who will be left to lead the Anasazi people?

I have read all of the current books in this series and by far this ranks as my all time favorite. There are also follow-ups that accompany this book, the Anasazi Mystery Series that greater explains in detail about events that actually led up to this book. If I could go back, I would have read those in succession first and then this book. All in all, this book has all of the great elements that I love to read about in a book. It has romance, betrayal, mystery, and complexities that are much like the human experience that occur sometimes in life. It is about the intense love shared by two people and what they sacrificed to finally be together. The consequences for their actions greatly influenced their entire community.

I will read anything about the American Southwest. I love it out there, and this book took me back there to Big Sky Country. This book gets back to the old style, The One, Power, Spiral, Singers, Wolfdreamer...and a very, very, clever way to tie this story to some events in "River".
Oh yeah, along the way there is a twisting plot about a killer, a madman ruler and a mystery about who's child is that of a ruler.
Great read!

This is a grand tale of the pueblo people of the Four Corners (my own country) a millenium ago, propelled by passion, lust for power, rivalry between peoples, and closely held secrets. It bristles with surprising and delightful historical detail, and gives us a meticulous picture of how these people lived. What made it most powerful for me, and unusual, is its portrait of the spirituality of the Anasazi, which defines their relationships to each other and to the universe. I was entranced to discover what it means to have the heart of a cloud.

I have read all of the "The People" series and just started "The People of the Mist". I anxiously await each new book. They are entertaining and informative at the same time. When a book can make me feel like I'm there, the author has hit his mark. Keep them coming

I agree that this is an amazing book. It is the best of the series, I think. I've read them all except the last two, so we'll see what those are like. Anyway, it's a lot like the other first people books - competition for power and competition to maintain survival of a certain kind of people and their way of life. But this is more poignant because we know that this Pueblo civilization vanished with hardly a trace. They were a great and sophisticated nation but that didn't slow down their extinction. The book is a page-turner and I highly recommend it.