Fire the Sky
Book Two of Contact: The Battle for America
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
New York Times bestselling novelists W. Michael and Kathleen O’Neal Gear have long been considered the foremost chroniclers of early Native American life. Now, in a critically acclaimed, sweeping new series, they recreate the conflict-filled years following one of the first European invasions. Seen through the eyes of a courageous pair of Native Americans, Fire the Sky follows Hernando de Soto’s brutal expedition north from the Florida peninsula as the explorer plunders the heart of a complex and fragile civilization.
An itinerant trader and outcast from his tribe, Black Shell was swept into the Spirit World and returned a transformed man. Now, carrying his white-feathered trader’s staff, he devotes his life to a sacred mission that only the tall, beautiful Pearl Hand—his lover, confidant and wife—truly understands. Black Shell has seen what the incomprehensibly violent, shining-armored invaders are capable of doing to his world and knows that if his people are to survive, he and his “Orphans,” a small band of fierce warriors, must kill as many Kristianos as they can.
After being fought to a standstill by the courageous Apalachee Nation, de Soto has changed his tactics. He will employ promises of peace to accomplish what cannot be achieved by violence alone. Lured by a young man’s tale of gold and aided by an arrogant princess’s treachery, he makes his way through the beautiful southeastern landscape. One by one, the ancient Nations fall victim to his lies as rulers and commoners alike are tricked into enslavement. In spite of the price de Soto has placed on his head, Black Shell shadows the Kristiano advance and finds that his own legend precedes him. Some will heed Black Shell’s strategies of sacrifice and deception. Others will ignore him—and suffer unspeakable horrors as a result.
In this moving, vivid portrait of a lost American civilization and a powerful love between a man and a woman, the Gears illuminate a little-understood time in our history, as this bloody conflict between two peoples hurtles toward an apocalyptic battle that may change the course of the war forever. . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this powerful historical tale with only the slightest gloss of the supernatural, the great Native American civilization introduced in 2010's Coming of the Storm is collapsing, beset by outside danger and riven by internal dissent, jealousy, and shortsightedness. In 1539, in what is now Florida, exiled trader Black Shell is selected by the spirits to fight the invading Kristianos led by Hernando de Soto. He and his wife, Pearl Hand, and a band of fellow exiles harry the invaders as best they can while local rulers downplay the threat or use it to gain an advantage over rivals. Black Hand must watch de Soto advance as his people suffer and die and his world disintegrates. Historical accuracy and deliberate parallels with present-day events lend additional drama to scenes of domesticity, politics, and battle.
