The Summoning God: Book II of the Anasazi Mysteries

New York, New York, U.S.A.: Tor Books, 2001. First printing; full-numberline. Moderate cover, edge wear. Pages very good. Bind good. In the sequel to The Visitant, archaeologist Dusty Stewart calls on his arch nemesis, Dr. Maureen Cole, hoping she can help unravel the mystery of a ceremonial chamber filled with the burned bodies of thirty-three children and two adults. Book two in this Anasazi series, in which archaeologist-authors Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear introduce readers to murder, mayhem, and the myriad details of life in a 13th-century Native American pueblo including Chaco Canyon and many miles around. In both novels, the narrative arcs between the present and the past, drawing aside the seemingly thin veil of time that separates them. As archaeologist characters, Dusty Stewart and Maureen Cole, sift through an ancient Anasazi kiva, attempting to understand the circumstances that could have led to the presence of charred children's bodies in the ceremonial chamber, we also see the members of the pueblo as they move toward the terrible destruction so carefully unearthed by Stewart and Cole. This narrative device isn't revolutionary, but it is clever and fulfils the demands of classic mystery plotting (there is a corpse, but who did it), while the reader lives simultaneously in the worlds of evidence creation and deduction. The Anasazi characters will be familiar to readers of The Visitant: warriors Browser and Catkin, holy men Springbank and Stone Ghost, and the witch Two Hearts continue to move silently through the sand and sagebrush, circling through a world marked by warring religions and vanishing resources. When Browser and Catkin find a mutilated old woman surrounded by the skulls of her clan, they must summon all their courage to combat what surely must be witchcraft--or is it? The characters are vibrantly drawnand renders the lives and habits of the Anasazi in compelling detail: we learn that they used blazing star petals for perfume and that their ceremonial purification rites included cornmeal and ground seashells. A thirst for territory, and a proclivity to holy wars are threads that bind modernity to the Anasazi. 566 pages.. First Edition. Paperback. Good. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.