People of the Morning Star (75 page)

A professional archaeologist for more than thirty years, W. MICHAEL GEAR is the
New York Times
bestselling author or coauthor of forty-six novels. He holds a master’s degree in anthropology.

Kathleen O’Neal Gear is currently principal investigator for Wind River Archaeological Consultants. She is the former state historian for Wyoming and worked as an archaeologist for the U.S. Department of the Interior. Kathleen O’Neal Gear twice received the federal government’s Special Achievement Award for “outstanding management” of our nation’s cultural heritage. She was inducted into the Women Who Write the West Hall of Fame in 2005.

With close to seventeen million copies in print worldwide, the Gears’ books have been translated into twenty-seven languages. In 2008 the Mountain Plains Library Association honored Michael and Kathleen with the MPLA Literary Contribution Award.

The Gears live in Thermopolis, Wyoming, where they raise champion bison.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

PEOPLE OF THE MORNING STAR

Copyright © 2014 by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear

All rights reserved.

Cover art by Cliff Nielsen

Maps and illustrations by Ellisa Mitchell

A Tor Book

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Gear, W. Michael.

      People of the Morning Star / W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear. — First edition.

            p. cm.

      ISBN 978-0-7653-3724-5 (hardcover)

      ISBN 978-1-4668-3229-9 (e-book)

    1.  Indians of North America—Fiction.   2.  Mississippian culture—Fiction.   I.  Gear, Kathleen O’Neal.   II.  Title.

      PS3557.E19P1936 2014

      813'.54—dc23

2013029675

e-ISBN 9781466832299

First Edition: May 2014

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