People of the Morning Star by W. Michael and Kathleen O’Neal Gear is a sort of historical fiction, rooted in real legends and peoples of the Mississippi Valley around what is now St. Louis, Missouri. But make no mistake, this is a mystery thriller with a plot to bring down a living god.
There are many narrative threads to follow with several perspectives, from a lowly thief to a conquered chief, from the head of household of Morning Star to the sister of the living god, all trying to stay ahead of the murderer.
Morning Star is the reincarnated god of the people of Cahokia, but that doesn’t mean his body is immortal. While he lives on Earth, he inhabits the body of a normal human being. In this case, he’s in Chunkey Boy, the son of the previous leader of the city and a former celebrated athlete. His family is the ruling clan of the city of Cahokia, with all the riches and privileges that entails.
But an assassination attempt, a series of murders, and the possession of his sister Night Shadow Star by the malevolent spirit Piasa complicates the political and social situation in the city on the Mississippi.
Until recently many popular works by non-Indigenous authors have often been insensitive in their treatment of Indigenous peoples, often resorting to caricatures and stereotypes. As former archaeologists and historians, the authors thoroughly research their novels attempting as best they can to keep the books as historically accurate as possibly within the bounds of fiction. They even change aspects of the ongoing stories as new discoveries are made even if those discoveries don’t match up with previous volumes in the series.
People of the Morning Star has two direct sequels, Sun Born and Moon Hunt, and is part of the larger (but mostly unconnected) ”North America's Forgotten Past” series, each of which is based on various different eras and cultures of North America Indigenous peoples.
I picked it up as part of my recent foray into reading Westerns and even though this is nothing like a Wester I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn’t sure what to expect and found this a fun and fascinating story in an environment I have rarely read about in fiction before.
Steven McCreedy is a library technician at the Cambie Branch of the Richmond Public Library
