W. Michael Gear

1955

W. Michael Gear is an American archaeologist and bestselling author whose fiction spans prehistory, the American West, science fiction and historical adventure. Trained in physical anthropology, he worked as a field archaeologist before becoming a full-time novelist. His professional knowledge of archaeology and Indigenous cultures informs much of his writing, particularly its detailed treatment of ancient societies, survival and the relationship between people and their environment.

He is best known for the North America’s Forgotten Past series, written with his wife, archaeologist and author Kathleen O’Neal Gear. Beginning with People of the Wolf, the series reconstructs the lives of prehistoric North American communities through stories of migration, warfare, belief and political change. Gear has also written the Forbidden Borders science-fiction trilogy, Western novels and numerous standalone works, and has received major recognition for his contribution to Western literature.

Periods and events

American History Native American History Prehistory War of 1812 Old West and Frontier America Viking Age Viking Age Scandinavia Norse Exploration of the North Atlantic

Series

Series by W. Michael Gear (5 series)

The Peacemaker’s Tale in Order

by W. Michael Gear 8 books 4.5

The Peacemaker’s Tale follows families and captives living through prolonged warfare among the Iroquoian nations before the formation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The first four volumes centre on Koracoo and Gonda’s pursuit of the child trader Gannajero, while the later books return to the surviving children as adults…

Lightning Shell

4.7

The Earliest Americans in Order

by W. Michael Gear 7 books 4.6

The Earliest Americans presents newly divided and revised editions of several major stories from North America’s Forgotten Past. Its linked arcs move from the political struggle surrounding Salamander in an early Mississippi Valley town, through conflict among Ice Age peoples of the Pacific Northwest and upper Midwest, to…

People of the Owl

4.5

The Masked Owl

4.6

The Poison Bride

4.6

Raven Storm

4.7

People of the Moon

4.7

Dying Moon

4.5

Nightland

4.6

The Moundville Duology in Order

by W. Michael Gear 2 books 4.4

The Moundville Duology is set around Split Sky City on the Black Warrior River during the height of the Mississippian chiefdoms. Old White, Trader and the Contrary Two Petals travel into a political world shaped by conquest, slavery, tribute and rivalry between the dominant Sky Hand people and…

People of the Weeping Eye

4.4

People of the Thunder

4.5

Flight of the Hawk in Order

by W. Michael Gear 2 books 4.4

Flight of the Hawk follows John Tylor, a fugitive burdened by his association with the Burr conspiracy, as he enters the Missouri fur trade during the War of 1812. Travelling first with Manuel Lisa’s river expedition and then into the northern Plains, Tylor encounters rival traders, hired killers…