Cahokia faces a new challenge when emissaries arrive from a powerful rival civilisation and an old enemy returns with vengeance in mind. Lady Night Shadow Star recognises that the visitors possess knowledge and resources capable of overturning Cahokia’s dominance, but Morning Star appears unwilling or unable to defend the city.
Murder, diplomacy and spiritual possession converge as the ruling families debate whether submission, alliance or war offers the best chance of survival. The novel tests the authority of a living god by asking what happens when a society built around his power must act without clear divine leadership.
Cahokia’s power depends on more than military force. Religious authority, tribute, marriage and the prestige of Morning Star allow distant communities to be drawn into its orbit without direct occupation. The visitors from the east threaten that system by demonstrating that alternative centres of wealth and sacred legitimacy exist, making the crisis a challenge to Cahokia’s idea of itself as much as to its borders.
Cecelia Holland
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Henry Treece
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Louis L’Amour
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James Fenimore Cooper
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