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First North Americans (W Michael Gear) Books in Order

Part ofW Michael Gear Books in Order

Explore the First North Americans books by W. Michael Gear in order, with summaries, series background, and help choosing where to start.

Last updated: July 2, 2026

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First North Americans (W Michael Gear) books in publication order

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29 books

1

People of the Fire

by W Michael Gear

1990

Little Dancer's dreams may reshape the future of a drought-stricken people fighting to survive. Around him, love, power, and jealousy turn a harsh landscape into a battleground.

2

People of the Wolf

by W Michael Gear

1990

At the end of the Ice Age, a small band follows a dream west across frozen wilderness into a new continent. It is a survival story on the scale of legend, driven by vision, love, and endurance.

3

People of the Earth

by W Michael Gear

1992

White Ash, stolen from her own people as a child, grows into a woman haunted by prophetic dreams. After massacre and betrayal, she begins a dangerous quest that could change many lives.

4

People of the River

by W Michael Gear

1992

In Cahokia, crops are failing and the gods have gone silent. Chiefs, seers, and warriors search for answers, while hope may rest with a young girl learning to dream power.

5

People of the Sea

by W Michael Gear

1993

As glaciers melt and giant animals vanish, coastal people struggle to understand a world changing under their feet. A lost seer and a rival drawn to dark power make the danger even worse.

6

People of the Lakes

by W Michael Gear

1994

Star Shell sets out to destroy a corrupting sacred mask before it ruins her people. Joined by trader Otter and other uneasy allies, she races across the Great Lakes with enemies close behind.

7

People of the Lightning

by W Michael Gear

1995

In ancient Florida, the pale and feared Pondwader is burdened with a prophecy of destruction. Traded into marriage and thrust into danger, he must prove he is more than an omen.

8

People of the Silence

by W Michael Gear

1996

Hidden lineage and imperial paranoia collide in a crumbling Anasazi world. Cornsilk and Poor Singer flee assassins, searching for the truth before a killer destroys everyone around them.

9

People of the Mist

by W Michael Gear

1997

The murder of Red Knot, on the eve of a politically vital marriage, threatens to tear the Algonquin world apart. Only the feared sorcerer called Panther may be able to uncover the truth in time.

10

People of the Masks

by W Michael Gear

1998

A prophesied child called False Face Child is growing into a power others want to control. When warriors burn his home and kill his mother, his fate becomes the center of a brutal struggle.

11

People of the Owl

by W Michael Gear

2003

After his brother's death, young Salamander is forced into leadership far sooner than he wants. What follows is a tense story of clan politics, grief, and power in one of ancient America's earliest cities.

12

People of the Raven

by W Michael Gear

2004

On the Pacific Northwest coast, Rain Bear shelters an escaped slave who brings danger with her. Protecting her could doom his people, but sending her back may be even worse.

13

People of the Moon

by W Michael Gear

2005

In the high age of Chaco power, priests and warriors rule from great houses tied to moon and star. But arrogance, rebellion, and sacred timing are pushing the empire toward collapse.

14

People of the Nightland

by W Michael Gear

2007

A boy named Silvertip sees disaster coming when the old ice begins to fail. To save his people, he must convince them to abandon the only world they have ever known.

15

People of the Weeping Eye

by W Michael Gear

2008

Called home by terrifying visions, the wanderer Old White returns to a land sliding toward bloodshed. On the way he meets Two Petals and Trader, and the secret he carries may topple a mighty city.

16

People of the Thunder

by W Michael Gear

2009

As armies gather in the Southeast, the Sky Hand capital stands on the edge of triumph or ruin. Old White, Trader, and Two Petals walk straight into a storm of espionage, war, and divided loyalties.

17

People of the Longhouse

by W Michael Gear

2010

Odion and his sister Tutelo are taken after their village is destroyed, and their parents set out after them. The hunt leads into a brutal world of slavery, war, and an old evil named Gannajero.

18

The Dawn Country

by W Michael Gear

2011

Wrass and other captive children are still trapped in Gannajero's camp, and rescue may come too late. As warriors and healers close in, the children themselves must risk everything to survive.

19

People of the Black Sun

by W Michael Gear

2012

Dekanawida and Hiawento have built a growing League around the Great Law of Peace, but war is not finished with them. If the last holdouts refuse peace, their whole world may fall.

20

The Broken Land

by W Michael Gear

2012

A mad sorcerer is driving the Iroquoian world toward disaster. Sky Messenger, Hiyawento, and Jigonsaseh must do the almost impossible, unite warring nations before everything burns.

21

Copper Falcon

by W Michael Gear

2014

Young Flint Knife travels with his father to Cahokia seeking military help against raiders. The dazzling city promises power and safety, but the truth waiting there could change his life forever.

22

People of the Morning Star

by W Michael Gear

2014

Cahokia is under attack from within when a brilliant assassin begins hunting its rulers and the living god Morning Star. Politics, prophecy, and old powers collide in a city already stretched to the breaking point.

23

People of the Songtrail

by W Michael Gear

2015

Five hundred years before Columbus, Norse settlers and Native peoples meet on North American shores. What begins as exploration becomes a tense story of collision, survival, and the fragile possibility of peace.

24

The Dead Man's Doll

by W Michael Gear

2015

In this short prequel to People of the Songtrail, a shaman crosses enemy ground in the dead of winter to free a trapped ghost. What he finds is stranger, sadder, and more dangerous than he expected.

25

Sun Born

by W Michael Gear

2016

An old enemy returns to Cahokia with emissaries from a rival power, and the city senses war coming. Morning Star's silence leaves others to confront murder, magic, and a threat to the empire's soul.

26

Moon Hunt

by W Michael Gear

2017

After Morning Star is poisoned, Cahokia reels toward chaos. To save him, Night Shadow Star and Fire Cat must descend into the Underworld and face the dark powers waiting below.

27

Star Path

by W Michael Gear

2019

Blue Heron and master thief Seven Skull Shield leave Cahokia on a dangerous mission east. Rivers, hostile settlements, and a hidden enemy turn the journey into a struggle over the future of a rising civilization.

28

People of the Canyons

by W Michael Gear

2020

In a war-torn Southwest of red cliffs and old magic, a tyrant hunts a witch's pot said to hold immense power. Healer Tocho, bitter hunter Maicoh, and young Tsilu are all pulled toward the fire.

29

Lightning Shell

by W Michael Gear

2022

Cahokia is close to civil war as murder, factional politics, and old rivalries explode across the great city. Spotted Wrist, Night Shadow Star, and their enemies race toward a reckoning that could remake the whole empire.

First North Americans (W Michael Gear) books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "People of the Wolf"

    People of the Wolf

    by W Michael Gear

    1990First North Americans, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "People of the Nightland"

    People of the Nightland

    by W Michael Gear

    2007First North Americans, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "People of the Sea"

    People of the Sea

    by W Michael Gear

    1993First North Americans, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "People of the Raven"

    People of the Raven

    by W Michael Gear

    2004First North Americans, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "People of the Lightning"

    People of the Lightning

    by W Michael Gear

    1995First North Americans, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "People of the Fire"

    People of the Fire

    by W Michael Gear

    1990First North Americans, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "People of the Earth"

    People of the Earth

    by W Michael Gear

    1992First North Americans, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "People of the Owl"

    People of the Owl

    by W Michael Gear

    2003First North Americans, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "People of the Lakes"

    People of the Lakes

    by W Michael Gear

    1994First North Americans, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "People of the River"

    People of the River

    by W Michael Gear

    1992First North Americans, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "People of the Silence"

    People of the Silence

    by W Michael Gear

    1996First North Americans, Book 11
  12. Book cover for "People of the Moon"

    People of the Moon

    by W Michael Gear

    2005First North Americans, Book 12
  13. Book cover for "People of the Masks"

    People of the Masks

    by W Michael Gear

    1998First North Americans, Book 13
  14. Book cover for "People of the Weeping Eye"

    People of the Weeping Eye

    by W Michael Gear

    2008First North Americans, Book 14
  15. Book cover for "People of the Thunder"

    People of the Thunder

    by W Michael Gear

    2009First North Americans, Book 15
  16. Book cover for "People of the Mist"

    People of the Mist

    by W Michael Gear

    1997First North Americans, Book 16
  17. Book cover for "People of the Longhouse"

    People of the Longhouse

    by W Michael Gear

    2010First North Americans, Book 17
  18. Book cover for "The Dawn Country"

    The Dawn Country

    by W Michael Gear

    2011First North Americans, Book 18
  19. Book cover for "The Broken Land"

    The Broken Land

    by W Michael Gear

    2012First North Americans, Book 19
  20. Book cover for "People of the Black Sun"

    People of the Black Sun

    by W Michael Gear

    2012First North Americans, Book 20
  21. Book cover for "People of the Morning Star"

    People of the Morning Star

    by W Michael Gear

    2014First North Americans, Book 21
  22. Book cover for "People of the Songtrail"

    People of the Songtrail

    by W Michael Gear

    2015First North Americans, Book 22
  23. Book cover for "Copper Falcon"

    Copper Falcon

    by W Michael Gear

    2014First North Americans, Book 23
  24. Book cover for "The Dead Man's Doll"

    The Dead Man's Doll

    by W Michael Gear

    2015First North Americans, Book 24
  25. Book cover for "Sun Born"

    Sun Born

    by W Michael Gear

    2016First North Americans, Book 25
  26. Book cover for "Moon Hunt"

    Moon Hunt

    by W Michael Gear

    2017First North Americans, Book 26
  27. Book cover for "Star Path"

    Star Path

    by W Michael Gear

    2019First North Americans, Book 27
  28. Book cover for "People of the Canyons"

    People of the Canyons

    by W Michael Gear

    2020First North Americans, Book 28
  29. Book cover for "Lightning Shell"

    Lightning Shell

    by W Michael Gear

    2022First North Americans, Book 29

Series background & context

Under W. Michael Gear's name, this is the same huge prehistoric project he built with Kathleen O'Neal Gear, and it is anything but a narrow series. The books move across thousands of years and across a continent, from the late Ice Age to later agricultural societies, confederacies, trade networks, and sacred centers. You are not following one hero from start to finish. You are stepping into one ancient world after another.

That changing scope is part of the appeal.

One novel may be about a small band trying to survive in a frozen landscape. Another may open in a city-sized ritual center full of factional politics. Another may turn on a rescue, a prophecy, a murder, a failed harvest, or a war that nobody can stop once it starts. The cast changes because the series is interested in peoples, places, and turning points, not just a single family line.

Even so, the books do not feel abstract. Gear and Kathleen keep the stakes personal. A village may be under pressure from drought or invasion, but the story still cares about who gets fed, who is taken, who is believed, who is left out of the council, and who carries the emotional cost of leadership. That balance is why the sequence can feel both large and intimate at the same time.

The settings matter a lot here. Rivers, forests, canyons, coasts, mound centers, great houses, and winter camps shape what is possible in each story. So do the practical details of life, food, travel, ritual objects, trade goods, kinship, disease, weather, and labor. Because the Gears come from archaeology, the worldbuilding usually feels worked from the ground up rather than painted on afterward.

Pressure is everywhere.

Climate shifts. Old religions are challenged. Political systems harden. Raiding spirals into open war. Leaders make terrible bets. Communities splinter or migrate. Some books lean toward travel adventure. Some feel like political thrillers. Some are darker, stranger, or more spiritual. The tone changes, but the series keeps returning to the same big question: what happens to a culture when the world it depends on starts to fail?

That is the through-line readers can count on. These novels treat ancient North America as wide, varied, and fully peopled. They are adventurous, but they are also social. You get conflict, momentum, and danger, but you also get argument, grief, ritual, obligation, and the texture of everyday life. If you want historical fiction that thinks big without losing sight of individual people, this series does that very well.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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