People of the Thunder by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear

Trader is a rich and important trader on the great river, but he hides his secret past as Green Snake, member of the Chief Clan of the Sky People who built Split Sky City. Ten years ago, he struck his brother down in a moment of great anger, and fled the city, fearing he'd killed his brother. But in truth, although he dealt his brother a great blow, his brother survived and became the warrior Smoke Shield, now War Chief of Split Sky City.

But Smoke Shield may have been driven a little mad by the blow, for he plots a way to subjugate the entirety of the lands around to the Sky People, and for himself to be the ultimate leader of those lands, rising to the title of High Minko, a title now held by his Uncle, Flying Hawk.

With Trader come Old White, better known as Seeker, a man of Power who has travelled the world, trading with faraway peoples and learning their secrets. But now he has been drawn back home to Split Sky City, to rectify the imbalance of power in the area. He, too, has a hidden history in Split Sky City, and his secrets are coming home to roost. An old man, he's come home to die, so if he must die to balance the power of the Sky People, he is willing to do so.

With him is the Contrary, formerly known as Two Petals, a strange, spirit-touched girl who lives backwards and has visions of great power. She seeks her "sister", another woman of power, who turns out to be the girl named Whipporwill, daughter of the farmer Paunch. Both escaped the destruction of their people by Smoke Shield, but Paunch was declared a traitor for trying to warn the innocent people of their imminent destruction.

Also with Trader comes his dog, Swimmer, and two immense treasures. One is a box that held the war medicine of the Sky People, the other is a huge sheet of copper uncovered by trader in the digging pits of people far to the north. It is a piece of incredible wealth, and Trader finds himself obsessed with making sure it is safe wherever he goes. But when he finds that he must give it up to ensure the Balance of his people and his birth city, he finds himself almost relieved to give up the burden of owning it, fearful that someone might try to kill him to steal it.

In Split Sky City lies not only Smoke Shield, but his wife, Heron Wing, who was once the woman who loved Green Snake. But when Trader fled his city, he left her behind, sure she would hate him. Instead, she was given to Smoke Shield as his wife, though now she lives apart from him with her son, Stone, and Morning Dew, a Chatah woman who used to be Smoke Shield's slave, but is now hers. Heron Wing doesn't hate Morning Dew, nor mistreat her, but teaches her as she might a daughter, although the two are nearly the same age.

Morning Dew wishes nothing more than to go home, but if she flees now, the Sky People warriors will track her down and drag her back, cutting her leg tendons so she cannot flee again. That, and some affection for Stone and Heron Wing, keeps her in Split Sky City. For now anyway.

But a storm is coming to Split Sky City, and all slights and abuses of power will come home to roost. Can the balance of power be restored, along with peace among the many clans and peoples who inhabit the lands by the river? And how long can Split Sky City last with so many other clans wishing to see it fall?

This book is the sequel to "People of the Weeping Eye", Actually, both were written at the same time, and split in two when the manuscript became too large and unwieldy. But the place that they split it was natural and perfect, so that the first book is about the destruction of White Arrow Town and the fallout from that raid made by Smoke Shield, and this one is about the way Smoke Shield and Flying Hawk suffer from their decisions they have made up until this time. At first it seems like Split Sky City will also be destroyed by war, with all the indications that it will pass away, but in the end, something else happens.

Though it's been a while since I read "People of the Weeping Eye" it only took a few chapters for me to get back into the story and remember all the characters and doings from the first book. Smoke Shield becomes steadily more evil and inclined to break the laws and taboos of his culture, when he isn't seeking new women to stick his prick into, and you can see him getting more and more puffed up, like a toad, with his power and self-importance.

Seeing him finally get what he deserves comes almost as a relief. The only thing to wonder at is who will send him on to his just reward, and in the end, none of my guesses were right. But this was a great story, with sweep and scope fitting to it, and telling the story of a once-great people being dragged down by their own acts. I look forward to more stories of the Indian Cultures written by the Gears. For real historical fiction about the Native American Cultures that once existed here can't be beat. A triumph.