Shadow Valley

By Steven Barnes

Steven Barnes’s Great Sky Woman unveiled the world of a prehistoric people in the shadow of modern-day Mount Kilimanjaro. Now, in Shadow Valley, the astounding sequel, we follow the Ibandi people’s odyssey through a land where everything has changed—a land from whose ashes will grow the roots of civilization and the enduring truths of love, family, forgiveness, and faith.

After the catastrophic eruption of Father Mountain, the Ibandi are divided, desperate, and afraid. Most have followed the only person in whom they still believe: young Sky Woman, who was on the great mountain when it exploded and who, along with Frog Hopping, returned to tell the tale. Nurtured by an elder whose searing visions have left her blind, Sky Woman nonetheless doubts her own visionary powers as she follows a path she can hardly discern—across savannah and parched plains—to find a valley of plenty for a people on the brink of collapse.

But in fact, Sky Woman and Frog were not the only survivors of the mountain’s explosion. Another man has emerged from the destruction, vengeance pulsing in his veins, to lead a separate group of Ibandi into a vicious and reckless act of war. Soon these two strands of survivors will meet, through chance, desperation, and sheer willpower. In a world in which every moment is lived on the edge between life and death, where animal and human predators can strike in an instant, where the gods themselves seem lost, and dreams entwine with reality, a people’s destiny rushes toward them. The Ibandi must make a last, violent stand against complete destruction.

In this hypnotic, thrilling, and beautiful novel, Steven Barnes explores relationships between friends and lovers, leaders and followers, strangers and allies. At once visceral and soaringly insightful, Shadow Valley is about who we are as human beings today as seen through the wondrous prism of our distant past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: May 5, 2009
• ISBN: 9780345515018

Steven Barnes

Steven Barnes is an award-winning author of twenty-three novels, including the New York Times bestseller The Cestus Deception. Visit his website at LifeWrite.com.

Reviews for Shadow Valley

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have long been planning to read Shadow Valley by Stephen Barnes as it is the sequel to Great Sky Woman which I read and loved a few years ago. Unfortunately, it kept getting set aside for other books. I say unfortunately for two reasons, as I started reading I had some trouble picking up all the various threads to the story, but mostly I say unfortunately as this is a wonderful conclusion to the story of the Ibandi people.These two books about a prehistoric tribe who live in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro is epic in scope. Stephen Barnes, through intensive research and great imagination, creates both a rich culture, and an intricate religion for these peaceful people. The story revolves around main characters T’Cori and Frog Hopping, who find themselves at the center of earth shattering events when their tribe comes into contact with other people.This story is woven through with themes of group conflict, love, family ties, and spiritual beliefs. As readers we find ourselves rooting for these people to find a place of peace and security after going through both natural disaster and violent conflicts. Shadow Valley is the conclusion of a imaginative, well told adventure story, and I highly recommend these two books of speculative history.