The Stone Breakers

The People of the Stone #1

by T.C. Kuhn

Imagine you are living in a world with an environment only remotely like your own and in a time when your main source of survival technology is made of stone. You have no writing to pass on the basics of your group heritage. Yet, you possess an essentially modern brain, capable of all the complexities of human communication and social skills we practice today. You have just entered the world of The Stone Breakers, a story of the first peoples who came to and settled America during and at the end of the last Ice Age.
The "People of the Stone" novels, of which this is the first of six, is not just another "how to live in the Stone Age" book series. It is a new look at important questions of the day concerning the origins and spread of the first Americans and their struggles as individuals to people a vast, new land.

536 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 12, 2007

About the author

The author of The People of the Stone series brings to the subject of Prehistoric Native America a unique perspective based upon more than thirty years of direct involvement in the area of Native American studies gained from several points of view and experiences. As a professional archaeologist he has worked both in the Southwest, where he attended graduate school at Eastern New Mexico University, and in the Ohio Valley (the primary location for the novels) where he is originally from and where he worked for many years, while also teaching and studying at Marshall University.

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful debut novel. The author is a retired archaeologist and you can tell this book and the others in the series are dense with historical accuracy and knowledge. I'm very interested in learning about native American culture and history, and these books seamlessly combine historic details with interesting and compelling stories.

This is the closest we can get to ancient American people.

[Sherry Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Excellent!!

During the first few chapters, of course, you're still getting acquainted with the characters. But soon you'll be caught up in the topography, the seasonal chill or warmth and slide right in beside them as they struggle or smile with what the face on a daily basis. This was, obviously, a really good book and I look forward to getting into the next adventure.

[John Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting book, and I plan to read the subsequent books in the series. The attempt to imagine how people would react to and think about the changes in climate, new immigration, and new technology (Clovis points and atlatls) is worthy and thought provoking. I only have a couple of criticisms. It's a little too wordy--the author tends to go on longer than necessary to capture the characters' thoughts and feelings. Second, even though the story is described mainly from the viewpoint of one of the women, it seems to me that the author has underplayed the role women might have played in the survival and prosperity of these cultures, making women highly dependent on men. From what I've read elsewhere, a significant portion of the food consumed by Paleolithic hunter-gatherers came from vegetables, grains, nuts, berries, and small game that would have been gathered by women. It feels to me that the women in this story spend most of their time in camp waiting for hunters to decide what to do and then return from the hunt. If, in fact women made a significant contribution to the food available, I think they would have had a significant say in planning and decision making.

[Lottie Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

lottie1949@outlook.com...... This is the second Time I I have read this book. That is not unusual for me as I have found that I usually miss something the first time. I enjoyed reading the story line a lot ,their were quite a lot of surprise twists. I look forward to the contenuation.

[Joann Holmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneasy read

Good story but many annoying spelling errors and run on sentences. Needs better proof reading. Won't read next in series.

[Jesse P. Decker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Read

written as a good story with very good description of what life was like then
Recommend this to all interested in that period of history