Debut Showcase: Elom by William H. Drinkard

ELOM (Amazon USA, UK, Canada)
William H. Drinkard
Tor Books
Hardcover

Excerpt (Webpage, PDF)

Blurb:

Fire from the Goddess and the meat and furs of the mammoth are all that the People need to live. It is a harsh life but a good one and it is one that all cherish.

Young Geerna knows that the time has come for her to become a woman and take up the tasks to keep her people safe. She waits in the Awakening Place, fearful and hopeful as her ordeals come to an end. Then, on the eve of her Womanhood, a shining light descends upon her and her world is torn asunder.

And she embarks on a journey that none of her people could ever envision...

Eons have passed. Cycle upon cycle the Way of the People have remain unchanged: women are artists, men are hunters. Geerna’s Law is the covenant by which humans live in harmony and peace.

But all is about to change. A call has come for The People to choose their champions, and a summons to meet the mysterious creatures who selected Geerna so long ago.

All is unknown. As the brave souls who are chosen venture forth, they will come to discover just how much that pact that Geerna made so long ago has cost them.

And they will have to confront the choices that might help them to finally know true freedom.

Oh, this one looks so cool. The further back in time you go, the more interested I become. That's a leftover trait from when I wanted to be a paleoanthropologist when I was in high school. I must resist; I have a whole stack of books that Tor has generously sent already.

Lou Anders did a spotlight on William Drinkard back in October.