Footsteps in the Sky
The pueblo people who landed on the Fifth World found it Earthlike, empty, and ready for colonization... but a century later, they are about to meet the planet’s owners
One hundred years ago, Sand’s ancestors made the long, one-way trip to the Fifth World, ready to work ceaselessly to terraform the planet. Descendants of native peoples like the Hopi and Zuni, they wanted to return to the way of life of their forebears, who honored the Kachina spirits.
Now, though, many of the planet’s inhabitants have begun to resent their grandparents’ decision to strand them in this harsh and forbidding place, and some have turned away from the customs of the Well-Behaved People. Sand has her doubts, but she longs to believe that the Kachina live on beyond the stars and have been readying a new domain for her people.
She may be right. Humans have discovered nine habitable worlds, all with life that shares a genetic code entirely alien to any on Earth. Someone has been seeding planets, bringing life to them. But no other sign of the ancient farmers has ever been discovered — until one day they return to the Fifth World. They do not like what they find.
Readers also enjoyed
Greg Keyes
Greg Keyes doesn’t just write fantasy—he builds mythologies that feel like they’ve existed for centuries. His worlds are intricate, his characters fierce with purpose, and his stories hum with the tension between ancient forces and deeply human choices. Whether he’s delving into dynastic battles in The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone or breathing new life into beloved universes like Star Wars or The Elder Scrolls, Keyes brings a scholar’s mind and a storyteller’s soul to every page.
More books by Greg Keyes
