In the latest epic from Wood (Daughter of the Sun
), Tonina, a young Mayan-era woman born on tiny Pearl Island (off Cuba), is tall and light skinned, while her people are smaller of stature and dark. When her differences become too much for her fellows to bear, they send her away to the mainland to find her true people. Her quest leads her to the heart of the Mayan empire and to a barbarian ballplayer named Kaan, who desperately wants to be Mayan. When Kaan's wife dies and he goes on a quest to cleanse her soul, he's unwillingly thrown together with Tonina, and the two begin to attract fellow questers as they make their way through Mayapan. Meanwhile, Kaan is being pursued by Mayan prince Balam, who blames Kaan for everything that has gone wrong in his life. As Tonina and Kaan pick up more followers, a new culture begins to emerge. Wood crafts a complex and compelling pre-Columbian world. (Sept.)
