Daughters of Fire - Softcover

Peek, Tom

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0982165625 ISBN 13: 9780982165621

Publisher: Koa Books, 2012

Synopsis

Daughters of Fire is a gripping adventure of romance, intrigue, myth and murder set amid the cultural tensions of contemporary Hawaii.

A visiting astronomer falls in love with a Hawaiian anthropologist who guides him into a Polynesian world of volcanoes, gods and revered ancestors. The lovers get caught up in murder and intrigue as developers and politicians try to conceal that a long-dormant volcano is rumbling back to life above the hotel-laden Kona coast. The anthropologist joins forces with an aging seer and a young activist, and these three Hawaiian women summon their deepest traditions to confront the latest, most extravagant resort as the eruption and the murder expose deep rifts in paradise.

More than a decade in its research and writing, Tom Peek’s mystical and provocative debut novel picks up Hawaii’s story where James Michener left off. Daughters of Fire illuminates how the islands’ transformation into a tourist mecca and developers gold mine sparked a Native Hawaiian movement to reclaim their culture, protect sacred land, and step into the future with wisdom and aloha.

Winner, 2013 Benjamin Franklin Silver Finalist Award for Popular Fiction from the Independent Book Publishers Association

“Places come alive for the reader on every page of this taut, deftly constructed novel. . . . Peek is a storyteller extraordinaire, cut from an older cloth seldom seen today.†– Susan Y. Najita, The Contemporary Pacific
“From the historical to the scientific, the spiritual to the political, to corruption and eruptions, this carefully researched thriller MUST be made into a film!†– Victoria Mudd, Academy Award winning producer of “Broken Rainbow†and “Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lionâ€
“This is a book about power and justice . . . one of the most factually aware novels I’ve come across.†– Anthony Pignataro, Maui Time Weekly
“Tom Peek’s understanding of place, culture, and current issues is deep and respectful . . . this is a terrific read.†– Maile Meyer, founder of Native Books / Na Mea Hawaii
“A page-turning thriller on the surface, a deep meditation on culture one level down, a spiritual tour-de-force at the core.†– Arthur Rosenfeld, tai chi master, television host and novelist
“Tom Peek has lived a life worthy of Melville, Twain and Stevenson. . . . The book, with multiple plotlines . . . has drawn comparisons to Michener’s Hawaii.†– John Burnett, Hawaii Tribune-Herald
“An epic tale . . . steeped in culture, mythology, and spirituality.†– Misty-Lynn Sanico, HawaiiReads.com
“Tight, gripping drama that exalts the power and mystery of nature over the supremacy of man. For anyone who can see and feel and know there is sacred all around us.†– Nelson Ho, past chair, Sierra Club Hawai‘i Chapter
"Takes us into the spiritual and cultural depths of Hawaiian traditions, masterfully presenting a worldview that deserves our consideration as rampant development threatens to destroy traditional cultures worldwide." – Edwin Bernbaum, author of Sacred Mountains of the World

About this title

About the Author:

Tom Peek lived his early life on the Upper Mississippi on a backwaters island of Minnesota river folk, beaver, and ancient burial mounds. After hitchhiking by boat through the South Seas, he settled on the island of Hawaii where he’s lived for two decades. There, he was a mountain and astronomy guide on Mauna Kea and an eruption ranger, firefighter, and exhibit writer on Kilauea, working closely with Hawaiian elders and cultural practitioners on both volcanoes. He lives with his artist wife in a rainforest cottage near Kilauea’s erupting summit.

John D. Dawson was born and raised in San Diego. From the age of three, he knew that art was his calling. He graduated from the Art Center School, LA, now the Art Center College of Art and Design. Over the last twelve years, John has worked continuously with the US Postal Service, illustrating its Nature in America series. He has also done commissions for the National Park Service, United Nations, National Wildlife Federation, National Geographic Society, and Audubon Society. The drawings in Daughters of Fire are in the classic style of novels in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Herb Kawainui Kane, celebrated Hawaiian artist, historian, and author, cofounded the Polynesian Voyaging Society and designed the Hokulea voyaging canoe, contributing profoundly to the Hawaiian Renaissance movement . A graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago, Kane depicted Hawaiian historical scenes realistically, but when painting spiritual or mythological aspects of the culture — as in Pele, Goddess of Volcanoes, the cover image of this book — his art was expressionistic, with bold brushwork and vivid colors. He passed away at the age of 82 in March 2011.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Passing through the ruined village of Kalapana only affirmed Gavin

About this edition

• Publisher: Koa Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0982165625
• ISBN 13: 9780982165621
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496
• Illustrator: Dawson John D., Kane Herb Kawainui