Bøker av Joan C Wrenn

Ten Years of SilenceYoaat Balam''s time has come. It''s his turn to step into the role of Ahaw, Lord of his city-state of Siyah Chan, a role he has been training for all his life. He must now put aside his work on star charts and inscriptions to lead his city and provide for its welfare. Yet his name was never recorded for posterity in the inscriptions of any ancient Maya city. Mayan scholars call it the "Cinter-regnum"-a ten-year period with very few inscriptions of dated events after the death of the aged Lord Itzamna Balam in 742 AD, and there is no mention of a new lord. What happened during Yoaat''s reign? Assisted by his mother, the great and holy Na K''abal Xook, his three older sisters, and his two half-brothers, Yoaat struggles to organize his people to face a series of elemental challenges: flood and drought, hunger and sickness. Then news from the north brings new threats as their allied city Waká is overtaken, and Yoaat sends his half-brother Yaxuun with warriors to the aid of endangered northern towns that are under Siyah Chan''s protection. At home Yoaat institutes new rituals to appease the gods and comfort the people. Through it all an insidious treachery looms, bringing a horrific event that can never be told, lest Siyah Chan go down in infamy.

Who were the Ancient Maya who inhabited those mysterious ruined cities in the Central American jungles? As aspects of their lifeways and history are uncovered by archaeological research and the decipherment of their intriguing inscriptions, it becomes possible to imagine the details of their daily life, their annual ritual cycle, their aspirations and challenges. Their inscriptions reveal the histories of their ruling families, as tumultuous as those in any other known civilization, their towering pyramids suggest a strong sense of the sacred, while their paintings and carving suggest a vigorous military presence.In this novel, Joan C Wrenn presents the story of the Maya of one city-state at a crucial time in its history, the royal family about to be split, struggles over competing ideologies and the life-and-death challenges of living in a jungle environment in city-states involved in nearly continuous warfare. Through colorful glimpses into the lives of four young Maya and their families, the reader is introduced to the culture, the lifeways, the religion, the rulers, the battles and the successes of these magnificent people.

A Novel of the Ancient MayaAn aspiring anthropologist journeys to Mexico and becomes entangled in a tale of the Ancient Maya, amidst the Late Classic political upheaval, where foreigners infiltrate cities and social changes break up economies and families. In the midst of this turmoil, a young woman struggles to make her way, haunted by visions and a mysterious summons from a Panther Spirit. Raised to value the old traditions, unable to accede to her husband's heartless demands to participate in bloody rituals, she flees with her infant son into the unknown, discovering lost kindred and caring helpers, and learning to walk in the Otherworld in search of the key to her family's destiny. When she faces the ultimate challenge, will the Panther Spirit's power enable her to overcome it?

Give Us a King Like Other Nations!Dedicated to the Shiloh Shrine before his birth, Samuel is brought up to be a priest of Yahweh, a quiet life of ritual and service. But when the army of Ephraim is defeated by the Philistines, the sacred Ark captured, and the Shiloh Shrine abandoned, Samuel must redefine his role in the fragmented and war-torn Israelite society. Acknowledging only his God Yahweh as Ruler, how will Samuel lead the people to remain faithful to Yahweh's covenant when the Elders of the scattered tribes ask for a King to unify them?