695 AD. Naranjo is a mid-sized city in the Guatemalan jungle. Wakah Heron is unlike anyone in his family, a long line of warriors. When he was a child suffering from debilitating illnesses, he enjoyed the company of an itinerant storyteller who became his mentor. His dream is to follow him on that path. The ruler, Lady Six Sky, obliges Wakah to tell a story to captive families that she and his father, her supreme warlord, acquired through raids in order to bolster their regular warriors and provide labor in support of building projects. When Wakah realizes that the story she'd given him to present to the captives is deceptive, he resigns. Rejected by Lady Six Sky and his father, he joins a merchant expedition as a safe way to travel to Calakmul, the place where his mentor became authorized to tell god stories. Although a climate of fear has gripped the jungle cities, people gather around storytellers in great numbers, eager to hear about raids and valiant warriors. Seeing faces of misery and hopelessness in the places he visits, Wakah decides to tell stories that inspire hope, courage and self-determination, but he attracts very few listeners. Traveling from city to city, he confronts questions of identity and purpose. Can he tell god stories when they contain contradictions between cities? Is there a rightful place for a dedicated truth teller? Will he find success telling stories in the plazas of great cities, or must he be satisfied telling them in the marketplaces of small villages? To answer these and other questions, he must first discover who he is. Meanwhile, the Snake Lord, Claw Of Fire at Calakmul, together with his allied underlords are preparing in secret to defeat his bitter enemy, Lord Sky Rain at Tikal. What happens, changes the course of ancient Maya history in several ways. Wakah's journey of self-discovery and meaning immerses the reader in the life, times, customs, and environments that contributed to the uniqueness of ancient Maya civilization. Based on decades of archaeological, ethnographic and anthropological research, "Jaguar Sun" is not a fantasy novel about the "mysterious" Maya. Rather, it depicts real people facing universal human challenges at a time when their civilization was flourishing in the jungles of Central America. As such, it's an excellent book for those who have visited or plan to visit, archaeological sites in Mexico, Guatemala or Belize.
About the Author: David L. Smith is Emeritus Professor of Communication at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Academically, his focus is on mass media and the Anthropology of Visual Communication. He enjoyed a twenty-year career in broadcast television as a multi-award-winning documentary filmmaker and television producer. Occasionally he exhibits and publishes fine art photography. Since 1967 he has been a student of Mesoamerican art, archaeology and anthropology with an emphasis on the ancient Maya. He conducted research at many of the sites featured in the series, "The Path of the Jaguar."