Amazon Seven Lions eBook from Booklocker Category:  Native American Publisher: Booklocker.com ISBN-10:  1601457723 Type: Fiction Pages: 144 Copyright: March 12, 2009 ISBN-13: 9781601457721 An coming of age story set in the early Bronze Age. When a stranger from the south dies in Saffu's arms, it forces him to leave his tribe and Naganawae—his love—to travel to the land of cities and kings.  In the east, Samhail finds he can no longer hunt and ends up a mercenary, and then a member of the court of an ancient king.  Along the way, he rescues the indomitable and brilliant Rheem from her family.  Together, they take part in a tale of princesses, witchcraft, war, glory, and corruption. Their paths, their ambitions, their weaknesses, reveal that even in a time of bronze and stone, the human heart guided the course of events. Excerpt “Perhaps,” the commander nodded, “but your people are legend. Your return to us, therefore, is worrisome. Do you think you bring with you good fortune?” No, Saffu thought, as he remembered Dhuman, and the demon, and the valley, and the witch, but he forced a smile. “Only the Great Spirit knows what will come of all this.” They rode on in silence, and that afternoon came to the North Bridge into the imperial city. When they arrived, the commander called out in the same strange tongue he'd used at the estates, and Saffu could see the eyes of the guards in their high towers widen in shock. The gates were as tall as tall trees, made of metal and wood and so heavy nothing, he thought, would move them. And yet they swung as easily as a dangling branch. Saffu had seen only one city before, and it was dead, so he was amazed not by the size but by the colorful banners flying from every building. People always busily rushed past with carts full of pots or wood or food or cloth. Every time someone saw them—whether an old woman or a young man—they would stare and ask the commander who he was. “He is of the old Northern tribe. Of Tyhr's people, come south to speak with us of issues of great importance.” He would smile with great pride and look to Saffu who smiled back, though he could not understand how, in a city such as this, filled with so many amazements, a simple boy and his scarred horse could claim such attention. By the time they reached the doors to the grand hall of the king, everyone knew of the city's newest visitor. The head guardsman met them and welcomed them inside. “I worry for Olopos,” Saffu said to the stranger while examining Olopos’ neck. The stranger attempted to smile, though the expression didn't suit him. “His horse,” the commander said, dismounting and signaling Saffu to do the same. “He's worried about his horse.” “He won't have to worry,” the guardsman said, as Saffu slid off Olopos' back. “It'll be kept in the king's own stables with the king's own fodder. Where's his reins? And where's his saddle?” The commander smiled and looked to Saffu, who looked to Olopos, then said in his own singsong language, “Go with this man, Olopos, he will take care of you. And do not worry, for I shall come see you before the day is out, and if they mistreat you I will make sure that...” and then his words trailed off, for what could he guarantee? He turned back to the commander. “He cannot run free in the city?” The commander shook his head slightly. Saffu turned to the guardsman. “And where do you mean to take him?” “To the stables.” Saffu turned back to the commander. “What are stables?” The commander ran his tongue under his lip. “Like houses, for horses.” Saffu shook his head. “I don't think Olopos would like a house. No, we will go back out of the city and let him run free.” “What?” the guardsman bellowed. “You can't do that. The king himself is inside right now, waiting for you.” “My friend,” Saffu said, “I am sorry. I should have thought about this before I brought him into this city. This is all very strange to me. Never before have I had to think of something to do with Olopos for we have always lived in a place that had none of these things.” Saffu climbed back on Olopos and turned the horse. The guardsman looked to the commander. “You can't be thinking to let him do this? You take his horse out. The king himself is inside!” The commander mounted his own steed and followed Saffu, looking back to say, “I don't know that he'd let me.” They rode back toward the North Bridge, and this time the city was doubly excited. Word spread he was leaving, or that he'd come to give some ultimatum, or that the king no longer suited the people of the north. And when they reached the North Bridge, the gatemen didn't know whether to shut the gate. But Saffu simply slid off Olopos and patted him on the rump, pointing out a distant tree where he would look to meet him when he was done. And the horse ran off at a sharp pace, faster than anything that anyone had ever seen. The commander slid off his horse and put it in the charge of the confused gatemen. They walked, this time, through the city. The whispers and looks of the people were redoubled. No one knew what to make of this stranger and his escort, wandering back and forth through the capital. They finally made it back to the grand hall and the guardsman looked unwell. He was red and his breathing was very fast, but he assured Saffu he felt fine and ushered them inside, away from a sizable crowd that had followed them to the gates.

Nicole on Goodreads
A story of four teens who adventure together during the Bronze Age. Though the context and setting are ancient and the characters familiar, the action is so roisterous and so perfectly choreographed it's impossible to not keep turning the pages. This is a refreshingly plot-driven work in which history and environment are, like the teenagers in it, coming-of-age characters. Even more refreshing is Meeks' refusal to treat his teenagers like fully-formed beings, like people who, on the basis of their own limited experiences and their own sense of the limitations they have in understanding those experiences, are somehow supposed to magically be adults, or adult-like in terms of decision-making. What Meeks' recognizes, what is in his work that isn't in most is that "coming-of-age" is not the same thing as becoming an adult, that being teen-aged, no matter the time, is a brutal and cruel state subject to tribes and sub-culture. In reading this book, I learned plot and history dictate, and few (if any) of us will ever escape "what happened" and its circumstances. Meeks' eye for historical detail is both honed and wide, and the outcome merciless. An engaging, entertaining read start to finish. A must for any boy who says he hates reading.