For the first time, legend and prophesy merge in the Hopi village of Hotevilla. A young Hopi boy, Hania, encounters a strange man during a ceremony, bringing forth a warning of an impending doom. If his people stay they shall perish. If they leave their home, they shall be saved.
Hania and his brother wander off into the Arizona desert, unable to leave their sacred home, a decision they will soon regret. In part two of the Monahdah series, they must band together with those left behind in order to survive the alien invasion.
“A strange and fascinating ride that will keep readers hooked.”—Rachel Eve Moulton, The Insatiable Volt Sisters.
“NeuMonah and the Chantallah is a unique read for science fiction lovers.”—Frank Mutuma for Readers’ Favorite
For the first time, legend and prophesy merge in the Hopi village of Hotevilla. A young Hopi boy, Hania, encounters a strange man during a ceremony, bringing forth a warning of an impending doom. If his people stay they shall perish. If they leave their home, they shall be saved.
Hania and his brother wander off into the Arizona desert, unable to leave their sacred home, a decision they will soon regret. In part two of the Monahdah series, they must band together with those left behind in order to survive the alien invasion.
“A strange and fascinating ride that will keep readers hooked.”—Rachel Eve Moulton, The Insatiable Volt Sisters.
“NeuMonah and the Chantallah is a unique read for science fiction lovers.”—Frank Mutuma for Readers’ Favorite
My Magic
“You will hear of a dwelling-place in the heavens, above the earth, that shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of my people will cease.”—White Feather
Two young Hopi brothers walk through the desert, hunting for snakes. The Arizona sun beats down, leaving cracks in the mud puddles from the previous storm. It’s October 16th, and the hottest day on record. The younger brother carries an empty black sack, and the older one carries a long stick. Ten yards ahead of them, snagged in some sage brush, lies a bright, red winter hat. Simultaneously, they reach the hat.
Chuchip pulls on the hat. “Let go!”
Hania looks up at his big brother and tries to stand taller than he is. “I saw it first.”
“I’m older. You should give it to me,” says Chuchip.
Hania gives in, drops the hat, and walks away. “Asshole,” he says under his breath.
Chuchip watches him walk away. “But since I’m nicer, I’ll let you have it.” He pushes it down over his brother’s eyes.
“Cut it out, Chip!”
“Apologize for calling me an asshole!”
“Alright, geez…sorry.” Hania adjusts the hat over his long, silky black hair.
“Listen!” Chuchip points. The sound of a rattlesnake in a bush next to them interrupts.
“He’s mad, thanks to you,” says Hania backing away.
Chuchip removes his snake wand from his back pocket, a stick with two feathers on the end. Hania holds back the branches of the bush with the long staff. Coiled up between two rocks, and camouflaged perfectly, the snake rattles his tail on high alert. “I see him. He’s right there. Get him away from those rocks.”
Hania uses the staff to guide the snake out of the bush. The rattlesnake gets ready to strike. “Grab him,” yells Hania. The snake targets Hania, but Hania quickly dodges the venomous strike and turns away. “Forget this one. He’s too mad.”
“You want Moki to win again? Hold him down with the staff.”
Hania pins the snake to the ground in the groove at the end of the staff, suited just for this purpose. Chuchip soothes the snake with his feather wand, brushing it along its diamond back scales. “That’s it. Watch me do my magic.” The snake stops his rattle, and Chuchip carefully grabs the snake from behind the head and picks him up. “Get the sack,” he whispers.
Hania runs to the place where he dropped the sack. Chuchip says something in Hopi, and Hania stops running and slowly walks over. His brother gently puts the docile snake in the black sack and ties a knot.
A blue ball flashes across the sky. Hania shields his eyes from the brightness. “What was that?”
“A meteor entering the atmosphere, I think. They look like fireballs.”
With a full sack of snakes, they return to the village.
Moki walks over to Chuchip for a fist bump. “Five bro,” he says with a big grin. “Who’s the boss?”
“Not you,” says Chuchip. “We have one more than you. Navay.”
“Shit.” Moki gives his sack to the snake priest, Chuchip and Hania’s father.
“Watch your mouth.” The snake priest dips a snake into a large glass jar of water and herbs. After cleansing each snake in this manner, he tosses them into a bed of sand. A snake tries to leave the sand circle, but Chuchip uses the staff and prevents him from escaping.
The blazing Arizona sun sets, and with quiet anticipation, the Snake clans fast in their kivas while the snakes await.
Snake Dance
The main plaza flows with people from the first, second, and third mesas. Many wear traditional ceremonial clothing, red cloth headdresses, airy cotton pants wrapped by ornate belts of silver and turquoise, deerskin moccasins, and painted faces.
Soft, morning light shines on the black painted faces in the Kivas, and eyes glow in the darkness. After a night of prayer and meditation below, the priests climb the ladder to the world above. One by one, they circle the plaza, stepping in unison to the beat of their rattles. They sprinkle sacred corn meal onto the snake shrine with each passing. Feather headdresses sway from side to side—step, shake, step, shake. After several passes, they separate and form two lines.
The slithering snakes are released from the shrine. A priest puts a snake in his mouth. The snake hangs down on either side of his face and body. He continues the dance around the plaza. Women in black shawls throw corn meal on the snake priest.
When the prayers for a healthy harvest reach the snakes, the priest tosses them to the side, while the snake gatherer picks them up and follows behind the priest. He soothes the snakes with a feather wand. This doesn’t prevent venomous snake bites, however. Blood drips down his neck, arms, and legs.
Drums continue—boom, boom, boom—and the rattles hold the spirit of the people. Young children marvel at the snake gatherers. Hania weaves through the crowd, making his way to the front to stand next to his brother. Thirty smooth, limp snakes drape across the snake gatherer’s arms and one coils around his neck. It’s hard to see where one snake begins and another one ends.
Their father creates a large circle of meal on the plaza floor. The gatherers release all the snakes into the circle, and the girls of the snake clan throw meal on the huge, slithering pile. Four priests, including the boys’ father, gather them up and run out of the plaza. With armfuls of snakes, they run to one of the four sacred directions.
Chuchip’s father motions to him for help. Hania wants to help too, but his father only needs Chuchip. Happily, Chuchip gathers up two snakes and runs behind his father to the special shrine where they release the snakes. From the shrine, the snakes carry out their prayers.
Hania walks away, scuffing his feet in the dirt, disappointed, and wanders away into the desert in a pout. He goes to his favorite rock where he likes to sit whenever he feels troubled.
After drinking an emetic to induce nausea, Chuchip’s father vomits, purging himself of any snake magic. All the other priests are doing the same, signaling the end to the ceremony.
Hania comes running back into the plaza with a bothered look on his face, and his mother calls for him.
“Why has the color left your face?” she says in Hopi.
“There’s someone here. A visitor.”
“We’re not open today to the public,” she says.
“That’s what I told him, and he wouldn’t leave. He gave me this.” He puts a stone tablet with strange markings in her hand.
“Where did you get this?” Her harsh tone makes him nervous.
“I told you. This weird guy,” he says partly in English. She darts away with the tablet.
He runs after her. “Wait! What about the guy? He’s over by the rocks.”
His mother finds her father who’s enjoying the late afternoon sun radiating off the adobe wall. He sits in a folding chair against one of the homes in the village, conversing with her brother.
When Grandfather has something to say, which is not very often, everyone stops and listens. That’s why the sudden interruption from Hania’s mother is taken with surprise. She hands grandfather the stone tablet with the strange carvings. Grandfather only speaks in their native dialect and will only answer to those who do the same.
“Hania has this.” Her hand trembles.
“I didn’t take it. It’s from this man—a foreigner."
“You are the keeper for the sacred tablets. You should put it where it belongs.” She scolds.
Hania’s uncle takes the tablet and looks closely at the inscription. He stirs out of his afternoon slumber. “Explain this, Hania.”
“Someone gave it to me.”
Hania looks at his mom as she glares at him. Grandfather walks away with the stone tablet. “I didn’t take it. Where is Grandfather going?”
“To put it back… where it belongs.”
“Why don’t you believe me?”
Uncle leaves the comfort of the chair and follows Grandfather. “Now where are you going?” Mother says crossly to her brother.
“To see.”
They follow Grandfather into his house. He leaves the room and pulls back a rug and removes a wooden box in the floor. He returns with a small bundle and sets it down on the table. He opens the blanket revealing three tablets, just like the one Hania gave him.
Uncle scratches his chin. “All the stones are here. Where did this stone come from?”
“I told you. A man gave it to me. He’s at the rocks.” Hania feels the gravity of the situation.
Grandfather’s eyes are old but bright. He looks straight into Hania’s eyes. “What did he say, this man?” Everyone turns and looks at Hania.
“He asked me, ‘Who is your creator?’ ‘What clan belonged my mother?’ Then he said, ‘We are brothers’ and gave me the stone tablet.”
“It could be a replica,” Uncle says with apprehension.
“He instructed me to tell you… he made it sound like a matter of life or death, to find him in the morning at first light.”
“He speaks English?” asks grandfather.
“I don’t know. He said this in Hopi, but he is anglo and very tall. He wears strange clothes.”
“Could it really be?” Hania’s mother’s eyes open wide. “Pahana?”
Grandfather puts a hand on Hania’s shoulder. “You did well, Hania. At first light, we shall go see what this person is about.”
NeuMonah and the Chantallah is part 2 of a series about the end of days on Earth. The story begins with two young Hopi boys collecting snakes for a ritual. Hania, the younger, encounters a strange man they call Victor in the desert who delivers a message to the Chantallah, or chosen people, that they need to leave their homes or be destroyed by the vicious Simerin invaders. The villagers have been waiting for this message and leave, but Hania and his loyal older brother, Chuchip, stay behind. What follows is a story of bravery and survival as Victor and an unlikely group of survivors avoid annihilation and strive to see their loved ones again.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading NeuMonah and the Chantallah, but being a lover of world mythology and science fiction, I thought I'd give it a whirl. The storyline didn't disappoint! I suggest that readers begin with Monadah, which is Part One of the series. There is a large cast of characters to keep track of, many of whom are alien and are carried over from the first book, and it got a bit confusing when some of their earlier storylines were carried over and context was missing.
Overall, the pacing was good. I think having additional transitions between storylines could have built the tension, especially as the group on Earth fought for their lives. The reader spends a considerable time at the beginning of the book with one group of characters and gets so immersed in their story, that it's easy to forget there's another whole group of characters in the story.
I also enjoyed the mix of action, science fiction, and cultural and spiritual aspects. It's an unusual combination, but it works here, and you can see it in the character development. Forgive me for listing movies in a book review, but if you enjoyed the plots of movies like Contact, Signs, War of the Worlds, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Independence Day, and even episodes of the X-Files with the Native American elements, you'll definitely enjoy this!
I gave the story 3 stars for the reasons listed above and because there were a number of spelling errors. However, none of these issues detract from the overall success of the book. This is a gripping tale with an intriguing blend of myth, adventure, and science fiction that will keep readers hooked for the final installment!