The Sunset Saga Book 2: Pillagers of Time, Part 3
I have decided to post this table of contents for an upcoming print novel because it is one of the rare examples I have of a novel that I have written that was fully outlined from the start, with the outline consisting almost precisely of this table of contents. The only alterations to the original were a change in perspective for the last three chapters, and the addition of two bookmarks to Warpath, to introduce Little Lord Shaw.
I am one of those writers that dreads proofing anything over two years old. I wrote this thing exactly three years ago in less than a month. That kind of writing pace works well for narrative consistency and fluid reading but I was afraid in retrospect that I might have neglected imagery and scene depth. I find myself pleasantly surprised. I'd rate this as my second best novel behind Forty Hands of Night. It has the two best chase scenes that I have written and the best battle scene, a midnight fight between Cherokees and Spaniards during a snow storm in the streets of a burning town.
Thunder-boy also marks my decision to explore advanced artificial intelligence from the perspective of a primitive metaphoric mind. Until this point in the Sunset Saga I had not decided what character was going to be the vehicle for exploring the human originated intelligence vast enough to bend and splinter Space-Time. Also, keep in mind that if this ever gets published by a traditional house they will delete the table of contents.
Most Sunset Saga readers like the table of contents for various reasons, the main one being they like to check ahead on certain characters, and sometimes read the story one strand at a time. For instance, one reader loves the Three-Rivers character but has a hard tome stomaching graphic combat. She uses the contents listings to navigate around the river of gore that is the Jay Bracken narrative arc. So, even though it adds 5 to 10 pages to the book, I want to include the contents for the readers. I'm not afraid of you reading clutch scenes first and than reading back. I write with rereads in mind as it is. Enjoy it according to your own taste, and thanks for taking the time.
If you are interested in reading Thunder-boy it is one third of our ebook Pillagers of Time, available at our online store, and will be available as a print trade paperback from Amazon.com sometime in September 2014.
Dust Cover
Born in 1523 to the Flint Place People Three-Rivers now lives in 21st Century America, the world he knows as Sunset. He works as a translator for a genetic reclamation or "time-hunting" unit managed by his adopted mother, a genetically engineered 24th Century assassin who he knows as the Sunset Lady. The "ADHD" and "epilepsy" medication fed to him on Sunset clouds his visions and prevents him from talking with the animals and walking with the dead.
In order to regain his lost medicine Three-Rivers tricks Burnt Man and the Sunset Lady and steals the Secret of the Thunderbirds. With Thunderer's Dream-Catcher in his possession he embarks on a medicine-quest: to 2844 in search of the unseen Masters of Furthest Sunset; and to 1628 to save the Civilized People of Mother Earth Past from the savage White invaders.
Contents
Protagonists in Order of Appearance 14
Chapter 1: In the Noose of Time 15
Tavon’s Crew 15
Painted Wolves & Bloody Doves 21
Family 27
Chapter 2: The Medicine Goes Away 32
The Hollow Boy 32
Mother Moon’s Dream-Thief 38
The Secret of the Thunderbirds 44
To Steal Thunder 51
The Plight of Thieves 53
Chapter 3: Mammy Dread 56
Sensei’s Ghost 57
Colder Than Ice 59
Departure 60
Chapter 4: Among Burnt Men 64
A River of Thunder 64
Melted Bead 66
The Prophet of Bean Pies 69
A Man with Three Numbers for a Name 72
Chapter 5: A Dance Too Far 75
Business Time 75
Golf is Not a Sport 77
That Time 79
Chapter 6: Return of WhiteSkyCanoe 85
The Spell-binding of Eddie 86
The Penned-in Wild place 89
Egret at Dawn 90
Chapter 7: Meadow Hawk 94
Father 95
Joseph 97
Chapter 8: White Ash 99
Coming Down 99
Miss Ann 102
Chapter 9: Gerald Hicks 106
The Return of Squirrel Boy 107
The Transmigration of Gerald Hicks 109
The Plight of Sunset Squirrels 113
The Weeping Giant 115
Chapter 10: Heat 122
The Columbian Kid 122
Bringing the Heat 125
The Dude that Never Shuts Up 131
Chapter 11: A Medicine-Man of Nearest Sunset 133
A Husband of The Ender’s Daughter 133
Mister Medicine Vest 136
Dancing in the Sky 139
Chapter 12: Mamma Witherspoon 145
Chapter 13: Clouds and Rain 151
Ghost Riders 152
Johnny Hardtack’s Nag 154
Ethereal Hooves 157
Duty 160
Girlsy 165
Chapter 14: Raven 168
Crow Caw 172
Chapter 15: Thunder-Boy! 175
Where Demons Tread 175
The Ender’s Garden 185
The One Tree 188
Chapter 16: Without Time 194
Chapter 17: Return to Mother Earth 197
The Medicine of Holy Robinson 197
Wild Goose Town 200
Medicine-Cloud 202
Power of the Meek 207
The Long War Way 212
Upon the Wounded Land 218
Chapter 18: George 221
Chapter 19: Deep Trouble 226
The Devil’s Dookie 226
Seamus 237
Chapter 20: That Time 241
Midnight Madness 241
Hitting the Door 245
Hitting the Wall 247
Fire-Storm 249
Chapter 21: The River of Drowning Souls 253
In the End 253
Tears of the Departed 256
The Seat of Repose 258
Chapter 22: The White Sky Canoe 262
Chapter 23: Warpath 267
Human Stew 267
The Sons of Fierce Woman 272
Don Enrique 273
The Hunt 276
The Rundown 279
El Cid 282
Fury 286
Little Lord Shaw 288
Chapter 24: Sender 292
The Vanishing 292
Wounded Knee 298
The Sender 302
Chapter 25: Socks 306
Jay-Bear 306
The Divide 308
Maria 309
Three-Rivers’-Town 311
Eggshell 313
Chapter 26: Corn Town 316
Jesus Christ Superstar 316
Buttercup 319
Chapter 27: Goodbye Brotherman 322
Chapter 28: He-Who-Makes-Rivers 326
Good-River Cousins 326
Three Islands 331
The Six Rivers 333
Falling Waters 335
Shine Down 337
Chapter 29: Jim Silver 344
Chapter 30: The Iron Horde 349
Topknot 349
Terror at Night 356
Death at Dawn 358
Pillage 359
Mister Ted 363
Chink 366
Chapter 31: Thunder over MedicinePole 374
Badassin’ It 374
BITCH 378
Chapter 32: House of the Rising Sun 386
I Dream of You 386
Medicine-men of Nearest Sunset 390
Gathering of the Thunder-Riders 393
Mister Takeda Takahashi 395
Chapter 33: To Catch a Dream 401
Paths Inward 401
The One Place 404
Appendix 409
The Three-Rivers Sunset Saga Hijacking: The Short Story Draft that Became the Novel Thunderboy 409
Author's Note 409
Context 409
Part 8: A Medicine Man of Nearest Sunset 410
The Rolling Journey House 412
Protagonists in Order of Appearance
1. Jay Brant Bracken, time-hunter
2. Three-Rivers, prophet of Mother Earth, medicine-man of Nearest Sunset and thunder-thief
3. Thomas “Eddie” Edison, former crack-dealer and unemployed time-traveler
4. T.T. Redbone, bodyguard
5. Hyacinth White Feather, widowed time-traveler’s wife
