2022 Winner of the Book Excellence Award and the Maincrest Media Award
“Storykeeper breathes new life into historical fiction” – BookLife Prize in Fiction
“Will both intrigue and entertain any reader” – Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards
“A stunning novel and a joy to read.” – Historical Novel Society (Editorial Choice)
“A saga that demands and deserves careful reading and contemplation.” – Midwest Book Review
“Smith writes fluidly, and the society he depicts is intriguingly complex.” – Kirkus Reviews
The first recorded Europeans to cross the Mississippi River reached the western shore on June 18, 1541. Hernando De Soto and his army of three hundred and fifty conquistadors spent the next year and a half conquering the nations in the fertile flood plains of eastern Arkansas.
Three surviving sixteenth-century journals written during the expedition detailed a complex array of twelve different nations. Each had separate beliefs, languages, and interconnected villages with capital towns comparable in size to European cities of the time. Through these densely populated sites, the Spanish carried a host of deadly old-world diseases, a powerful new religion, and war.
No other Europeans ventured into this land until French explorers arrived one hundred and thirty years later. They found nothing of the people or the towns that the Spanish had so vividly described. For those lost nations, the only hope that their stories, their last remaining essence will ever be heard again lies with one unlikely Storykeeper.
~~~ Editorial Reviews of Storykeeper, winner of Best Indie Book Award ~~~
“I love that the author has poured his heart and soul into this one. It is contagious. . . This is a real find and I enjoyed it very much.” – Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards
“Impressive in its confrontation of the truth, and intricate description, Storykeeper allows the voices of the past to permeate the present, with echoes of history and survival” – Maincrest Media Award
“Besides the vitality of the world and characters, what is most impressive about this book is its structure and the way the author seamlessly weaves together three narratives.” – BookLife Prize in Fiction
“‘A man without a story is one without a past,’ Smith writes, ‘and a man without a past is one without wisdom.’ Readers may well find those words more prophetic, and more powerful.” – Kirkus Reviews
“I love this story, and I applaud Daniel A. Smith on his diligent research. Smith writes some strong characters in this gripping story. Every human emotion is engaged. Superbly done. I’m sure I will be reading this book again.” SK – The Jelly Bomb Review
“The book’s images, enhanced by objective historical writing are portals into the distant past, sometimes humorous, often heartbreaking, but always illuminating.” Fred Petrucelli – Log Cabin