Mauna Kea: A Novel of Hawai‘i

Winner of the 2024 Nautilus Award for Small Press Fiction!

A boundary-bridging novel that will surprise, captivate, and movereaders who thought they knew Hawaiʻi; an age-old story of healing a searedheart and finding home. 

Mauna Kea: A Novel of Hawai'i is a gripping tale of clashingpassions—science and spirituality, vengeance and compassion, fear andcourage—set atop Hawaiʻi’s 14,000-foot Mauna Kea, realm of revered goddessesand star-wise explorers. A young vagabond running from America’sturmoil is forced to confront his own grief and rage on an embattled holymountain in the Pacific. There he encounters a mysterious domain of ancientmountain deities and the Native Hawaiians who revere them, including two wiseelders who take him under their wings and a young woman with a world-wearyheart akin to his own. 

Through his startling experiences with them—and a motleycadre of other islanders—he learns the power of aloha anddiscovers an untapped reservoir of faith and courage that rekindles his hope inhimself and in the world we share.

Includes an illustrated map and 12 original pen-and-ink drawings made especially for the novel by John D. Dawson