W. Michael Gear is an American writer, and archaeologist born in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 on May 20, 1955. He is perhaps best known for his First North Americans

First North Americans (novels)

The First North Americans are a series of historical fiction novels published by Tor and written by husband and wife co-authors W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The series, which began with 1990's "People of the Wolf," explores various civilizations and cultures in prehistoric North America....

 series, co-authored with wife Kathleen O'Neal Gear

Kathleen O'Neal Gear

Kathleen O'Neal Gear is an American writer. Gear is a former state historian and archaeologist for Wyoming, Kansas, and Nebraska for the U.S. Department of the Interior. She has twice received the federal government's Special Advancement Award for "outstanding management" of our nation's cultural...

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Biography

W. Michael Gear graduated from Fort Collins High School

Fort Collins High School

Fort Collins High School, located at 3400 Lambkin Way, Fort Collins, Colorado, is one of four public senior high schools in the Poudre School District. Its school colors are purple and gold and the mascot is a lambkin. The school serves approximately 1,800 students and has a staff of about 130...

 in 1972 and pursued both his Bachelor's (1976) and Master's (1979) degrees at Colorado State University

Colorado State University

Colorado State University is a public research university located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The university is the state's land grant university, and the flagship university of the Colorado State University System.The enrollment is approximately 29,932 students, including resident and...

. Upon completion of his Master's in physical anthropology he went to work for Western Wyoming College in Rock Springs, WY as a field archaeologist.

Beginning in 1981, Michael, along with two partners, put together his own archaeological consulting company. Pronghorn Anthropological Associates began doing cultural resource management studies in 1982. He sold his interest in 1984.

Gear's writing was inspired by historical inaccuracies he encountered in reading historical fiction. "Irritated by historical inaccuracies in Western fiction, he swore he could do better. ...he read a Western novel about a trail drive.. [&] ... the historical inaccuracies of the story bothered him all night. The next morning... he hammered out his first five hundred and fifty page novel... It reads wretchedly - but the historical facts are correct!"

Gear currently resides in Thermopolis, Wyoming

Thermopolis, Wyoming

Thermopolis is the largest town in, and the county seat of Hot Springs County, Wyoming, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 3,172....

 along with wife, fellow author and co-writer Kathleen O'Neal Gear

Kathleen O'Neal Gear

Kathleen O'Neal Gear is an American writer. Gear is a former state historian and archaeologist for Wyoming, Kansas, and Nebraska for the U.S. Department of the Interior. She has twice received the federal government's Special Advancement Award for "outstanding management" of our nation's cultural...

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Notable works

Forbidden Borders trilogy

Forbidden Borders trilogy

The Forbidden Borders trilogy, written by W. Michael Gear includes Requiem for the Conqueror, Relic of Empire, and Countermeasures. They describe the political power play in a universe where humanity is forced to exist in a limited space bound by the Forbidden Borders....

• Requiem for the Conqueror
  Requiem for the Conqueror
  -Plot introduction:Set in a future when humanity has forgotten its origins in earth, the novel describes the political equations and power struggle between the emperor, a quasireligious group, a pre-sentient computer named the Magcomm and the Lord Commander....
  
   (1991)
• Relic of Empire
  Relic of Empire
  -Plot introduction:Set in a future when humanity has forgotten its origins in Earth, the novel describes the political equations and power struggle between the emperor, a quasi-religious group, a pre-sentient computer named the Mag Comm and the Lord Commander....
  
   (1992)
• Countermeasures (1993)

People Books - First North Americans

First North Americans (novels)

The First North Americans are a series of historical fiction novels published by Tor and written by husband and wife co-authors W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The series, which began with 1990's "People of the Wolf," explores various civilizations and cultures in prehistoric North America....

 (with Kathleen O'Neal Gear)

• People of the Wolf
  People of the Wolf
  People of the Wolf is a 1990 historical fiction novel by husband and wife co-authors W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear. The story explores the migration of humans into pre-historic North America. It is the first book in The First North Americans series....
  
   (1990)
• People of the Fire
  People of the Fire
  People of the Fire is a 1991 historical fiction novel written by husband-and-wife co-authors W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear. It dramatizes the transition of Native American culture from Paleo-Indian to Archaic as a result of climatic warming, set in the High Plains and Western Rockies region...
  
   (1990)
• People of the Earth (1992)
• People of the River (1992)
• People of the Sea (1993)
• People of the Lakes (1994)
• People of the Lightning (1995)
• People of the Silence (1996)
• People of the Mist (1997)
• People of the Masks (1998)
• People of the Owl (2003)
• People of the Raven (2004)
• People of the Moon (2005)
• People of the Nightland (2007)
• People of the Weeping Eye (2008)
• People of the Thunder (2009)
• People of the Longhouse (2010)

Way of Spider

• The Warriors of Spider
  The Warriors of Spider
  The Warriors of Spider is the first book in the Spider Trilogy, written by W. Michael Gear and first published in 1988. The story is set roughly 600 years in the future, sometime between 2600 and 2700....
  
   (1988)
• The Way of Spider (1988)
• The Web of Spider (1989)

The Richard Hamilton Duology

• Morning River (1996)
• Coyote Summer (1997)

Anasazi Mysteries

• The Visitant (1999)
• The Summoning God (2000)
• Bone Walker (2001)

Other Novels

• The Big Horn Legacy (1988)
• Long Ride Home (1988)
• The Artifact (1990)
• Starstrike (1990)
• Dark Inheritance (2001) (with Kathleen O'Neal Gear)
• Raising Abel (2002) (with Kathleen O'Neal Gear)
• The Athena Factor (2005)
• The Betrayal. The Lost Life of Jesus (2008) (with Kathleen O'Neal Gear)
• Children of the Dawnland (2009) (with Kathleen O'Neal Gear)

External links

• http://www.gear-gear.com/michael.shtml (Biography of W. Michael Gear on his official website)