On a moonlit night 30,000 years ago, a young Neanderthal boy dreamed a true dream. In his dream, the spirit of the cave bear commanded the boy to follow her. Transported to a distant future beyond our own, he entered a strange world of brilliant and terrifying possibilities, a world inhabited by people who did not know the nature spirits, or even understand the spirits of their own technology.

Guided only by memories, the young Neanderthal must recreate the shaman's path. He must reconcile the powerful and capricious spirit of the cave bear with the realities of life in the new world, and find a way to save his people, the animals, and their sacred relationship. The clash of prehistoric shamanic traditions with future technology makes for a gripping tale in this first novel by the Nebula Award-winning author.