When all hope is gone and only darkness remains, one woman must stand against the storm of change-or see her world swept away.
5200 BCE. In a land of towering mountains and shadowed valleys, the Izokina people struggle to endure. Te'a, daughter of a chieftain, carries the weight of tradition, leadership, and survival on her shoulders. But when strangers arrive bearing gifts-and the promise of alliance-Te'a alone perceives the danger in their bargain.
As oaths splinter and betrayal takes root, Te'a must guard her people against forces that threaten not only their land but their very way of life. With only the fierce loyalty of her band and the unyielding strength of her spirit, she must stand as the last barrier between her people and the darkness of oblivion.
"A sweeping, thoughtful, and deeply human exploration of survival, tradition, and transformation."
- CANREADS Book Review (★★★★★)
Set at the dawn of the Neolithic age, Frozen in Time: Shelter of Stones is the first novel in a two-part speculative historical saga. With vivid landscapes, immersive world-building, and an earnest narrative voice, Zanne Raby reimagines Mesolithic Europe at a moment when ritual, community, and identity are tested by the arrival of a new world order.
As tensions rise and change accelerates, Frozen in Time explores a timeless question: how do we survive when the world beneath our feet is shifting?
Raby takes us on an adventure through the towering mountains and shadowed valleys of the European Alps over 5000 years ago as we follow Te'a and her people through a cycle of the seasons. This is a gripping story of love and loyalty set amid an intellectual playground of politics, Mesolithic ecology, and (to this reader) fictionalized hints of our own human past. You won't be able to put this book down.
-D.M. Buehler, author of TIARIS: When the Oceans Kissed
With a vivid narrative voice, Zanne Raby brings an ancient world to life, imagining civilisation as it might have existed thousands of years ago. Tension threads through every page, drawing the reader deeper into a world that feels both distant and yet real.
Frozen in Time is a gripping tale of endurance and spiritual awakening, echoes of which can be seen in our present day.
-Catherine Bryne, author of Ashes on the Green
