Fiction can fill incomplete historical record

Don Bullis, noted author and Western historian, is also editor of the New Mexico Historical Notebook. In his December 2013 issue, he wrote the following about Winter of the Metal People:
     “I do not ordinarily review fiction on these pages, but an exception is clearly in order with Dennis Herrick’s book. While this novel takes up the Pueblo side of things during Coronado’s entrada in 1540-42, it is important to note that Herrick has his facts in order. While this is fiction, I think it goes a long way toward understanding the conflict between early residents of New Mexico and the European newcomers. Well written, informative, and entertaining. Historian Richard Flint wrote, 'We are brought to imagine the complexity and variety of Pueblo reactions as they struggle to come to grips with the foreign presence and how it violently impacts their lives and traditions'.”