The Stones of Nomuru borrows from the experience of European colonization of the Americas to develop a conflict between settlers and the indigenous people of the planet Kukulkan. The "Kooks"—the intelligent, reptilian creatures of Kukulkan—are a sophisticated species with a partly industrialized society.

The better educated among them are aware of the history of European colonialism and are therefore suspicious of the motives of the people from Earth, who have built cities on Kukulkan. This creates complications for the novel's main character, the archeologist Keith Salazar, who tries to save an important archeological dig from the depredations of human developers and invading nomadic Kooks.

The Kooks are roughly what might have evolved on Earth if the dinosaurs had escaped extinction and continued to evolve. They are bipedal, without tails, and about the same height as humans.

They have scales, inexpressive faces, and...