Bookshelf: Steven LeFever’s ‘Mariåna Sky’ returns with new ending

By Ron Rocky Coloma

Steven LeFever remembers rushing out “Mariåna Sky” in 2016. He had just been named a Guåhan literary ambassador at FestPac and wanted something to show.

“Back in 2016, I rushed the release to coincide with FestPac, where I was serving as a Guåhan literary ambassador. I wanted something to show, not just my experimental novel ‘Beautiful Escapade’ I wrote fresh out of college at the end of 2010,” he said. “But once the FestPac energy faded, and some months after the historical festival events, I realized ‘Mariåna Sky’ needed more work.”

That work stretched across a decade. LeFever kept refining the novel until he knew it was complete. He even adjusted the ending last week.

Steven LeFever

The updated book tells the story of the Mariana Islands through the eyes of the totot, the Mariana fruit dove.

“Around 2012, I had just discovered the totot. I was fascinated. It is a gorgeous, vibrant bird - it became my favorite bird ever. And I love birds,” he said. The dove, displaced from Guam by the brown tree snake, became his perfect narrator, moving freely across islands and offering what he called a “poetic, philosophical perspective.”

LeFever balances researched history with fiction by weaving lessons into the narrative.

“If the reader feels like they’ve been pulled out of the narrative for ‘lesson time,’ you’ve lost them,” he said.

The project also became personal. “The most profound thing was personal: the spiritual and philosophical maturity I gained over the decade of writing. I began in my mid-20s and finished in my late 30s. I grew alongside the story,” he said.

Now living in Japan, LeFever said the distance sharpens his view of CHamoru identity. He is already planning a sequel in the Mariana universe and developing a coming-of-age MMA drama set in the region.

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