Author:  C. L. Talmadge

ISBN:  0-9744084-9-2

The following review was contributed by  Emily Shaffer

A long time ago, right here on Earth, a civilization not much different from our own existed on the small island of Azgard.  Unfortunately, their problems are all too familiar as well:  war, racism, sexism, power plays, unrequited love, and plenty of dangerous secrets.  In this society, the dark-skinned Toltecs are the ruling class, the light-skinned Turanians are the oppressed working class, and Helen Andros, a half-breed medical officer with a mysterious past, sits precariously in the middle.

Helen, 33, and secretly in love with her commanding officer, is the orphan of a Turanian mother and an unknown Toltec father.  Despite her rare beauty and plenty of admirers, Helen maintains no hope of marriage as a half-breed, and so dedicates herself to her work as a healer.  But when certain Powers That Be (Toltec noblemen) force her to enter the forbidden Sacred City in order to cure a dying prince, Helen finds herself imprisoned, sentenced to death, and ultimately drawn right into the center of a dangerous power struggle.  Even with some of the nobility on her side, Helen’s problems get a great deal worse when it is discovered that her father is a high-ranking Toltec Lord.  With elements of the supernatural and a focus on energy and healing, Book One in the Green Stone of Healing series (a series promising at least 5 more books) tells just the beginning of Helen’s destiny, and her mother’s vision of how it will eventually alter the destiny of her entire civilization.

While Talmadge clearly has a very detailed and intricate sense of Helen’s world (in part because she claims to have been Helen in a past life), she has difficulty conveying that understanding to readers.  Keeping track of the tremendous number of characters (many of whom are referred to by various names and similar titles throughout the book) and their own complicated storylines can be overwhelming, and may cause some readers to give up or miss important aspects of the story.  The dialogue is a bit archaic and heavy-handed at times, and characters’ emotions and motivations are too often announced to the reader point-blank, lessening the suspense and simplifying the character development.   This story may have been better served if told only from Helen’s point of view, leaving more to the reader’s imagination while simultaneously clearing up some of the confusing relationships and plotlines.

That said, the real meat of Helen’s story is compelling if you can sift through much of the less-relevant clutter.  The themes of racism, power, family, love, and destruction are as relevant today as they would have been in Helen’s time.  Helen is a brave yet vulnerable character, and her epic story would be much more interesting and easier to follow if it were focused more on her rather than an entire world of characters.