Customer Reviews

Queen of Oblivion (The Heartstone Trilogy)

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As much as the previous book, Queen of Oblivion draws you in and doesn't let you go. It's not a stand alone book, but worthwhile to readers of the previous books.

The first two installments in this trilogy captivated my imagination with fantastical settings and unforgettable characters. The first would have been outstanding had it not been for the unending nine squares training and competition. This finale, though, could not hold my attention. I decided to skip to the end, and I found that the authors had departed the gritty, erotic, and fanciful world and had entrenched themselves firmly in something cliche and straight out of Hollywood. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say that had I known the authors would have plunged downhill so abruptly with this final book, I wouldn't have bothered to read the first two.

The minions of sorceress Issefyn threatens to destroy the Ohndarien Empire. Using her dark magic ability, the sorceress has infected many of her opponents with the magical "black emmeria" that turns them into her slaves.

Zelani priestess Shara wants to join with her soulmate, the Heir of Autumn, former "Sleeping Warden" Brophy, but the evil sorceress has infected him with her black emmeria poison. Brophy feels he is being pulled into two opposite directions. The love for his beloved Shara battles with Issefyn's droning voice inside his brain to join her side. As he struggles to hold back the overwhelming dark sorcery, he needs to obtain the mythical Heartstone gem that allegedly counters psychic maladies; that he believes is the only hope to save the freedom loving empire.

The final Heartstone epic fantasy (see MISTRESS OF WINTER and HEIR OF AUTUMN) is an enjoyable conclusion as Shara learns you can't come home since home is not the same as your memory; in this case home is radically changed with the black emmeria turning everyone into slaves. The story line is action-packed from the onset and never slows down even when a detour twist occurs. Newcomers will be lost in spite of Giles Carwyn and Todd Fahnestock providing two backdrop prologues (One half way into the book) as the QUEEN OF OBLIVION is a well written complex ending.

Harriet Klausner