Customer Reviews

The Vision: Green Stone of Healing® Series - Book One

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In the mythical land of Azgard, the Toltecs have invaded and conquered the Taranians. Marriage between the two peoples is absolutely forbidden and any children of such unions are forever considered to be bastards, shunned by the society of both peoples. Helen Andros, the sole medical officer for the 163rd Toltec Regiment is such a despised person. Through sheer grit and perseverance, she has fought to receive the education and position she now holds, one that is about to be severely threatened and compromised by the revelation of her true parental heritage.

Helen's mother, Miriam dared to love Lord James Mordecai, the powerful Lord Protector and Duke of Alta, a member of the most powerful House of Azgard. He dared to love her in return. The only remnant of her mother's lost love is a green amulet stone that Helen wears close to her heart, a heart wounded by what she believes was her mother's abandonment and then death many, many years ago.

Helen's a feisty character, to say the least, whose agreement to treat a ruling Lord results in her being condemned to die because she has violated the law that forbids Taranian bastards from entering the Sacred Precincts. At great risk to his own powerful position and life, James will save Helen's life and earn both veritable enemies who will do nothing short of murder to destroy them, if they don't kill each other first!

There are much tears, drinking of kaf (tea), sharing of meals, and conversations between Judith, a wealthy advisor to the rich and powerful, and just about every other significant character in this complex tale. Helen and James face each other with rage, misunderstanding and the reality of an underage woman becoming the daughter and possession of a ruling military leader. Numerous subplots weave their way through Helen and James's life, including a secret but successful plan to poison the Exalted Lord and rule of Azgard, torture of the worst kind for those who dare to disobey the cruel Toltec rulers, and so much more.

Despite the huge array of characters (thank goodness there's a very helpful Glossary to help the reader in this regard) and different strands seemingly digressing from the main story, The Vision is a fascinating read that never fails to make the reader wanting to find out what happens to these mysteriously connected people and how their entanglements will affect the future of Azgard. The vision is all about healing that is the root of all true living!

Fascinating, Ms. Talmadge!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on July 12, 2008

The Vision centers around political struggles in a fictional country/region, centered largely around the main character, whose questionable parentage turns out to be extremely significant and dangerous for most of the characters concerned. It's a fantasy setting with very little magic, although there is some indication that there will be more supernatural plot points later in the sequels.

A book like The Vision could have been handled very badly, and I've certainly seen fantasy novels try to tackle the same sort of things and fail miserably because their authors are too in love with the complex world they've created and overload their readers with details. The Vision comes close to this, especially in the beginning, but never succumbs.

Any reader of modern fantasy would have the "chops" to read The Vision unflinchingly. Anyone who isn't used to reading books with glossaries and genealogies in the back may be put off by the dense plot webbing. My major complaint with the book is hardly a complaint at all: I wanted more. The Vision just lets the reader dip a toe into the larger plot of the series. I wanted to know what happens.

Reviewed by Susana Polo

Classified as fiction? You can't make this stuff up. The book is nonstop action; filled with betrayal, greed, power, prejudice, acts of kindness, compassion, soul awareness, life lessons, AND humor.

The book is thought provoking and clever, when you think there is no way out or the situation is a no win, a resolution is made, a resolution that could never have been imagined.

The characters are so vibrant and real, whether good intentions or bad, some think with their heads, some with their hearts, some with their reptilian brain, and some just don't think at all.

The book is sometimes complex, there are many characters, with several issues, and events occurring simultaneously; fortunately, the author provides a glossary in the back of the book and has a website for additional information. I emailed the author from the website which is printed on the back cover, she was glad to hear from a fan and answered a question I had about the book.

I have read all four books in the series and can't wait for book five to be published.

When is the movie coming out?

In Azgard, medical officer Lieutenant Helen Andros has come a long way in spite of her low social rank as an illegitimate half-breed. The country's caste system has little wiggle room for people of her race and background; in fact she is surprised her Turanian mother gave birth to someone with her pedigree.

From the mysterious Mist Weavers, she recently learns why her mom accepted the ostracism of bearing an illegitimate half-breed when she finds out who her father is. He is a very powerful Toltec lord. They also understand the meaning of the green gem she has worn since birth. However, her paternal heritage will not prevent the Supreme Lord of the Temple of Kronos from killing this impure hybrid; the only way Helen can survive is if she learns to use the gem.

This is a superb very complex character driven fantasy that takes a close look at religious and racial persecution. Helen is a terrific heroine whose need to learn more about her heritage puts her on a path in which her outcome will be either death or power. The Toltec State Religion demands purity and nothing else is acceptable; thus the audience receives an intriguing cautionary tale of a theocratic caste society in which DNA and religious obedience rule. Readers will appreciate this strong fantasy in which intolerance supersedes acceptance

Harriet Klausner

In Green Stone of Healing® Series: The Vision C.L. Talmadge takes you on a wonderful adventure full of every aspect of life. Starting with love and ending with betrayal including a little understanding in between, this story is one of the best tales I have ever read. I would recommend it to any reader that enjoys mystery, romance, and suspense. Talmadge did a wonderful job including every aspect of the three in this page turner. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

This first book in a projected multi-book saga introduces us to Helen
Andros, a feisty and appealing military physician in a world ruled by malign reactionary theocrats and riven by racial distinctions -- a world vaguely reminiscent of the contemporary US of A. Lieutenant Andros goes through more trials, both literally and figuratively, than the perils of Pauline, and, while she doesn't always come out on top, she makes for good company, with an irrepressible, wise-cracking style that blends elements of heroines from film noir and screwball comedy. The writing is solid, and a glossary at the back of the book helps readers keep track of an extensive cast of characters which includes virtuous, conflicted heroes like Lord James and Lord Matthew and hissable villains like Prince Enoch. Despite the bleak world of Azgard conjured by the author, the book feels humanistic and warm, and its concluding vision (the vision of the title) whets reader interest in future installments.

(NOTE: This review previously posted under my pseudonym Alex Kramer)

I have to tell you right off, I usually do not review books in this genre, but author C.L. Talmadge has written a read that has kept my attention and drawn me into her series. I would like to quote, if I may, her own words concerning it:

"Over several generations of strong female protagonists,
the series explores how state sanction for exclusionary
religious practices leads to the complete destruction
of an island nation called Azgard. Throughout, the
heroines and their mysterious green gem attempt to
offer a healing, inclusive alternative to a government
that persecutes those who do not look like or share
the religious beliefs of its top leaders."

Our author describes her series as, "a blue-state version of 'end-of-the
world' faction without a traditional religious viewpoint. Instead, it
examines alternative spiritual themes and sets forth a different
interpretation of free will and good and evil."

In the first book of this series, " The Vision," I met Lt. Helen Andros, who is a physician with a gift for healing. Helen wears a green gemstone
necklace from her mother with healing powers. Helen, however is a
half-breed, and is treated with contempt in her land . She finds out she is the illegitimate daughter of Lord James, a powerful man in leadership.

In this second installment of this series, Helen and her father begin a
battle of wits, each pulling against the other, in their ignorance of
relationships. Their battle is long and fierce as they seek from each other, loyalty, compassion and finally love. It is not an easy road, and is filled with disturbing incidents as it is traveled. Many of the unfair acts done to Helen left me filled with rage, but her fortitude was amazing as she survived one obstacle after another. I enjoyed this installment in the series.
The author takes you deep into the life of Helen, both past and present,
giving much more insight into her position and importance. The fierce
struggle for power continues, those who were evil, becoming more so as the battle for complete dominion is paramount. It appears none are safe from the cruelty that reigns.

The story was both repulsive in the acts of the characters therein, but also heartfelt in devotion and love to those struggling for the good. The ending definitely left you wanting, and that is a good thing.
Exceptional job of writing, and keeping this story tightly together in a
genre that is certainly difficult to do such, our author is top-notch. If
you love an intense read, packed with sinister power seekers, grueling
heartless characters, yet laced with mystical moments, the lure of peace and healing,and the hope that goodness will prevail, this read is for you.
Excellent Job.

Green Stone of Healing is an epic fantasy featuring four generations of strong female characters who inherit a gem that mends broken bones and broken hearts, shields or renders its wearer undetectable. Book 1: The Vision launches the series with Lieutenant Helen Andros, an opinionated, tough-minded physician who wears a mysterious green stone. Helen is also emotionally wounded and vulnerable, an illegitimate orphan in Azgard, a nation divided by race and rank.

There must be legions of writers out there who read Dune and Lord of the Rings as children (and Harry Potter as adults) who said to themselves: "Hey, I can write a complex multi-volume story peopled with exotic, well-drawn characters and an air of magic and healing."

Yet who in the 21st Century can argue with the notion of a link between spirituality, energy and healing? I still have the sneaking feeling that this book -- which I plan to pass along to a number of like-minded friends -- will not be for every reader.

So let me hasten to add that though I'm marking it down (very slightly) in evalu8.org's rating system, my criteria for doing so have nothing to do with the calibre and content of the book -- both of which (in my view) are top-notch. I found myself waiting breathlessly for the next volume...and the next. ~ Anne Garber, evalu8.org

The Vision: Green Stone of Healing® Series - Book One (Green Stone of Healing Series) is the beginning of a taut, fast-moving story that reads like the author lived it in a past life. She sees the characters as real people and is telling their story rather than making a story up, per se.

They are flawed, interesting, very human people. Helen, the heroine, is stubborn, wounded by past losses and hampered by a lack of social skills and an almost pathological inability to think before speaking. She is also smart, warm, eager to belong and driven to help others even if the world hasn't been too kind to her.

Judith is powerful, ambitious, well-intentioned and sometimes devious and manipulative to reach a desired outcome. She influences events behind the scenes. Constrained by social customs, politics and powerful opposition from the head of the religious order, she is a multi-faceted character.

These are just two examples. Her other characters are equally complex and interesting.

People who appreciate spare, get-to-the-point storytelling about worlds that aren't too different from our own will like this book. The politics and multi-layered conflicts between the characters based on history, culture, gender and religion will resonate with many.

I found parts of this book hard to read because the author is so hard on her heroine at times. I wanted to run in and rescue her from some of the situations that she largely got herself into. Which to me is the sign of a good book - where you want to jump in.

The Vision is the first book of the Green Stone of Healing Series. A slim volume at 224 pages (including a glossary), The Vision sets up a volatile political climate that will undoubtedly become the centerpiece of the next two books, with lords and other nobles vying for power, and subsequently doing whatever it takes to acquire it. It also establishes the world of Azgard, a semi-futuristic, mostly fantasy place where people called the Toltecs have conquered the another people--the Turanians--and then banned all interbreeding, especially amongst the nobles.

Without giving too much away, The Vision follows Lt. Helen Andros, a half-breed who has had to work harder than anyone else just to get one grain of respect as a healer. Her hard work made her one of the best healers in all of Azgard, but it also guided her into being an abrasive, stubborn individual. What Helen doesn't know about her past, however, becomes a subject of brutal laws, violence, and political poison. Helen is an illegitimate orphan in a nation divided by race and rank, but when the truth of her origins begins to surface, the entire Toltec world will be shaken and the era of near-purity amongst the Toltec nobles will come to an end. Needless to say, some Toltecs aren't willing to lose their way of life and will try anything to hang on to their power and their belief in the purity of the Toltec race.

Talmadge's novel does a decent job of establishing the world of Azgard and the characters that will play an important role throughout the series. One of the issues I had, however, was that, while a lot of worldbuilding is a good thing, the worldbuilding in this novel seemed a bit much for the space provided. Some of the elements of Azgard seemed under dressed or overwhelmed by too much dressing. It became somewhat difficult to remember who was who, who was related to who, etc. This will likely be less of an issue in the following novels of the series, since most of the characters that will appear there will have already been established, but I feel like The Vision could have benefited from additionally pages devoted to showing us the world and all its intricacies.

Setting the worldbuilding aside, The Vision is a highly political book that delves into the inner workings of thoroughly entrenched politics--in this case the Toltec nobles. It is populated with a variety of interesting characters. Helen, who eventually becomes mixed up in all of it, even though, technically, she was already rather mixed up in it, takes center stage, with a huge cast of lords surrounding her, who generally are easy to pick out from the crowd, but can get a bit muddled when you toss them into a room full of other lords. Helen, though, is the resident "difficult one." She has good reason to be and her rather harsh dealings with other characters often come off in a humorous way. Other characters, such as Lord Justin, would do well with more characterization in later installments--this is something I'm hoping for.

For the most part I enjoyed The Vision, but it had several flaws, some of which have already been mentioned. One additional issue is one of style. Talmadge moves between POVs fluidly, but without breaks. She jumps back and forth between characters, sometimes to convey information to the reader that can't be conveyed with Helen or whoever is supposed to be the main viewpoint in that particular part of the book. This is a problem for me because I don't particularly like this style; often times it seems amateur and I see it as distracting from the characters that are most important to the story. Hopefully it lightens up in the other books.

Overall, The Vision is a complex piece of speculative fiction. While it has many flaws, it at least succeeds in being somewhat intriguing. Helen's wit and tough attitude are attributes to pay attention to and there are certainly plenty of interesting things to be said or observed about the politics of the Toltecs. Something I am still very much curious about is how much of the plot is actually set up by one of the other characters, whose name I will not mention here to preserve the mystery of the story. Is it all an elaborate ploy, or did it just work out the way it did with the noble houses becoming split by one person, even though that person never asked for it?