His power seeks to destroy it all. Can she rise up to stop him?
The Stoneslayer new adult/paranormal fiction series charts a lost world of political scandals, explosive family secrets, and the reincarnation of a line of extraordinary women who challenge the cataclysmic rampage of an ancient, demonic foe.
Book One Scandal
Lt. Helen Andros is a mixed-race outcast in Azgard. Saved from death when her true parentage comes to light, she now faces the outrage of the overclass, the lethal hostility of the mighty Temple of Kronos â and a powerful, high-ranked father she neither knows nor trusts.
Steering a volatile personal journey with her stranger parent, Helen is stalked. Will a hidden menace â the deadly Stoneslayer â plunder the mysterious green gem she inherited from her mother? Will political necessity bind her in marriage to a man she does not love and who cannot love her back?
The series is suffused with romantic elements. These include:
⢠Forbidden love between Helenâs parents. Hence the scandal.
⢠Unacknowledged love between Helen and the man she truly loves.
⢠Gay love between the Helenâs best male friend and the man she eventually marries.
His power seeks to destroy it all. Can she rise up to stop him?
The Stoneslayer new adult/paranormal fiction series charts a lost world of political scandals, explosive family secrets, and the reincarnation of a line of extraordinary women who challenge the cataclysmic rampage of an ancient, demonic foe.
Book One Scandal
Lt. Helen Andros is a mixed-race outcast in Azgard. Saved from death when her true parentage comes to light, she now faces the outrage of the overclass, the lethal hostility of the mighty Temple of Kronos â and a powerful, high-ranked father she neither knows nor trusts.
Steering a volatile personal journey with her stranger parent, Helen is stalked. Will a hidden menace â the deadly Stoneslayer â plunder the mysterious green gem she inherited from her mother? Will political necessity bind her in marriage to a man she does not love and who cannot love her back?
The series is suffused with romantic elements. These include:
⢠Forbidden love between Helenâs parents. Hence the scandal.
⢠Unacknowledged love between Helen and the man she truly loves.
⢠Gay love between the Helenâs best male friend and the man she eventually marries.
âRun, Mary! We sail or we perish. Now!â
Where mountains should stand tall, only a mountainous wall of water hurtles toward us. The noon sky blackens; the ground groans and roils. I try to move. My legs cannot master the wild beast bucking beneath my feet. I stumble to my knees. The relentless wave of doom rolls on, drowning everything.
***
Gasping, my hands at my throat, I snap upright in my bunk. For a while all I do is breathe, in and out, over and over, relieved to be taking in air. The nightmare of nearly dying returns. Tears slide down my cheeks.
I fumble for a light-stick and flick it on. The privilege of a private cabin cannot cheer me. It is a cell jammed with a sleeping berth, a tiny desk, and one hard chair.
My home for the time being, an underwater vessel, is packed with things that are now useless, like the dead link on the metal tabletop close to my head. There is nothing to link to anymore; no one is at the other end, or anywhere else for that matter. The light-sticks may still work, yet they cannot be replaced. The secret to their fabrication died out in ages past.
Will we who survive become as forgotten as the stonesmiths who forged these devices so long ago?
I cannot stand even the thought of that prospect. I cannot bear it if those who come after this nightmare truly ends do not recall who and what preceded them. If they do not understand where we went wrong and learn the bitter lesson, they will repeat our fate, just as we now suffer the downfall our Toltec ancestors might have endured had it not been for Kronos the Deliverer.
I surrender to despair, crumble into sobs. Damn you, Kronos! You did us no favor. You never should have rescued the Toltecs and brought them to the island where the Turanians lived. First the Turanians paid the price, and then we all did. Why? Why did you save them, Kronos?!
âThat is perilously close to what some might call blasphemy, Little Consort.â
I shiver at the sound, reedy and echoing. In the gloom I can just make out the wall enclosing the foot of the bunk â it ripples and shimmers. A mist flows into the cabin and takes a stick-like shape. Soon the footless form floats before me, covered by a dark cowl and robe. Mercifully I cannot see the face. The voice is bad enough.
âSince when did the Mist-Weavers care about blasphemy, Maguari? And how did you get here? We must be a hundred fathoms below sea level. Should I inform the captain we have a stowaway?â
The cowl bobs from side to side. âI will not be staying long, Little Consort. And I have not the inclination to teach you fully about energy, so I cannot answer any of your questions.â
My breath hisses through my teeth. It is a strange blessing to feel annoyed rather than devastated. Maybe that is his intent.
A disembodied smile pops into my mind. âI visit only to remind you that always there is hope, even in the darkest hour. Beyond destruction, love and life prevail. That is the way of energy.â
âDid the Arkstone bring about the Toltecsâ second devastation? Did we use it unwisely?â
The cowl swishes again. âNo and yes, Little Consort. The stoneâs only property is to direct and magnify the energy of consciousness. The choices made by spirits exercising their free will brought you here. Some among you lusted for wealth and power, and made unwise use of the stoneâs capability.â
I choke back tears. âNo one will remember us, Maguari. We will be forgotten and lost.â
He lifts one of his arms toward me. âNot so, Little Consort. You must tell the true story of the Arkstone and the Toltecs â and the Turanians. Through you and your tale those who are born into humankind in later years will remember. You will stir their soul memories.â
âI canât do it, Maguari. Where do I even begin? The entire story is so much bigger than I am. And it is full of the unspeakable. I donât even want to think so much about it. Some of the people involved did such wretched, despicable deeds.â
âBut speak you will, Little Consort.â He pauses as though to think. âYes, even of the being you came to call the Stoneslayer.â
âStop, Maguari! I hate it when you read my mind!â
âIt is in your energy, Little Consort.â He issues a sound between a snort and a sniff, his kindâs version of a sigh. âAs difficult as it may be for you, tell the story of the Stoneslayer.
âBegin with your dear friend, the Stonehealer. Was not she the one who inspired you to greatness? The greatness that helped you save from total annihilation those who chose to pay heed to your warnings.â
He refers to Helen Andros. âShe married the man of my childhood fantasies, Maguari. I probably should have hated her.â
He emits a strangled cackle, the Mist-Weaver equivalent of laughter. âChoose to rise above pettiness of heart and spirit, Little Consort. I will leave you now to begin. I will not go far if you have need of me. Be at peace and relay the tale.â
***
I find myself at the desk, in a seat that has no mercy on an old womanâs backside. I stare at my withered hands. A Gridbook is also useless without the Grid. I will have to set this down the old-fashioned way, using a primitive sheaf of wordskin.
Yet I am at a standstill. The political and personal relationships (often the same) and the bases of power among the Toltecs in Azgard were complicated, to put it mildly. Perhaps if I provide a brief overview, it will jog my memory and make things clearer to anyone who reads this after I am gone.
MAJOR POWER BASES IN AZGARD
THE KINGSHIP: Held by Kefren Poseidon.
THE PROTECTORSHIP: Held by Lord James Mordecai.
THE STEWARDSHIP: Held by Jacob Shinar.
THE CHANCELLORSHIP: Held by Griffin Mordecai.
THE TEMPLE OF KRONOS: Led by Ezekiel Malachi, the Supreme Lord.
RULING, ROYAL, AND GREAT HOUSES IN AZGARD
RULING HOUSE OF POSEIDON: Kefren, Exalted Lord of the Kindred.
ROYAL HOUSE OF ATLAS: Enoch Atlas, Prince of Westar.
HOUSE OF MORDECAI: Lord James Mordecai, Duke of Alta.
HOUSE OF POLARIS: Lord Tarkon Polaris, Duke of Eden.
HOUSE OF PALLADIN: Lord Andrew Palladin.
LESSER POWER BASES IN AZGARD
PRINCEDOM OF WESTAR: Prince Enoch Atlas.
PRINDECOM OF ISTAR: Price Seti Poseidon, Kefrenâs brother and heir.
DUKEDOM OF ATLANTA: Lord Sargon Poseidon, Prince Setiâs heir.
DUKEDOM OF AVALON: Lord Nimrod Atlas, Prince Enochâs heir.
UNOFFICIAL POWER BASE IN AZGARD
Consort of Azgard: Lady Naomi Palladin, Kefrenâs wife.
Azgard Social Ranks
1) Toltec Royalty
Ruling House of Poseidon
Royal House of Atlas
2) Toltec Nobility
Great Houses
Lesser Houses
3) Toltec Commoners
Business Owners
Professionals
Skilled Crafts/Merchants
Farmers
Laborers
4) Turanian Subjects
Mixed-Race with Royal/Noble Lineage
Turanians
Mixed-Race with No Royal/Noble Lineage
There were also hundreds of Lesser Houses, all jockeying for recognition, advancement and, of course, more wealth. Painfully absent from my power bases list are the Turanians. Far more numerous than the Toltecs, they inhabited the island long before the Toltecs arrived. The Turanians had no power.
I have decided to fill out a glossary of people, places, and things that were in Azgard and put it at the end of each portion of my tale. I shall also draft a map of the island, which was large enough to pass for a small continent. I could put on it all manner of cities and other noteworthy landmarks, but Iâll stick to the basics for simplicity.
I will outline family trees of the ruling, royal, and great houses, too. That should provide some idea of exactly how intertwined the power brokers and money-mongers of Azgard were.
***
I stare at my outline and quail again. Who am I to talk about the destinies of nations and of worlds? I am Lady Mary Atlas. I was once Consort of Azgard, heretofore the richest, most powerful nation on earth. Is that enough? Does that give me the right to proceed?
âIf you do not have the right, then who does?â
âConfound it, Maguari! All right! All right! Iâll do it.â
Yes, I will write, although maybe not in peace. Not while I chronicle the monstrous deeds of the Stoneslayer. I will write to remember, no matter how painful. I will write, lest those who follow forget our legacy, flawed as it may be, because they did not live it as I did.
I will try to give the honor to Helen and our descendants that they richly deserve but so rarely receive. I will present truth as I know it. It may not be the truth, whatever that might be; even so, it is my truth, and the truth of those who shared their experiences with me.
Scandal, Book One of Candace Lynn Talmadgeâs âStoneslayerâ series, chronicles the uproar and political maneuvering after the revelation that one of the realmâs governors has a natural child who is also half-blood. However, unbeknownst to those jockeying for power, an ancient evil also readies itself for domination.
Scandal is excellent high fantasy. While Talmadge draws inspiration from the real-world religions and mythologies of many cultures, she creates a history all her own. She dives into her world immediately with only the briefest introduction to the players and no handholding regarding the rules of magic. The author shows the reader the social makeup of the island of Azgardâthat the colonizing Toltecs are in charge and oppress anyone who isnât pure and âof the bloodââthrough the plights of her characters instead of through tedious infodumping. While this may necessitate more than one read-through to process, it is infinitely more engaging. Talmadge constructs an immersive world, and her political intrigue rivals anything from Game of Thrones. Her characters are engaging and distinctive, full of depth and their own ideas and goalsâbe it the scheming prince, the half-blood medic thrust into a new role, or the lord who's star-crossed in love. As the first book in a series, it builds the tension nicely without being plodding or slowâthe plot will have readers turning pages to see what happens next.
While it is refreshing to read a book that doesnât rely on heavy-handed exposition to establish a fictional world and its rules, Talmadgeâs prose could have been clearer; her use of biblical and mythological names serves no purpose to the narrative other than readersâ familiarity. Additionally, too-similar names add unnecessary confusion to a novel already crammed with worldbuilding (see characters: Jacob, Justin, James, John, Jared; and see peoples: Turanians and Toltecsâwith the language Terzil). Given the likenesses, itâs easy to confuse characters, and while the novel has a helpful glossary, some variations could have improved clarity without changing the narrative.
Scandal has rich and detailed worldbuildingâfrom the social hierarchies between the Turanian and Toltec peoples to the history of Azgardâand its engrossing plot will have readers highly anticipating Book 2. Readers who love detail-heavy stories, complete with maps and appendices, may want to add this to their TBR piles. Readers looking for a light fantasy read with plenty of romance may find the text too dense and lacking.
This novel contains homophobia and disturbing sex scenes.