The first novel in CL Talmadge’s Green Stone of Healing series, The Vision introduces us to the world of Azgard and a ruling culture that may or may not be familiar.
I was going to put in the book description as it’s printed at Amazon, but it pretty much states the entire novel in a nutshell, so I won’t do that. The Vision is about a half-breed physician, Helen Andros, who is called upon to treat an ill hostage at a ruling capital. What starts out as a conspiracy to treat an ailing hostage turns deadly and life changing for Helen.
If I say anymore, I really feel like I’m going to spoil the novel for anyone else to read. Honestly, I’m not really sure what I think about The Vision. I’ve had it sitting on my desk for awhile now, it never really beckoned to me, and I kind of think I know why. The Vision reads like a soap opera. We’re introduced to a lot of characters that seem to have a lot of impact on the story; there is a lot of political intrigue going on; and everyone’s love lives are completely messed up. Even though there are a ton of characters to get to know, they each do have their own depths. We don’t learn everything about each of them right away, but we’re given what we need as the story progresses. I do like that aspect.
As for the plot, it’s not bad, but it’s not great either. There really wasn’t anything that made me sit up and devour it. I could easily put it down and come back to it at a later date. However, I did continue reading it because I did want to know what was going to happen. This story line is definitely not built around action, but more on the subversive tacts of strategy and espionage. While I’m not a blood and guts kind of gal, I do like a little more action in my novels than what I’m getting with The Vision. The other thing I did notice…I’m not sure what the hell is going on. I mean, I know what is going on, but not why. There is a ton of political intrigue, but why one brother hates the other and whatnot, none of that is really explained.
Overall, it’s not a bad novel to read if you’re looking for something different. Especially if you’re into more strategic soap operish warfare than straight up violence. I know something is going on in the background, but I’m still not entirely sure what that is. At the same time, all of the characters involved, all have this interconnecting love triangle/story going on that would be horrible if anyone found out. If you’re curious to know what my thoughts are on the series, I’ll have to say that I’m curious to see what happens next, but I’m not driven to pick up Fallout, the second novel, as soon as I’m finished writing this.
Read Order:
The Vision
Fallout
The Scorpions Strike
Outcast
Also reviewed by: Casey’s review on Literary Escapism, Long and Short Reviews, You Gotta Read Reviews, Bitten by Books , Blogger News Network, Fantasy & SciFi Lovin’ News & Reviews
Although, the two brothers involved are the Exalted Lord (aka King) and his heir, so that does make sense the more I think about it.