HEART OF LIGHT

Author: Sarah A. Hoyt ISBN: 9780553589665 3/2008 FANTASY Publisher: SPECTRA
Time Period: 1889 Cairo & Africa

On a luxury magic carpetship in 1889, an English couple travel to Cairo for their honeymoon. Except for a brush with a dragon, the voyage is uneventful. But for Nigel Oldhall and his beautiful Indian-born bride, Emily, the holiday hides another purpose. Within hours of arriving in the teeming city, they are plunged into an extraordinary struggle among demons, murderers, and magic. In Cairo, Nigel can no longer hide his secret from his wife: he is on a mission to rescue a ruby that will ensure Queen Victoria’s hold on Africa forever. But the search has already swallowed up Nigel’s older brother—and now it has put his own Emily in mortal danger. But is she the innocent Nigel imagines? Soon, separately and apart, the two will set off for the heart of the continent among conspirators and traitors, all seeking the ruby and the gifts and curses it offers them—and all of humankind.…

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I loved HEART OF LIGHT by Sarah A. Hoyt. It is a fantastic journey that meshes history with the imagined so skillfully, that to read it is to temporarily suspend reality and fall, wonderfully, into this storyteller's vision. The first few paragraphs begin on an, at first glance, disappointing note, with Emily sitting nude on the bed, wondering how she's disappointed her husband of only a few hours in such short order. Nigel explains away her confusion, passing it off on their being tired, and almost has Emily convinced when there's a commotion on the magic carpetship they're riding. They rush outside, and thus the reader is swept into a world where spells, magic powers, conspiracy and drama are commonplace. The search for the HEART OF LIGHT is on. Will Nigel and Emily survive the adventure? That's a question that I needed to know the answer to, so I sat up late into the night, riveted to the pages of this book.

HEART OF LIGHT is not an ordinary romance, so if that's what you're after this may not be the book for you. But if you've got a feel for adventure and visiting far-off places, searching for the HEART OF LIGHT might be exactly what you're looking for. The tale is vivid, the characters larger-than-life and it is captivating from beginning to end. Me? I'm all for tagging along on an adventure to the dark continent and riding on a carpetship. I loved this story so I can easily recommend this book. Bravo, Ms. Hoyt! Well done!

Kay James