In an alternate Victorian world, author Sarah A. Hoyt uses fantasy to examine important concepts -- racial superiority, the use and misuse of power, whether love and belief triumph over society’s rules. Long ago, Charlemagne used a magic jewel, a ruby called Soul of Fire, stolen from the African tribe who guarded it, to consolidate magical power in the bloodlines of the aristocracy, but at some point in the past, the jewel disappeared. Now Britain’s Queen Victoria has commissioned a newly married couple, Nigel and Emily Oldhall, to acquire the only other jewel, Heart of Light, from the same tribe so that she can bind the power to her bloodline once and for all, retaining control as the most powerful country in the world.

Nigel and Emily arrive in Cairo, ostensibly on their honeymoon. Emily is an innocent, believing this to be a true marriage, but soon discovers that her magical bloodlines are what motivated Nigel to choose her. Her disappointment is crushing, and gradually, she realizes that she must seek her own happiness, if she survives. Earlier, Nigel’s brother, Carew, was assigned to find the stone for the queen, but he was killed, captured, or lost. Nigel, always the less valued, weaker brother does not know what he can do that Carew did not, but is determined to try to find the stone and his brother. Nigel and Emily are heavily invested in making other members of their family happy, both feel they have no value of their own. As they travel into Africa, pursued by the Hyena Men who seek to capture the jewel for their own purposes, and menaced by a dragon shape-shifter, they begin to have doubts about the rightness of their mission. Their doubts and disappointment in each other lead them in two different directions. Nigel does not yet know that his brother is still alive, seeking the jewel for his own reasons, and will do anything to get it.

HEART OF LIGHT uses a fantasy world to examine some weighty topics. Using the voices of the characters, Ms. Hoyt has a great deal to say on the topic of colonization by superior force. Characters existing in the political climate of Victorian times examine the question of “the white man’s burden”-- whether any powerful society can decide what is best for another culture. There are difficult moments with the British army and African rebels -- both portrayed in a less than flattering light. Nigel, Emily, Peter, Kitwana, and Nassira are all heroic characters who make difficult and dangerous decisions, though they each have weaknesses and secrets. I was interested in how Ms. Hoyt made them rise above their problems to become heroes. HEART OF LIGHT is adventurous and unexpected. While not a romance, it is a refreshing change of pace for readers. I look forward to the next in the series, SOUL OF FIRE, available in August 2008.

Lisa Baca