The Emerald Tablet

The Emerald Tablet

The One Great Year Book 2

Tamara Veitch & Rene DeFazio

Waterside Productions, Feb 2019

474 pages

Historical romantic fantasy, historical fantasy

Provided by the authors

⭐⭐⭐⭐🌙 4.5

The cover is attractive with the eye of Horus, the all-seeing eye at the bottom center and the flower of life symbol showing up in the upper left. The color is green, of course. This is much like the symbolism on the cover of the first book in the series. The second cover that I have seen is quite different. And while quite a bit more dramatic, I don’t think it suits the books quite so well. This one shows the light shooting up from the stone and changes the color of the cover to a dark teal rather than emerald. The font is much more pedestrian. I feel the first cover coordinates with the cover of the first book very well and will create a very nice looking series on the shelf.

This book picks up our beleaguered Emissary (Marcus) in the modern-day when he and his soulmate (Theron) are in the same place and time again. Finally! Unfortunately, she (Theron) is being brought home by the roommate (Nate) to be introduced as his new girlfriend! Marcus doesn’t do a very good job of resisting his roommate’s girlfriend. In fact, he rather monopolizes her for the evening. But who can resist a 12,000-year soulmate?! Things have been quiet in Marcus’ life for a while. He can’t figure out where the Adversary (Helghul) is, but he knows he has to show up pretty soon. When Marcus finally gets a chance to meet Theron’s son, he knows immediately where the Adversary’s been. He may not be at full power yet, but he’s growing up fast.

The authors take us backward and forward in history to tell the stories about the Emissaries and Adversaries as they are reincarnated using real events in history in fictional ways to make this feel real. We meet Ghengis Khan and his family. Adolph Hitler and Ava Braun. Socrates and Plato. And they take us to the pyramids of Giza for some really amazing scenes and ideas that the Egyptians never thought of! By twisting this fantastic storyline through actual parts and places in history and using real people from history, it creates an amazing almost-reality to it all. It gives you references in time and place that you understand and really brings it all to life.

I did have some problems with the Grey Elder and his relationship with Helghul at the end. He was preachy and somehow I didn’t see him as being dynamic enough to control who and what Helghul was. And…the way this one ended was rather strange. Where did the other personalities go? Marcus is Mu now, but where are Theron and Helghul? Marcus should be able to see their shine unless they aren’t in this time and place with him.

If you enjoy fantasy and magic, if you enjoy historical novels, then you definitely will enjoy this amalgamation of the two. Recommended.