Children of Stone: Opener of the Sky by Mary Woldering – A Visionary Fiction Alliance Book Review by R.J. Reviews

In the 2500s BC, a Semetic shepherd named Marai living in the Shadow of Mount Sinai discovers the Children of the Stone, consciousness from another world come to our planet to bring enlightenment. Marai, along with three women who become his wives (Ariennu, Naibe, and Deka), has traveled to Ancient Kemet to bring the stones to Hordjedtef, an old priest and son of Pharoah Khufu. But Hordjedtef grew jealous of Marai and poisoned him in a sacred ceremony. Marai survived, though it was two months before he emerged.

Now he has to find his wives. They have been taken south down the River Nile by Maatkare, claimed as his women. He is a cruel warrior, a general of Egypt with ambitions to Pharaoh one day with Deka’s help. Marai will have to find a way to rescue Ariennu, Naibe, and Deka from his cluthces without starting a civil war in the southern lands of Ta-Seti.

And do all of his wives want to be rescued?

Opener of the Sky picks up right where Go Forth By Day ended. Marai will need new allies to help him on his mission delivered upon him by the Children of the Stone as well as to be reunited with his wives. But the odds are stacked against him. He is one man against Maatkare and his army. And Maatkare is priest trained and has powers of his own.

Wills clash in this chapter of Woldering’s story. The stakes are high and tension wracks this book. Her narrative propels you forward as you wonder just how Marai will overcome the odds against him. And woven through it is plenty of Egyptian rituals and beliefs, forming the backdrop for this supernatural, historical fiction that is clearly well researched.

Opener of the Sky is the best of the series so far. It was hard to put down at times as it hurtled towards its ending and left me eager for the next book in the series. If you’re a fan of historical fiction and Egyptian mythology, then you need to read this series. It has such a breadth, covering even the politics surrounding the Pharaohs and their extended family to how the belief in magic pervades so much of their daily lives.

Will Marai triumph from Maatkare, or will he become the Opener of the Sky? Politics, magic, and more permeate this story and leave me waiting for book 4.