"A delightful fantasy"

Hillkirk is a quiet, relatively safe town that lies in the eastern part of the realm. Theresa Winered is a married woman stifling from the confines of her position. Hanoli, a barmaid, tries to keep her dignity in her squalid existence. Valla is the local midwife respected for her knowledge of herbal medicine. Although these three women are of different statures in life, their practice of Wicca makes them natural allies in the dark days that are soon to be upon them.

An unstoppable plague is sweeping is on the from the southlands. At the same time a ravaging horde of Barbarians from the east is sweeping closer to them every day, destroy anything in its path. Theresa travels into the forest of Havernon and becomes one of the leaders in the war effort. Hanoli and the man she loves travels to the island of Isalt in hopes of finding THE FLOWER OF THE CRUEL BURNING, the only known cure for the plague. Valla stays in Hillkirk hoping to give comfort to her patients. These three remarkable females, already courageously helping people, play a heroic role in a war they thought there was no hope of winning.

Lovers of fantasy that like heroic battles and plenty of action inside a believable plot will want to read THE FLOWER OF CLEAR BURNING. The characters make this novel stand out from other works of similar style and caliber. The women accept burdens men normally assume with a determination to complete them or die trying. Joel Val Valin is a gifted storyteller who will appeal to fans of Patricia Briggs and Candace Sans.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted November 12, 2002

Summary

Clarence Winered didn't realize he'd married a witch. But now his wife Theresa is leaving their pleasant town of Hillkirk on a dangerous journey into the dark forest of Havernon. Accompanied by the midwife Valla and a young barwench named Hanoli, they go in search of a legendary flower that has the power to cure the plague...a plague that, every day, draws nearer to Hillkirk and its unwitting townspeople. With the help of a foreign doctor, a dissipated prince, a forest knight and his mysterious lover, they just might succeed in their quest. Set in a world recalling northern Europe in the 14th century, the Flower of Clear Burning is a both a story of heroic feats and a sketch of the subtle emotions at work in men and women in times of catastrophe.