The Dream Crystals of Gandara

by Sharon Faiola-Petersen, Charlotte McGary

Overview

The desert planet Gandara is a world where glow rocks fill the night with captured sunlight and crystals flood the mind with potent dreams. Its idyllic peace is shattered when its power-hungry ruler discovers how to manipulate the vibrational energies of dream crystals to force his subjects' loyalty.

Determined to stop his father's treachery, heir apparent Zanoah joins forces with the wanted leader of a rebel faction only to discover a freedom far more frightening than a manipulated reality. Caught in the chaos is the woman who loves them both.

Unknown to them all, the altering of the crystals has unleashed errant vibrational energies that threaten the entire planet.

Can Zanoah overcome betrayal, horrifying prescient visions, and a forbidden love to save Gandarans from a dangerous entanglement of corrupted natural and metaphysical powers?

The Dream Crystals of Gandara is a pulse-racing story melding sci-fi adventure with the hypnotic lyricism of fantasy. Authors Charlotte McGary and Sharon Faiola-Petersen weave elements of quantum physics, sacred geometry, and spirituality into a multilayered saga that takes an unlikely band of freedom fighters from the twisting caverns of the subterranean Inualans to the ancient cliff-side monastery of mysterious Tahlik monks.

Anyone who craves a page-turner with a deeply moving undercurrent will resonate with this transcendent tale of honor, love, and the unseen web of destiny.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781499361544
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	08/15/2014
Pages:	556
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.13(d)

About the Author

Charlotte McGary is a technical writer and programmer for a major technology company. Her background is in math, physics, and computer science. She also serves as an adjunct instructor at a community college, for which she created a series of primers on HTML and SQL. Previously, she worked for ten years as a programmer contracted to NASA, dividing her time between NASA's Langley and Ames Research Centers. In her not-so-spare time, Charlotte reads sci-fi, watches Anime, plays online games, and worries about the fate of Schrodinger's cat.

Sharon Faiola-Petersen is a marketing copywriter who holds degrees in public relations and journalism. She has worked as a marketing communications professional and administrator for many respected private corporations and educational institutions, including Stanford University, the University of Washington, and Bastyr University. Her writing is greatly influenced by her international travels and by a fascination with ancient cultures, metaphysics, and the body-mind-spirit connection.

Editorial Reviews

12/22/2014
Debut novelists McGary and Faiola-Peterson craft a promising secondary-world fantasy novel to open the Gandaran Trilogy. Gandara’s legendary peace comes from fragile crystals that give comfort to those who use them. When Zanoah, son of Gandara’s ruler, learns that the crystals may have a more sinister purpose, the balance of power is shattered, and Zanoah’s foppish cousin Fort steps in to take control. The feudal society and barren world are well constructed, and the authors make excellent use of tight plotting and side characters. Unfortunately, women are often sidelined and caricatured as fretful mothers, ardent romantic interests (such as Anlee, who falls in love with both Zanoah and Fort), or damsels in distress. Things end a bit too neatly, but this page-turner is solidly enjoyable, if not quite a sparkling gem. (BookLife)

Publishers Weekly

2014-10-02
A peaceful kingdom on an alien planet faces a threat from crystals that can control people's dreams in the authors' sci-fi debut, the first in a planned trilogy.The inhabitants of Gandara seem to have found peace, thanks in large part to dream crystals that can stimulate positive traits, such as "artistic inspiration." However, the stones can also be manipulated for other ends—as Zanoah, the son of Gandara's ruler, soon learns, when he realizes that his father may be altering the crystals to influence people's thoughts. When Zanoah attempts to stop his father, it leads to a tragic event that leaves the kingdom in disarray. All the crystals are destroyed, but nearly a year later, more of them are found in a mine. A small group, including Zanoah's love interest, Anlee, and Master Scholar Tannok, devise a plan to obliterate the stones for good. The story eases readers into an unfamiliar world with terminology that's easy to understand in context; "dromas," for example, are animals that resemble both camels and horses, and a "Na'reena" is essentially a queen. The desert setting creates a stunning ambience of desolation and isolation, which increases the intensity of later scenes, when merciless nomads pursue the heroes through the arid wasteland. The story's best characters are shrouded in mystery: The Hitam Movement, which demands equality for everyone in the kingdom, is led by the Mal'Hitam, whose identity is initially kept secret; and Aquila Mathias, a monk who has prophetic dreams, later comes to play an important role in the narrative. The ending, in which the main characters try to save Gandara from almost certain doom, opts to leave some questions unresolved—perhaps for the sequel. There's a "guide" to Gandara at the end, but it's not a necessity, as McGary and Faiola-Petersen make all the story's components, from characters to animal names, abundantly clear.A fine sci-fi adventure for readers who like to get lost in foreign worlds.

Kirkus Reviews