Quetzalcoatl: Time Stones Book II
By Ian Hunter
Publication Date: 22nd April 2021
Publisher: MVB Marketing- und Verlagsservice des Buchhandels GmbH
Print Length: 277 Pages
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Jessie Mason lives with her nose in the pages of history. But she is discovering that the past is a dangerous place where she doesn't belong, and knowledge alone is not going to save her.
Jessie’s life has become a series of terrible challenges. Now she must lead her friends in the hopeless task Grandfather set them: hunt down and destroy the Time Stones. But her leadership has already failed. Tip has left them and Abe has simply disappeared, while she and Kes are trapped in the heart of an ancient empire in turmoil.
Thrust into a fractured, threatened Mexica nobility, Jessie is immersed in a way of life, fascinating and disturbing in equal measure, yet powerless before the approaching Conquistadors and the impending clash of cultures.
Even as the fabulous city of Tenochtitlan descends into savage violence, Jessie’s determination to succeed is undiminished. But with world history taking a new, bloody direction before her, she is finally forced to decide which is more important: continuing the task or simply surviving.
Praise:
“Quetzalcoatl (Time Stones Book II) by Ian Hunter is a tautly gripping novel that is written with a sensitivity to the era it depicts, but it is also a story packed with adventure and magic. Hunter’s vivacious storytelling made this novel impossible to put down. It is a story that has been penned with an impressive sweep and brilliance.”
The Coffee Pot Book Club
Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Quetzalcoatl: Time Stones Book II feels like a natural continuation of the first book, but it also takes the story into deeper and more uncertain territory. The sense that history itself is shifting is still present, yet here it feels closer to the characters and more personal. Their decisions begin to shape events in ways that feel significant, and the consequences of those choices are felt throughout the story.
The focus remains very much on the people rather than the mechanics of time travel. Jessie continues to be an engaging central figure, but she is no longer simply reacting to circumstances. She is forced to take responsibility for the choices she makes, and the weight of those decisions becomes part of her character. That shift adds a welcome layer of maturity to the narrative. Tiponi, Kesejowaase and Abe also continue to develop in interesting ways. Their relationships feel more complicated here, with moments of distance, uncertainty and strain that make their friendships feel genuine rather than idealised.
One of the aspects I appreciated most in this book is the way the Time Stones are handled. Rather than feeling like straightforward tools or sources of power, they carry a sense of danger and responsibility. The characters become increasingly aware that using them can have unpredictable consequences, and that awareness adds tension even to the quieter parts of the story. The stones feel less like something to rely on and more like something that must be treated with caution.
The story also balances character development with a broader historical backdrop. The world around the characters feels vivid and shifting, and the sense that they are moving through moments of real historical importance adds another layer of intrigue. Even when the narrative slows, there remains a quiet feeling that something significant may be about to happen.
There is a steady tension running through the book from beginning to end. The quieter scenes often carry just as much emotional weight as the more dramatic moments, and that balance kept me engaged with the characters and their journey.
Ian Hunter
Books have been an important part of my life as long as I can remember, and at 54 years old, that’s a lot of books. My earliest memories of reading are CS Lewis’, “The Horse and His Boy” – by far the best of the Narnia books, the Adventures series by Willard Price, and “Goalkeepers are Different” by sports journalist Brian Glanville. An eclectic mix. My first English teacher was surprised to hear that I was reading, Le Carré, Ken Follett, Nevil Shute and “All the Presidents’ Men” by Woodward and Bernstein at the age of 12. I was simply picking up the books my father had finished.
School syllabus threw up the usual suspects – Shakespeare, Chaucer, Dickens, Hardy, “To Kill a Mockingbird” – which I have reread often, and others I don’t immediately recall. By “A” level study, my then English teachers were pulling their hair out at my “perverse waste of talent” – I still have the report card! But I did manage a pass.
During a 35 year career, briefly in Banking and then in IT, I managed to find time, with unfailing family support, to study another lifelong passion, graduating with an Open University Bachelors’ degree in History in 2002. This fascination with all things historical inspired me to begin the Time Stones series. There is so much to our human past, and so many differing views on what is the greatest, and often the saddest, most tragic story. I decided I wanted to write about it; to shine a small light on those, sometimes pivotal stories, which are less frequently mentioned.
In 1995, my wife, Michelle, and I moved from England to southern Germany, where we still live, with our two children, one cat, and, when she pays us a visit, one chocolate labrador. I have been fortunate that I could satisfy another wish, to travel as widely as possible and see as much of our world as I can. Destinations usually include places of historic and archaeological interest, mixed with a large helping of sun, sea and sand for my wife’s peace of mind.
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