Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Nilos Healwomen #MFRWHooks #BWLAuthor #romancy #fantasy #swords #sorcery

 

Join the authors at #MFRWHooks http://mfrwbookhooks.blogspot.com for some great excerpts. Mine is found at https://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com and is from Nilos

Blurb:

Return to the world where Midra and Midran rule. The god and goddess have two faces. Midra is Mistrees on the Moon and also Mistress of the Dark. Midran is Lord of light and Lord of shadows. Rons ago, the Three and Three rose, Seer, Warrior, Healer defeated the Lord of Shadows, though remnants of his worshipers remain. As generations pass in the four nomes of the land only a few remain to honor the Mistress. Once again the followers of Midran prevail, leaving trouble to roil beneath the surface. Prophecies abound and many point to change. Will the Three and Three come again?

In Nilos, Healwomen have become only midwives. Their hodara lies in ruins on the bank of the Nilos River in the city of Memphos. Only a few women come for training and remain in the city. Others serve in the highlands and on the desert. The Eldest, she who rules the midwives, sets upon a scheme fo bring the Three to life and to rule the nome.

What will happen when the Eldest sets her plan into action? Will there be just three women or will they find their opposites becoming the fabled Three and Three? Who will rule the changes to come?

   

Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2021
An evocative fantasy with hints of The Handmaid's Tale, when females are demoted to a servile role in their society. Ms. Walters spins a compelling story of struggle and empowerment. I must try the other books in this series.
Plus that cover is gorgeous!


EXCERPT:

The Eldest, ruler of the midwives, entered the ruined remains of the hodara. Once the Healwomen, Sworn to Midra, Mistress of the Moons, resided here. People from the nome had come here to seek healing. She reached the banks of the Nilos River. The churning waters of the life-bringer rushed toward the sea. Anger roiled her thoughts. Her hands clenched.

Why had the Healwomen lost their standing in the land? Once they had walked hand in hand with the priests of Midran. Her gut churned with desire, not to stand with the priests but to rule over them.

I am a Healwoman. Those words rang loud in her thoughts. Though the title remained an empty promise, she vowed to find a way. The few women who entered had dwindled. Those who had once dwelled in the House of Healing had been relegated to the status of midwives. Where they once had been considered vital to the land their reputation lay in tatters.

She moved away from the edge of the river and reached a deep depression where chunks of stone had been ripped away and carried to the city. Much of the newer buildings in Memphos had been made from the granite of the hodara. Where she stood had once been the healing pool. The ill and injured had come to bathe in the warm water before entering one of the Halls to be treated by the Senior Healwomen. She should have been one of them.

The change had come long before her birth. As the last of a line of Elders extending back for generations, she was a failure. She had failed to give birth to a daughter. To her disgrace, she had one child, a son. He’d been taken by his father when the boy reached his fifth year. Failure had honed her determination. She had dreams and plans to restore the reputation of the Healwomen. I will succeed.

She stumbled over a protruding stone and nearly fell. Her hand hit a piece of rubble that moved. A bit of parchment showed from beneath the rock. She stooped and carefully moved the piece of granite and grasped the scrap.

After finding a place to sit, she read the words. The Three…Seer, Warrior, Healer…come again…unite with.

Those few words rocketed into her thoughts.  Destined.  She’d always known a way would be found. What else had been written on the torn shard? She wished for more. Her hopes flew like prayers to Midra, Mistress of the moons.

The Eldest planned. She would be the one to find the fabled Three and thus erase her failure. She slid the scrap into the pocket of her divided skirt. Were there more pieces of parchment to guide her?

Though she overturned other stones and rocks in what had once been the scriptorium, she found no other bits. Her excitement remained high. What she’d found was a gift from the Mistress and she would use what she had learned.

Thoughts of triumph raised a broad smile. I will be the one. The Three will come. The Seer, Warrior and Healer called by the Mistress of the Moons will bring change to Nilos. The midwives would regain their proper position in Nilos. Once again, they will be called Healwomen. A new hodara would be built.

She rose and crossed the road to the wall surrounding the house where she lived with the other women considered mere midwives. Moments later, she opened the beaded curtain and entered her office.

Plans to make. Three young women, each to birth a girl, must be found. Her eyes closed as she thought of the women living in this house and the few assigned to the highlands.

Not many young women sought to join the midwives. Most were middle-aged. Of the five who were of a good age to bear a child one had just joined, two had nearly completed their training and two were poor choices. Finding a willing man for them would mean coins they didn’t have.

For the fathers, young men would be best. They must possess good blood lines. Most under consideration were priests of Midran. One of that ilk was her son. Though he was a few years older than the others, his lines were pure. The daughter to come would be of her heritage, making her failure less. Tomorrow she would begin to implement her plan.

 https://www.facebook.com/janet.l.walters.3?v=wall&story_f

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 http://bookswelove.net/

 http://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com

https://www.pinterest.com/shadyl717/

 

Buy Mark My Places

 

https://bookswelove.net/walters-janet-lane/

3 comments:

  1. Hello, Janet,

    I'm afraid there's some problem with your text formatting, at least on my browser. The snippet, unfortunately, is cut off on the right side.

    Tantalizing and frustrating!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had the same problem with text cutting off.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great verb: Anger roiled her thoughts. And a great excerpt!

    ReplyDelete