Oh look, another book!: Book Review: Quetzalcoatl: Time Stones Book II by Ian Hunter

Quetzalcoatl: Time Stones Book II
By Ian Hunter

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.

I went into Quetzalcoatl: Time Stones Book II feeling fairly confident. I knew Jessie, Kes, Tip and Abe. I had a vague but serviceable understanding of the Time Stones. I assumed the gang would regroup, dust themselves off after the chaos of Book I, and continue the adventure in a reasonably organised fashion.

Reader, the book laughed at that idea.

Instead of easing us gently back in, the story grabs that confidence, ties it to a Time Stone, and throws it several centuries into the past. The characters are scattered, confused, and very much not having a relaxing time. Survival becomes the first priority, followed closely by “please let me find the others before something terrible happens.”

Spoiler: terrible things are still very much on the menu.

Jessie ends up carrying a huge amount of the story here, and she absolutely earns it. She’s dropped into a civilisation that doesn’t exactly hand out welcome baskets to mysterious strangers. One minute she’s trying not to attract attention, and the next minute people are debating whether she might actually be connected to a god. Which is… not exactly a low-pressure situation. When she uses the power of her stone to stop a sacrifice, things escalate quickly. Suddenly she’s less “confused teenager from another time” and more “possibly divine figure,” which sounds impressive until you remember how fragile that kind of reputation can be.

Kes, meanwhile, has a truly miserable run of luck. His storyline is rough, brutal at times, and very good at making you mutter “oh no… oh no, this is bad.” Without Jessie stepping in when she does, his arc might have ended extremely early. Their connection grows stronger here, but the book wisely keeps it messy. There’s loyalty, yes — but also awkward feelings, jealousy and the occasional emotional wobble that makes their relationship feel real rather than perfectly heroic.

Tiponi and Abe take a bit more of a supporting role this time around, largely because the story focuses on Jessie and Kes navigating this particular historical disaster. And what a disaster it is. The novel leans into the Aztec world with vivid detail, especially as the shadow of Hernán Cortés and the siege of Tenochtitlan begins creeping into the background. It’s fascinating, tense, and occasionally horrifying in a way that reminds you history was not exactly a gentle place.

The Time Stones themselves are also becoming less “cool magical artefact” and more “deeply suspicious responsibility that probably needs a warning label.” Yes, they can save lives. They can also drag you somewhere wildly inconvenient and expect you to deal with it.

What I loved most is that these characters are not polished, flawless heroes. They’re scared. They argue. They occasionally make decisions that feel like they were made under the influence of panic and poor timing. But they keep trying — and that stubborn loyalty to one another carries the story forward.

This book is tense, dramatic, occasionally stressful (in the good way), and packed with moments that make you sit there thinking, well… this is definitely not going to end peacefully.

Naturally, I had a great time.

By the last page I was equal parts impressed, emotionally invested, and quietly suspicious of what the author plans to put these poor teenagers through next.

Five stars — and possibly a small therapy fund for Jessie, Kes, Tip and Abe.

***

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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