Set in the Incan Empire immediately before the Spanish conquest, Voice of Stone tells the story of Nighthawk, the stonecutter’s son, whose love for the silversmith’s daughter sweeps him up into civil strife and the events surrounding the collapse of the empire. The personal losses of the characters reflect the greater tragedies of the people as a whole. Even in this regimented society, men like the stonecutter do not always accept without resentment the strictures of the Inca and the tribute he demands in beautiful girls to fill the House of the Virgins.

Before Pizarro’s arrival in Peru, stonecutter Rumi labors on the Incan palaces and temples. He hopes his son Nighthawk will also achieve distinction in the craft, but he fears his beautiful daughter Amankay will be appropriated for service in the House of Virgins. Service to the empire never ends. After toiling nine years in Cuzco and in the Sacred Valley, the Inca orders the stonecutter’s clan to resettle in the Tarma Valley where their fortunes mingle with that of the silversmith’s family.

In contrast to Rumi, the silversmith welcomes his daughter Illariy’s selection as a Virgin of the Sun. Nighthawk falls in love with Illariy and vows to marry no other. Rivalry develops between Nighthawk and Illariy’s brother. A boastful bully, Wanquar yearns for war instead of a silversmith’s life. The young men will participate in the bloody conflict between the two rivals for the Incan throne that precedes the fateful arrival of the Spanish conquerors.

Throughout the horrors he witnesses, Nighthawk draws strength from the stone that speaks to his soul. Voice of Stone, a captivating story that completely submerges the reader into Inca lore, is told from the viewpoint of the artisans who created the wonders of the Inca Empire and who owed their lives, their children, and their labor to the Son of the Sun. The next book in the trilogy, Conquistadora, covers the conquest to the death of the last Inca, 1532-1571. The final book, Daughter of the Conquest, covers the period of colonization and conversion to Christianity.

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