Not too long ago, I read the third book in Mary Jo Putney's Guardian series, A Distant Magic.
Set in the 18th century, it prominently featured slavery and how the hero and heroine in the book, Nikolai Gregori and Jean Macrae, travelled through time to either influence or preserve the abolition (anti-slavery) movement and ensure that it was on the right course.
Nikolai, a former slave, was a homeless urchin in Malta, when the visiting Macrae of Dunrath recognised his magical powers and offered to foster him. Alas on their voyage to England, they were attacked by pirates on their voyage to England and Nikolai was enslaved. Thinking that Macrae did nothing to stop his capture, he plotted revenge on the Macrae family.
Years later Nikolai set his plans in motion by kidnapping the late Macrae's daughter, Jean. A Guardian herself and with the ability to control the weather, Jean came to Nikolai's rescue, first when their ship is attacked by pirates, and later when she added her magic to Nikolai's to survive a horrifying storm.
The ship managed to make its way to Santola, a fictitious island that was formerly a caldera. It was there that Adia, an African woman from the future appeared before them. She informed them of a daring attempt to influence the abolition movement by the African elders in the future and how it seemed that Jean and Nikolai were chosen to play an instrumental part, travelling through time to ensure the success of the abolition movement, using their unique blend of magic (Guardian and African).
This was the third or fourth book in the Guardian series that I've read. Though it was slow in some parts, it was still engaging. But what got me most riveted was the vivid description of Santola.
Chapter 18 page 110-111
Feeling stronger for having eaten, Jean walked outside, and stopped dead, enchanted by the circle of light before her. As she loomed more closely, she saw that the circle was a huge bowl of turqoise water surrounded by a jagged tiara of dark islands.
The sight was so striking that it took a moment for her to understand what she was seeing. "Santola is the crater of an ancient volcano, isn't it? I've seen drawings of Santorini in the Greek Isles and it looks like this. A volcano erupted and left a circle of islands around the edge. It's called...a caldera, I think?"
"Very good Miss," Tano nodded approvingly. "The volcano that created Santola made the soil rich and created shoals that protect us from unwanted visitors."
Shoals combined with magic, Jean guessed, for she sensed the distant buzz of protective field. The terrace reminded her of courtyards in the Fontaine household, with pots of brilliant flowers and a roofed area that provided shade from the baking sun.
She moved across the terrace to the wall and looked down on a large village that was beautiful in the manner of the Mediterranean. Whitewashed stucco houses climbed the steep hill, accented by vivid splashes of colour from painted woodwork and flowers.
This particular dwelling was at the top of the village, high enough to look down on dozens of other buildings. She saw people working in courtyards and walking the narrow cobblestone streaks. Hardy donkeys wearing straw hats patiently carried loads up the hill while children chased one another in a game near the docks. Their complexions were every shade from Nordic pale to rich ebony.
The steepness of the caldera hills meant that the fields visible beyond the village were terraced. The slopes above were grazes by goats and sheep. Santola appears to be not only self sufficient, but prosperous.
"I've landed in paradise."
Doesn't it just sound charming? It sure made me think about it for days after finishing the book since I thought such a place couldn't possibly be real and must surely have been imagined by the author.
Of course, I had to assuage my curiosity as to whether such places would exist on earth and though none surely compared to the beauty of fictitious Santola, we do have many breathtaking ones around.
According to the dictionary, a caldera is a large, basin-like depression resulting from the explosion or collapse of the center of a volcano. It's amazing that something so terrifying could result in something so beautiful, isn't it? There are many calderas on Earth that are over 3,000 years old.
Here are some of Earth's beautiful calderas.
Crater Lake in the state of Oregon, USA
Mt Pinatubo Caldera in Luzon, the Philippines
Mount Batur Caldera on Bali Island, Indonesia
Santorini Caldera, Greece
