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Reviews
& Endorsements
MostlyFiction.com
This novel is absolutely captivating. I found myself
getting up in the middle of night just to read more, especially
when I had other things troubling my mind. In fact, (others
have said this so I'm not original here) I hadn't had
this feeling while reading a novel since reading The
Mists of Avalon. The hypnotic qualities of the novel
allowed me to shut out everything around me propelling
me into Julia's beautiful world. It's hard to imagine
how a writer can bring out such natural joy and goodness
in a character without sugarcoating or overly sentimentalizing,
but Alexis Masters has accomplished this and more. It
is most likely due to her solid research in the Greek
Goddess Aphrodite and an expression of her own personal
belief system. I also think that this novel works because
the main character has to make the mystical happen in
today's world, one that obviously is far removed from
the ancient Goddess worship. Julia may be the stuff of
legends but she still wears leggings. Somehow Julia stays
real in a world full of magic and hope... There is one
more thing that I have to mention about this novel. The
scenery. I don't care if you are reading this book in
the middle of the cold night with only one light on in
the whole house, you will be transported to the beautiful
and sunny climes of Cyprus and Tuscany. Without having
ever been to either of these places, I feel like I have
"memories" of my visit. One can't help but experience
joy while reading this novel... I hated coming to the
end... At least there is some consolation in knowing that
The Giuliana Legacy is only the first book
in a planned trilogy. Read
the full review
Magical Blend —
Winter,
2001
The
Giuliana Legacy is a 21st century fairy tale with
texture and depth. I haven't read a novel that captivated
me this way since The Mists of Avalon. It is a
book of mystery, healing and ancient magic. Alexis Masters
is a master storyteller. The writing is so captivating
I often forgot where I was, who I was and even that I
was reading. The story pulled me in so well I lost my
total being into it. There are limitless potentials, talents
and powers latent in all human beings. Many techniques
for tapping into these and utilizing them have been hidden
or lost throughout history. This is a wonderful story
of a California modern-day woman who travels to Italy
and reembraces her family's magical heritage but more
importantly, this book is an analogy and an inspiration
for all of us to make time and focus our attentions on
reawakening our powers of creation, our psychic abilities
and our healing powers. The Giuliana Legacy
is not just a novel, it is a wake up call for humanity
exquisitely written." — Michael Peter Langevin,
publisher
Publishers
Weekly — August 14, 2000
First-time author Alexis Masters offers a work of
"visionary fiction" the first of a trilogy depicting
the familiar struggle between good and evil in The
Giuliana Legacy. Heiress to a legacy of unlimited
psychic power and immortality, Julia Giardani must develop
her psychic powers to uncover her family's roots before
power-hungry Gregor Danilenko, reincarnated enemy of the
Giardani family, uses his own PK, psychokinetic power,
to obtain immortality. Although the plot flows predictably
throughout Julia's pilgrimage to Italy, fantasy readers
will enjoy Masters' imaginative evocation of a spiritual
lineage.
Napra
Review — September/October, 2000
In
the epic style of Marion Zimmer Bradley's classic The
Mists of Avalon and Starhawk's The Fifth Sacred
Thing, Master's dramatic tale fields and intriguing
cast of characters, with the evocative settings of Tuscany,
Cyprus, and the ancient Mediterranean as its backdrop.
In a compelling journey into the past to save her ancestor's
spiritual traditions from extinction, Julia Giardani discovers
the flowering of her own psychic abilities, and a wealth
of other magical aids at her disposal, as well. A tender
love story is woven through Julia's search for spiritual
ancestry and survival, igniting renewed passion behind
her family's ancient pledge to serve the power of Love.
A priestess of Aphrodite, Julia becomes not only a character
of erotic love, but also a messenger of eternal soul love,
or agape, inspiring each of us to claim Giuliana's legacy
as our own.
Magical
Blend — September/October, 2000
The
Giuliana Legacy begins with the death of Julia
Giardani's father, an event which ignites her realization
that she must carry on the three thousand-year-old legacy
that has passed down through the women in her family--a
legacy of powerful witches. Author Alexis Masters transfers
her vivid imaginations into written words beautifully,
and I was entranced with her detailed descriptions of
places, people, and events. She carried me along through
the colorful, and sometimes suspenseful, history of a
family with deep roots in a magical religion. This novel
is sure to appeal to individuals who enjoy ancient Goddess
lore and history.
SageWoman
— September/October, 2000
The Guiliana Legacy is an example of a newly-named
literary genre: visionary fiction. This is fiction with
spiritual themes and content. . . We can read Gimbutas and
Stone and other splendid nonfiction works and collect facts
about the civilizations of the Goddess. Or we can read visionary
fiction and both learn and feel how it might have been to
live in Her civilizations. And perhaps it is learning to
feel the religion of the Goddess in our hearts that is the
truest learning.
Rambles.net—
September, 2001
What happens when heredity and destiny overcome hundreds
of years of forgetful humanity? It comes full circle in
The Guiliana Legacy. This book is a lovely story
that mixes mythology with mystery. . . this was a very
enjoyable work, and I look forward to reading more by
Alexis Masters. If you like spiritual fiction with an
edge of ESP and a dash of occult intrigue, The Guiliana
Legacy is for you! Read
the full review
InnerSelf
Magazine — December, 2000
I love a good story that keeps me up nights, not
wanting to put the book down! This novel did that for
me. I kept wanting to read more and more of this tale
that weaves between centuries, countries, and ancient
religion and old-goddess traditions and spirituality...
Read
the full review
VisionaryFiction.com
— February, 2001
The Guiliana Legacy is at once a triumphant
tale of spiritual unfoldment, a mystery novel, and a
love story. All of these attributes are wound together
expertly by Alexis Masters in the first of a trilogy...
In all, a good story, well told, which transcends the
new genre it celebrates. Read
the full review
CurledUpWithAGoodBook.com
— May, 2001
Masters, a scholar of comparative religion and feminist
theology, fuses aspects of ancient Greek religion, Goddess
spirituality and Raja Yoga to create the Giardani family's
fictional spiritual tradition...even those unfamiliar with
much beyond the Judeo-Christian religious worldview will
spot elements from a broad range of belief systems. The
message of joyous love that The Giuliana Legacy
encompasses is an inspiring one even for skeptical readers.
Read
the full review
"The best novel I've read in a long time -- compelling,
inspiring, a delight to read--The Giuliana Legacy
also accurately describes many psychic abilities and puts
into words what we feel during a psychic or spiritual opening.
With enchanting, graceful prose, Alexis Masters both invites
and ignites the reader's own latent psychic and spiritual
gifts to unfold as Julia, the Giardani Heiress, claims her
birthright and reawakens to deep soul-memories of the ancient
Goddess and Her Mysteries of Love."
— Beth Hedva, Ph.D., transpersonal
therapist and clinical parapsychologist, author of Journey
from Betrayal to Trust
The
Giuliana Legacyis a moving incantation of Aphrodite
in all her ancient, transforming power. Here she is the
Goddess not only of erotic love but of love itself --
caritas, agape -- love the great healer that lives in
each of us. Giuliana's legacy is our legacy, too. In her
evocative, loving novel, Alexis Masters inspires us to
claim it.
— Elizabeth Cunningham, author
of Daughter of the Shining Isles, The Wild
Mother and The Return of the Goddess, a Divine
Comedy
"Julia
is a beautiful priestess of love's mysteries. The
Giuliana Legacy will open doors for many into new
interior, spiritual realms that bring healing and the reconciliation
of opposites. A wonderful blessing!
— Mara Lynn Keller, Ph.D., director,
women's spirituality, philosophy and religion, California
Institute of Integral Studies |
