The third installment in the fascinating story of the women who colonized the planet Maternas, this is the follow-up to Daughters of the Coral Dawn (1984) and Daughters of the Amber Noon (2002).  In the telling of this tale, set 50 years after Amber Moon, Forrest captures the ethereal, otherworldly, second generation offspring of the women of Maternas.  They are hauntingly different and beautiful.  At first they seem distant, aloof, uncaring, but there is another aspect to these women that unfolds in the telling of the tale.  The long-term impact of colonization of this planet makes us reflect on our own part in stewarding the Earth.

Some of the women of Maternas’ Inner Circle have returned from Earth with new colonists.  One of these women is Joss, a young musician who finds herself called to a very high calling indeed.  She becomes the emissary for the youngest generation of the colony.  The method of communication of messages is very unconventional and Joss discovers it just as she and Emerald, the colony leader’s daughter, embark on their own tentative relationship.  Emerald is chasing her own demons, obsessed with finding her daughter, who has become one of the separatists of the newest generation on the planet.

In an effort to continue to receive messages from these young women, to understand what danger the colony might be in, and how they might save themselves from it, Joss makes the decision not to return to the colony with Emerald.  It is a sacrifice for the greater good.  When the message finally becomes clear, some have difficulty believing it and chalk it up to dreams and hallucinations.  Others, however, realize the truth of the message and embrace it.  In the end, we must wait to see if the colony will choose to do what is right.

There are many references to what has happened in the previous story (Daughters of the Amber Noon), so if the reader hasn’t read the previous book, the story incomplete.  Still it is possible to appreciate the story by itself.  Forrest’s characters continue to be multi-dimensional and her descriptions of a world so different in color and texture from Earth are fascinating.  Life on Maternas seems very real, as do the dangers that are presented in this tale.

Forrest has given us both an entertaining and thought-provoking account.  Fans of Coral Dawn and Amber Noon will welcome this addition to the series and Forrest has still left us wondering what will happen to this colony of women next.