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Reviewed by Ray Simmons for Readers' Favorite
The gift of healing must be the most two-sided coin of any power in the arsenal of science fiction and fantasy. It is, of course, a great gift to be able to heal family, friends, and others you know. They should appreciate it. They should appreciate it a lot. But, true to human nature, many resent the healer and many would enslave the healer and try to control and misuse the gift. This is the problem that Siena, the titular main character in Siena by Zoe Blessing, faces. The other negative side of this gift is that it always takes a lot from the healer. I have never read a story where the healer can heal as many people as needed and just walk away whistling. The energy for the healing must come from somewhere, and in most cases, it is from inside the healer. Siena learns these things at an early age, but life being what it is, she ends up suffering, despite her mother’s cautious teaching.
I liked Siena by Zoe Blessing. I liked the tribal setting. I liked her journey through life with a gift that should have been a blessing, but as often as not was a curse. I liked the writing of Zoe Blessing. She creates sensitive, realistic characters whose motivations I understood even when I didn't like the person. Siena is a complex girl with a complicated gift and how she is treated tells us a lot about human beings. These revelations are not always good. But that is what this kind of science fiction is for. This is when it is at its best. When it can show us ourselves in an effort to make us better.
