THE GEMSTONE CHRONICLES – Book Two: The Amethyst by William L Stuart
This is the 2nd book in the Gemstone Chronicles. You can read my review of Book One: HERE.
Publisher – Self-published on 12-20-2012
PAGES: 287
GENRE: YA – Fantasy/Swords & Sorcery
BLURB:
In Celahir, the magical land where the Light Elves and the Dark Elves live, the four gemstones of the Elven Bow have been stolen by the Dark Elves. Without those gemstones, the barrier between the human world and Celahir is deteriorating and the balance between good and evil in both worlds is tipping toward evil.
The first of the gemstones, the Carnelian, was recovered by Aidan, Maggie, Nana, and Beebop with help from their Light Elf friends during their first trip to Celahir. Now, the stakes are even higher when the elves return to the human world to ask for help recovering the second gemstone, the Amethyst, and the humans discover that Mike – Aidan and Maggie’s father – has been kidnapped by the evil elf Naesse!
The humans, accompanied by Aidan and Maggie’s mother, Laura, return to Celahir to rescue Mike and recover the Amethyst. All they have to do is defeat the giant that guards the gemstone…
MY REVIEW:
At the end of the first story, I wondered how Beebop, Nana and the grandchildren were going to be drawn back to the mythical world of Celahir. Now I know. To lore them back, Naesse, and his evil henchelves, kidnapped the children’s father. For what purpose, I have no idea. From what I’m surmising, that won’t be revealed until probably the last book.
In this story, we’re introduced, in more detail, to Aidan and Maggie’s mother, Laura, who is suddenly thrust into their wild adventure to recover the stolen gemstones, and save her husband. Once again, we’re traipsing through Celahir, tracking down a giant named Brendan. Stuart didn’t go into as much detail about the land this time, but it still amazes me that people, who aren’t used to walking long distances, can walk for hours without their legs giving out.
We meet the same elven friends from before, and are introduced to new friends, and even a love interest for Aidan. The bad guy in this story is Brendan the Giant. He terrorizes and enslaves the human villagers that live in his territory. But has he been misunderstood all along? I liked the moral of this story, and how Aidan stuck to his beliefs, even when faced with pressure from his family and friends. Beebop is still the main POV, but Aidan gets a chance to grow. Stuart does a very good job describing how each character feels, but when it comes to the dialogue, they have a tendency to sound the same. I just don’t see a young boy talking with the same vocabulary that Beebop of Nana does.
Talking about dialogue, it can be a bit stiff. People don’t say I am, or, we are. We use contractions all day long. Reading words without contractions tendd to make the reading a bit formal. And that could be some of the reason why I just don’t feel as attached to the characters as I should. I want to love the world Stuart has built, but it falls flat for me. I think some of it is also his writing style, more of a telling vs showing, which keeps the reader at a distance, and not as emotionally involved. But it’s still an entertaining series, and I want to see what happens with the Crone and Mike. If you’re not as nit-picky as I am, you’ll love this series. I give it 4 feathers.
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