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The Stone Dragon

by Tom Kepler (Goodreads Author)

3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 · rating details · 8 ratings · 6 reviews

Dream magic is the most dangerous of magics because it is so difficult to control. Apprentice mage Glimmer-Not a Glimmer of Magic-realizes this when he discovers that his apparent lack of magical talent is because his magic manifests only when he is dreaming. His first attempt at dream magery conjures a dragon, and just before dying in dragonfire, Glimmer, in desperation,...more

Paperback, 1st Edition, 271 pages

Published August 15th 2011 by Wise Moon Books

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Nov 26, 2011 Shawn MacKENZIE rated it 4 of 5 stars

“Be patient with magic….The voice of silence will speak in its own time.”
…The Stone Dragon

I am always delighted when a book turns out to be an artichoke, with leaf upon tasty leaf encasing a succulent heart. Tom Kepler’s novel, The Stone Dragon, is such a book.

A coming-of-age fantasy full of sorcery and swords (with the accent, pleasantly, on the former), this is the story of Glimmer, a young apprentice mage growing into his own as a master of dream magic – if mastery any can claim over so flu...more
“Be patient with magic….The voice of silence will speak in its own time.”
…The Stone Dragon

I am always delighted when a book turns out to be an artichoke, with leaf upon tasty leaf encasing a succulent heart. Tom Kepler’s novel, The Stone Dragon, is such a book.

A coming-of-age fantasy full of sorcery and swords (with the accent, pleasantly, on the former), this is the story of Glimmer, a young apprentice mage growing into his own as a master of dream magic – if mastery any can claim over so fluid and dangerous a sphere. He is surrounded by friends and enemies, teachers and followers, each limned with distinction and purpose. And then there are dragons – magnificent, elemental, wise, and witty beings at the core of young Glimmer’s journey. But, as savory as this all is, it’s but one (outer) layer of many.

Tom Kepler uses Glimmer’s story to examine the nature of magic, of power, of consciousness, of the grand adventure of becoming. This tale is more metaphysical than physical – choosing the path of inner self-discovery, of meditative reflection. With lyric elegance, he explores the subtle interconnectedness of all things; the magic within us all just waiting to be awakened. As Western as The Stone Dragon’s external trappings are, the philosophical voice is decidedly Eastern. Indeed, though the book’s dragons are European in aspect – winged, scaled, and fire-breathing – they are deeply familiar with the ways (and the Way) of the East (Lao Tzu would feel right at home in the company of the dragons and mages of The Stone Dragon).

All this said, do not think for a moment that The Stone Dragon is short on action. Quests, both personal and altruistic, inform the tale as Glimmer and his companions go from one end of their land to another, sometimes with alarming celerity. And in the process, like Cabbage-pants, the gnome, they work the fertile soil for more tales to come (which I, for one, will read with pleasure).

Joseph Campbell said of our lives, “The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty ‘Yes!’ to your adventure.” The Stone Dragon not only says “Yes!” but insists that the reader say “Yes!” too. It is a rare journey well worth the joining.
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Nov 26, 2011 PaulineMRoss rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre-fantasy, price-full, 4-star, self-pub

Interesting book, most unusual. I could say that it features an orphaned young man, talking dragons, mages, bucolic country inns, stolen swords and a talking garden gnome, and it would all be true but it would give entirely the wrong impression. This seems like a cute coming of age story, and parts of it are exactly that, but it has far more backbone than that implies.

Firstly, the magic. The mages are not your average thunderbolt-hurling wizards. One of them is someone who simply gathers magic a...more Interesting book, most unusual. I could say that it features an orphaned young man, talking dragons, mages, bucolic country inns, stolen swords and a talking garden gnome, and it would all be true but it would give entirely the wrong impression. This seems like a cute coming of age story, and parts of it are exactly that, but it has far more backbone than that implies.

Firstly, the magic. The mages are not your average thunderbolt-hurling wizards. One of them is someone who simply gathers magic around him, without any intervention on his part. And two are dream-mages, who are perfectly ordinary while awake, but have almost god-like powers while dreaming. Glimmer, the central character, is of this type, and how he learns to live with his abilities is the heart of the story.

More importantly, the author makes the point that magic is everywhere, in us, and around us, and at the core of everything. More specifically, he deals with the issue of how the human mind deals with magic (or fails to deal with it, sometimes). The dream sequences are (perhaps inevitably) the most interesting part of the book, and we feel Glimmer's own awe and fear at his dream-mage experiences. There are also other beings with magical abilities, and a general sense of all-pervading magic overlaying everything, whereever people are open-minded enough to allow for the possibility.

The real problem with this is that Glimmer is capable of almost anything, without any limitations. Even given that his abilities are unusually strong (another dream-mage is clearly less talented), magic without boundaries is really not particularly interesting. Time after time, people (or animals, or artifacts) simply appear where they are needed, or a way is miraculously found to achieve the seemingly impossible. There are events close to the end which come perilously close to deus ex machina.

The author has a suitably poetic writing style which works very well most of the time, although sometimes it gets a little overwrought, and (particularly latterly) tends to obscure what is actually happening. Sometimes (in the dreams, for instance) this is understandable, and there is always enough information given later to work things out, but still, there were several places where I had no idea what the hell was going on, and would have appreciated more clarity.

Plotwise - well, what plot? This is not really a coherent story, rather a series of tenuously linked episodes set against the backdrop of Glimmer growing up. This reduced the tension at several points, and made the book easy to put down, although each episode in itself was quite page-turningly dramatic. There are moments, too, when everything fell into place with perfect rightness - the unexpected appearance of DeVasier, for instance, made me laugh out loud at the sheer awesomeness of it.

Glimmer is a likeable character. In fact, almost all the characters are likeable in a realistic way and even the exceptions are understandably complex and believable. If I have a complaint, it is that almost everyone is simply too nice. Well - magic at work, I suppose. The dragons, of course, steal the show.

On the whole, I enjoyed this. There were times when it was just too twee and I thought - this is (essentially) a talking garden gnome riding a fox, here - and times when the magic just became too easy. I'm also quite confident that a lot of the themes of mind and consciousness were way over my head. But there were wonderfully lyrical passages too that were a joy to read.
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Jul 14, 2012 Steve Thomas added it

Shelves: abandoned, indie

I rather enjoyed this book throughout the sample, but having read about half of it, I'm just not engaged enough to go any further. I may try to pick it up again in the future, but it just doesn't have me hoooked. The main problem is that the book is simply not my style. I prefer that magic systems be more rigorous, the prose more direct, and the plot more tightly woven.

The book is about the random adventures of Glimmer, an apprentice mage who is slowly discovering his magic abilities. He is a d...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Timothy Tolzmann rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really liked it. Am going to read it again pretty soon. I don't know just how great it is yet. It started out fantastically well, and then got better. The latter part (I really read it fast--I mean I read for long periods and frequently) seems so different from the other parts. The beginning seems "earthy". The early middle--"watery". Then it was "firey". And then "airy". I think this is true. Those descriptions refer to the substance of the story telling--the way the author presented the mate...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Elizabeth Risley marked it as to-read

Found this through some comment made by the author here on goodreads. I'm always open to finding new authors so I'll get a sample and give it a shot.

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Shelves: dragons, kindle, fantasy

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About Tom Kepler

Tom Kepler is a writer and classroom teacher of 33 years. He is also an active bicycler and gardener.

He has published four books:

The Stone Dragon

Love Ya Like a Sister

Bare Ruined Choirs

He has also published the following set of short stories as an e-book: Who Listened to Dragons, Three Stories .

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