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The Singing Stone

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Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 29, 1987

5 people are currently reading
470 people want to read

About the author

O.R. Melling

24 books480 followers
Born in Ireland, raised and educated in Toronto, Canada along with my seven sisters and two brothers, now living back in Ireland again. I have a beautiful daughter, Findabhair, doing her M.A. in Marine Biology and a beautiful cat, Emma, who would love to eat the fish Finn (great name for a marine biologist, eh?) wants to protect. My favourite author of all time is CS Lewis. I've read everything he ever wrote including non-fiction and adult fiction, but the Chronicles of Narnia are the best of all.

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5 stars
188 (38%)
4 stars
165 (34%)
3 stars
104 (21%)
2 stars
20 (4%)
1 star
7 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Alma.
1 review
July 20, 2013
I myself picked this up from my school's woefully mediocre library on a turning shelf. The book was well worn at that time already and smelled of better days. Lovely.

I read this in one sitting while neglecting my homework. I was hooked. Like Kay, I took my own journey to the Isles and can say that when I returned, found that I had left my heart behind me.
Profile Image for Alexis Johnson.
Author 5 books42 followers
October 1, 2017
4.5 stars.

This book was a magical find for me. I was in London for 10 days this past month, and I visited a little used book shop in a gorgeous park. It was there I picked this book-- kind of at random-- because I thought it sounded interesting and I needed a new book for the plane home. It wasn't until I was in the airport that I noticed it had been signed by the author. Super cool! And she's active on twitter. Even better!

I wish I had read this book when I was younger, because it's something that most definitely would have made my childhood list. Still, I think it came to me at just the right time, when I'm needing to believe in creative magic the most. I won't go into spoilery details, but I loved that this book was written in the "older style" YA that I grew up with. It took my imagination back to that of a child or preteen, when I lived fondly in my own head.

Published in 1986, this book actually predates Outlander, but definitely bears some similarity with the idea of a young woman going back in time in a Celtic land. Though this book is undoubtedly unique and stands on its own, it is like a fun mix of Outlander and the Legend of Zelda with a dash of Tolkien delivered in a YA way. There were so many poetic and beautiful lines of description that lent to the magic. The only reason I dock half a star is because the ending felt a bit rushed, especially in light of some HUGE bombs that were dropped in terms of character and story. I would have liked more time to ruminate and understand those bombs earlier on.

This book does something that a lot of modern books fail to do. It has two strong female leads who do their thing boldly and bravely without making a big stink about it. Most contemporary female-led books tend to be on-the-nose with their feminism. They end up just *telling* us in a loud voice how strong a female character is, rather than *showing* it by letting the character be themselves. They also tend to follow the recent trope of the strong female who can kick butt, yet isn't emotionally as multidimensional. The girls in this story do not have those issues. They are powerful and determined, but also aren't afraid to be vulnerable or embrace traditional romance when it stands before them-- very handsomely I might add haha. I especially loved the lead character, Kay, and could really relate to her. She is the type of protagonist I enjoy writing myself.

As a screenwriter and (apprentice level) director I could totally see this as a film or miniseries. I was casting it and location scouting in my head as I read haha. Like most wonderful books I read, I would love to see it come to life on the screen.

All in all, The Singing Stone is a rich, Celtic tale full of ancient history, folklore, and whimsical teen fantasy. ♥
Profile Image for Klimtchick.
149 reviews
March 9, 2020
Destined re-reading: when I mentioned Malta to Maija and Meaghen, in separate conversations, they both said "The Singing Stone. So you know.
Profile Image for Sarah.
109 reviews10 followers
August 17, 2011
I read this book over & over again when I was young! I absolutely loved it. A great adventure & quite mysterious. It was fun to be taken on a journey to far away times & places.
Profile Image for Bam Jam.
33 reviews9 followers
September 6, 2016
"Only when the four treasures are united will their true power shine forth. Then will my hall and memory be rekindled and then each of you will find what you seek" - Fintan Tuan; The Singing Stone, O. R. Melling

I picked this book up at my work's "free box" so it was a little worse-for-wear but I get a really nostalgic feeling when I see tattered books; flashbacks to my childhood grabbing book after shabby book from the school library makes me fond of such the threadbare look! The name 'K. Matthews' was written in blue pen on the first page at the top which gave the book an extra bit of history that made me feel just so giddy.

The cover is simple, with a nice illustration set in the middle of our heroes, and it gave me the sense that this was a book more tilted towards children than young adults but that certainly doesn't deter me from reading any book. Sometimes you need a break from the 'adult' books.



Setting

I could not even pronounce half the words of the places the girls went to but still I could admire the land. Melling does a great job of describing the setting in short, concise sentences instead of using flowery poetry which surely would have stretched the book. You could see how much research went into getting the place, the history and the legends accurate, though Melling states, in a short excerpt at the end of the book, that at the point of her book, historians weren't quite sure where to place the Danaan legends in Celtic history.

Conclusion

Like I mentioned, this book plucked enough nostalgic strings for me to really find myself enjoying it, but my age allowed me to see it for what it was, and I'm glad it didn't try to be more than that. It was a fun book that I would recommended being read out to an elementary or even middle school class, as it's not too violent, the language is clean, and the subject is fine.

You can find my review for this book, and others, on my blog: Sweaters and Raindrops
Profile Image for Rachel.
Author 5 books225 followers
July 15, 2009
Kay Warrick is lead to Ireland to find out about her past. Her quest draws her into the doomed world of an ancient Celtic race. She and her friend Aherne must search for treasures of power before they can both discover their past. Celtic legend is hard to follow at times, story is quite exciting and fast paced
Profile Image for Care.
1,643 reviews98 followers
November 14, 2010
THIS BOOK WAS (IMO) AWKWARDLY LAID OUT. THE CHARACTERS, SETTING AND CONFLICT WERE SPOT ON, BUT THE STORY HAD NO FLOW TO IT. IT WAS AWKWARD TO READ, AND AT TIMES CONFUSING. WOULD HAVE BEEN AN EXCELLENT BOOK IF THE FLOW WAS SMOOTHER.
Profile Image for Vesna.
3 reviews1 follower
March 19, 2013
Knjiga je sicer zanimiva, ker se dogaja na Irskem, sicer pa je res čudno napisana. Liki spreminjajo čustva in celo prepričanja iz minute v minuto, glagoli in pridevniki so izbrani kar tako povprek. Škoda, ker bistvo knjige ni tako slabo.
18 reviews
March 1, 2014
This was a favorite of mine as an adolescent. It was nice to revisit and start the year off with it.

It combines fantasy, time travel, and Irish mythology, with two females as the lead characters. It is a quick and adventurous journey for young readers.
Profile Image for Judy.
319 reviews42 followers
June 2, 2012
I have fond memories of this story. It was the perfect fantasy novel to me when I was growing up.
Profile Image for Kettle.
18 reviews
August 26, 2012
On of my favourite books as a pre-teen. Re-read it a number of times over the years.
Profile Image for Melissa.
513 reviews10 followers
January 10, 2021
I’ve been having a hard time focusing on reading lately. Pandemic weirdness, I guess. So figured I’d go back to childhood loves to see if I could end the drought. Did the trick.

My grandmother bought me this book when I was nine. I remembered loving it, but nothing else. On this re-read, this felt relevant to our times - there is a thread about coming to terms with one’s people’s shitty history and poor treatment and subjugation of others.
Profile Image for Tan.
70 reviews
February 10, 2024
A blast from the past! I loved this so much as a young teen, and have enjoyed it again as an adult.

One star knocked off because I had an instinctive dislike of the part of the story where (if I’m being very reductive) some tall ‘fair’ people become the gods of some brown people they had previously mistreated and enslaved. That said, the book was written a while ago and I’m possibly being sensitive to something that wasn’t meant in the way it comes across (?).
Profile Image for Nicole.
617 reviews
October 24, 2020
This was quite good. An enjoyable read. Would read again.
Profile Image for Caroline.
1,012 reviews7 followers
October 28, 2021
The Singing Stone by O.R. Melling starstarstar 203 pages

Nice little tale based on Irish mythology. Bit nostalgic for me as read her books when I was younger and they've never left my shelf!
Profile Image for Hannah.
Author 2 books11 followers
June 29, 2025
I loved this rich and detailed mythological treasure. The Singing Stone was a heartwarming adventure with female friendship at the center of the story. I'm so happy I found out about this author.
Profile Image for Mitchan.
712 reviews
March 17, 2021
I can imagine I would have really enjoyed this when I was younger, it is very Bilbo Baggins and the Irish history re druids was interesting.
Profile Image for Adrian.
20 reviews1 follower
July 26, 2009
Talented re-construction of the myths of the Duatha de Dannaans based on the Lebor Gabala
Profile Image for Scarletwolf.
5 reviews2 followers
May 18, 2015
I personally enjoyed this book. The beginning, I found, was a little slow but as the story progressed it got better and more interesting.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

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