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28th out of 66 books
—
50 voters
The Silent Strength of Stones (Chapel Hollow #2)
Those who have experienced Nina Kiriki Hoffman's writing already know the lyrical power of her unparalleled imagination. In this, her second full-length novel, she creates a world of magic and sinister wonder in a summer lakeside community. An inquisitive young man named Nick -- a teenager with an uncanny gift for uncovering secrets -- has taken to spying on a group of eni...more
Mass Market Paperback, 244 pages
Published
1995
by Avon
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Nov 06, 2008
Leelan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone!
Recommended to Leelan by:
Susan O'Fearna
First Nina Kiriki Hoffman book I have read. Can't wait to get my hands on the next one! Where has she been hiding? I am sure I have never seen her books on the shelves before.
Susan! Thank you very much for recommending her!
Susan! Thank you very much for recommending her!
One suspects that Nina Kiriki Hoffman is a fan of Zenna Henderson and Ray Bradbury. If that's the case, this book is a loving tribute, but unfortunately, it's a pale imitation and seems closer kin to "Twilight" than to "The People" or "Something Wicked This Way Comes." Otherwise, it's a moderately entertaining story about a teenage boy with unusual gifts coming of age in a small mountain town and helping two kindred souls whose family would have been right at home amongst Bradbury's Autumn Peopl...more
When I think of YA, I think of Nina K. Hoffman. This is the first book of hers that I read, and it still defines her writing in my mind. That is the nature of first impressions, I guess. I had to go back and read her previous books. Then, I had to move forward to her more recent books. Each has been worth the time I spent on them. Thanks to Nina for putting the material out there for us all.
Hoffman amazes again. Stones is not always as lyrical as "A Fistful of Sky," but carries its story forward through a group of great characters and builds to a satisfactory resolution. I liked this better than The Thread that Binds the Bones (C.H. #1) and Stones is easily one of my favorite NKH books. Hoffman does so well at bringing a natural, magical, otherwise-hidden world to light when we're so used to seeing everyday things, and she creates believable, identifiable teenage characters, comple...more
The front of this book is chock full of glowing blurbs from reliable sources, but I feel like I'm missing something.
The writing is decent, but the main character's reaction to the magic around him is implausible (oh, this is a family full of sorcerers? Ho hum), and all the magic users are pretty morally repulsive. (The main character's friends are into magically "owning" people -- essentially psychic rape -- while the relatives they've been sent to live with, ostensibly to straighten them out, i...more
The writing is decent, but the main character's reaction to the magic around him is implausible (oh, this is a family full of sorcerers? Ho hum), and all the magic users are pretty morally repulsive. (The main character's friends are into magically "owning" people -- essentially psychic rape -- while the relatives they've been sent to live with, ostensibly to straighten them out, i...more
I liked this book better than the one that came before it. More interesting magic world-building like in A Fistful of Sky.
I really liked the main character, I just wanted more detail and to see where things went!
As with most of her works, this deals with family, belonging, and misuse of power.
I found this a few years ago and it turned out to be a nice little gem of a book.
I liked this a little better than "Thread that Binds the Bones" but less than "A Fistful of Sky".
It doesn't have quite the same lyricism of either, but it does have a more satisfying resolution than the "Thread that Binds the Bones". Also, I think "magic" was used a bit too often to smooth over rough spots in people's emotions.
While it is set in the same universe, there are very few overlapping characters, and the two books (and the third, from what I can tell from the blurb) can all be read i...more
It doesn't have quite the same lyricism of either, but it does have a more satisfying resolution than the "Thread that Binds the Bones". Also, I think "magic" was used a bit too often to smooth over rough spots in people's emotions.
While it is set in the same universe, there are very few overlapping characters, and the two books (and the third, from what I can tell from the blurb) can all be read i...more
I'd read this one about ten years ago, but couldn't remember it. It touches upon the same scary magic people as in the Thread that Binds the Bones combining it with the coming of age story of a young boy living in a small lakeside town with his father. He watches people in his spare time with an idea of someday becoming a detective, when the biggest mysteries in his life are his missing mother and the family that arrives to stay in a summer cabin and look for something powerful.
I'd read this one about ten years ago, but couldn't remember it. It touches upon the same scary magic people as in the Thread that Binds the Bones combining it with the coming of age story of a young boy living in a small lakeside town with his father. He watches people in his spare time with an idea of someday becoming a detective, when the biggest mysteries in his life are his missing mother and the family that arrives to stay in a summer cabin and look for something powerful.
If I could give half stars, this would really be a 3.5 for me, but since Goodreads doesn't let you do fractions, I'll go ahead and give it a four. I was skeptical about the book when I started it, but the characters were more dimensional than I expected, and the story much more interesting than I expected. Some clunky dialog and forced romantic scenes kept it from being as good as it could have been, but still an enjoyable read.
Jul 28, 2007
Susan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Those who like witchy stories
Shelves:
childrens
The Silent Strength of Stones is about a young man discovering who he is and his relationship to his family and the "witchy" world. His world has been rocked by his mother abandoning him. Enter a family that enters the summer community in a mountain town, however, no one can see them. Shape-shifting, mind-control, communing with nature, personal metaphysical gifts, and ethics are part of this story.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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For this edition Matthew Stawicki did an awesome job; I can't figure out why the author picked such a horrible cover for the re-release.
Nina's probably my all-time favorite author, and I love about everything she's written.
Re-read 6-28-2008
3.75 stars. An interesting, 'different' bit of fiction in the YA genre - a little earth power / magic fantasy, a little coming of age story. I thought the story was innovative and fresh, the characters likeable. It mostly held my interest, but seemed a little awkward in places. Overall not bad, probably best for the younger (11-16) crowd though.
People in books pretty much never read books, just like people on tv don’t watch tv.
Nick does, he’s not obsessive about it, but he does. He even reads fantasy. Nick lives and works at a store for tourists on a lake. A family from the Chapel Hollow’s sister community comes to the lake. Nick is more powerful than anyone, especially he knows.
Nick does, he’s not obsessive about it, but he does. He even reads fantasy. Nick lives and works at a store for tourists on a lake. A family from the Chapel Hollow’s sister community comes to the lake. Nick is more powerful than anyone, especially he knows.
Feb 27, 2008
Kirsten
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Kirsten by:
Celia
Shelves:
read-pre-12-07,
from-library
This is really excellent; like a lot of her books, it stands on its own, but having read it in the context of her other novels makes a lot of the magic stuff make more sense this time around. I think the books with Matt Black will always be my favorites, but this one is good stuff, too.
Every act of genuine evil has been committed by someone who was absolutely convinced of their own righteousness.
Nina has a wonderful way of bringing magic into everyday life.
Lovely book.
Lovely book.
Hoffman is a wizard. One of my favorite authors. Review pending.
Not as good as A Stir of Bones
Apr 30, 2013
frazzledsoul
is currently reading it
Apr 30, 2013
Igraine
marked it as auf-gar-keinen-fall
Apr 25, 2013
Molly Smith
added it
Apr 19, 2013
Evan Hooper
added it
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Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s first solo novel, The Thread That Binds the Bones (1993), won the Bram Stoker Award for first novel; her second novel, The Silent Strength of Stones (1995) was a finalist for the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards. A Red Heart of Memories (1999, part of her “Matt Black” series), nominated for a World Fantasy Award, was followed by sequel Past the Size of Dreaming in 2001. Much o...more
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Over half finished now. Can feel the gap left by the first book. Just met Nick's mother. Not really bothersome though.
-Leelan
Nov 03, 2008 11:30am
I immediately fe...more
updated Dec 29, 2010 01:21am