The Dreamstone

Arafel #1

by C.J. Cherryh

It was that transitional time of the world, when man first brought the clang of iron and the reek of smoke to the lands which before had echoed only with fairy voices. In that dawn of man and death of magic there yet remained one last untouched place -- the small forest of Ealdwood -- which kept the magic intact, and protected the old ways. And there was one who dwelt there, Arafel the Sidhe, who had more pride and love of the world as it used to be than any of her kind. But fear of the world of Faery ran deep in the hearts of men, and when Ciaran Cuilean, Lord of Caer Wiell, a man with Elvish blood in his veins, found himself the object of increasing distrust and suspicion from his men, his king, and even his own family, he knew he must once again put his humanity aside and return to Ealdwood. For shadows of a newly awakened evil swarmed across both lands, and unless Ciaran reclaimed his haunted weapons from the Tree of Swords and joined Arafel, he would see this evil overtake not only the warm hearthstones of the mortal keeps but the silvery heart of Ealdwood itself!

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Science Fiction, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Fae

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Currently resident in Spokane, Washington, C.J. Cherryh has won four Hugos and is one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed authors in the science fiction and fantasy field. She is the author of more than forty novels. Her hobbies include travel, photography, reef culture, Mariners baseball, and, a late passion, figure skating: she intends to compete in the adult USFSA track. She began with the modest ambition to learn to skate backwards and now is working on jumps. She sketches, occasionally, cooks fairly well, and hates house work; she loves the outdoors, animals wild and tame, is a hobbyist geologist, adores dinosaurs, and has academic specialties in Roman constitutional law and bronze age Greek ethnography. She has written science fiction since she was ten, spent ten years of her life teaching Latin and Ancient History on the high school level, before retiring to full time writing, and now does not have enough hours in the day to pursue all her interests. Her studies include planetary geology, weather systems, and natural and man-made catastrophes, civilizations, and cosmology…in fact, there's very little that doesn't interest her. A loom is gathering dust and needs rethreading, a wooden ship model awaits construction, and the cats demand their own time much more urgently. She works constantly, researches mostly on the internet, and has books stacked up and waiting to be written.

Reviews

[Michael Fierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a time out. Review NOT FINISHED :(

One of the best Fantasy books of all-time, along with the sequel, The Tree of Swords and Jewels - known as the Ealdwood Stories or the Arafel Stories - of which I've owned and cherished since they first came out back in the 80's.

These books are steeped in Celtic mythology , and all people, places and things are ripe with Gaelic descriptions and language.

A Dunsanian Fantasy for the fairy-folk reader.

Not sure if it would appeal to the fast-paced hack & slash Forgotten Realms readers out there, but, there are surely enough creatures to fill any Monster Manual or Fiend Folio ;)

Prominent are Elves and a Gruagach ~ a sort of brownie-like creature.

 A Gruagach 

[Thea Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of a duology, the second book entitled: The Tree of Swords and Jewels. These were among my favorite reads.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate it when this happens. I picked this up to read...and found I'd already read it! It's a fair book and a "sometimes" interesting read, but apparently not that memorable (LOL). I didn't recall it till I started it, still, it wouldn't be fair to penalize the book (solely) because I'm getting older. :)

The book opens in a sort of misty semi-mystical prose telling of the old forest and the "old ones" (referencing the Sidhe here). The conflict is basically built around the Great Forest (a mythical construct we see fairly often handed down from "our" mythical past) and the incursion of humans. It's handled pretty well I suppose. The internal conflict of mixed loyalties comes into play along with a very evil "bad-guy". The villain here is REALLY evil vengeful (I thought) almost becoming "caricaturish", but that may just be my opinion. I mean really, really evil...and petty.

I suspect the book will hold the interest of many and the story it tells can "tug" the heartstrings a bit if you let it. It's not a bad read (I suppose), serious, emotional, somewhat hopeful if a bit, slow and somewhat "misty sounding". Not totally to my taste and I found much of it a bit boring, if you like it, enjoy.

[Roger · Rating 1 out of 5]

CJ Cherryh’s The Dreamstone was published as a DAW paperback in 1983. So potentially this tome has been with me for nearly 40 years. It has travelled from house to house and city to city waiting to be read. How sad that I ignored my original instincts and read it-I would have been much better off leaving it to look pretty on the shelf. This book is written in what I am going to call Pretentious RenFaireSpeak. If the author had added a few thee’s and thou’s the prose would read like a 1970’s The Mighty Thor comic book. The last twenty five pages are exciting everything else is a snoozefest of epic proportions. That’s what I thinkest anyway. I am definitely skipping the sequel.

[Oldman_JE · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading from the book with both parts included, but I'm not missing out on adding a completed book to my list, especially with the drought I've been in. It was 182 pages that felt like reading 300 and this one is right at 300. No wonder it felt so.

Some of the reading I felt removed from, like I was at a distance, but it ended well. I was hoping to recapture the magic from first reading Cherryh's Fortress in the Eye of Time. It wasn't quite that, though.

Here are some passages:

"There was a grayness upon him like the grief of the fairfolk themselves, when the world no longer suited them, nor they the world."

"We are phantoms on the earth, Ciaran thought, and knew not which heritage we meant—for between those flickerings of otherwhere, like lightning-strokes, there was no army, only murky day, a strange placid landscape void of farms and wars and Men."

"Suddenly they were alone, in a place gone gray and full of mists—They are fled, fled, the dream sang to him; and elsewhere, wherever he looked, was an iron-poisoned hush."

[Ekaterina Zhuchkova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing finds are sometimes hidden on old dusty shelves. This book is what can be called a real fantasy, original, unusual, with a slow poetic rhythm, with phrases worthy of lingering and reflecting on. They don't do these anymore.

[Robby S. Hunt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had to give up on this a quarter of the way in to "book 2". Really wanted to like it but such a slow read. The story is thin to say the least and not enough to keep me slogging through :(

[Molly · Rating 1 out of 5]

My eyes just kept glazing over the text to the point that I didn't know any characters or what their names were. I dreaded double-checking. That's pretty solid proof that you won't enjoy the book.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when I want to sink into another reality for a little bit. It's complex enough that I don't get bored with it. I like the way the author uses the English language. She's a very competant writer, but I haven't found that her other books have had the poetry that this one does.

I just upped my stars to four, because when I think about it, this is one of those books I move from house to house and re-read regularly.

[Eddie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book, the writing style slows you down some, but is fascinating. The main character is Arafel, an Elven lady that is the last of her people. The book is her dealings with humans and how her aid changes the lives of several humans. The book has a good feel for Celtic legends of the Daoine Sidhe and you feel the loneliness Arafel feels in her immortal watch of the communities around her. It is a good read for anyone interested in Celtic tales about the Elves.

[Nepheli]

I loved this one so much!
-Beautiful prose
-What is it like to be the last elf in the world? And to share your forest with Lord Death?
-Finally an elf book that felt magical! Give me more!
-Strong Celtic mythology influences
-Not for everyone
-Unusually structured and slow-moving plot
-I didn't care that much about the human characters

Extended review will come at some point, because this book deserves it!

[Jonathan Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this and the sequel up in a cool shop in Minneapolis. Ann Leckie had recommended Cherryh, and these looked more fantasy than her other works. The writing was great, and she built a thorough and enjoyable world in a very short space. There isn't really a plot; this is more of a telling of interconnected stories that happened in that world. I am interested to see what the sequel does.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

reread. "Some things there are in the world that have never loved Men..." You know right away what type of world you're entering, and it can break your heart.

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

Celtic fantasy about the last bastion of the Sidhe. Uneven pacing, but lush atmosphere.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This plot was hard to follow, but once you sink into the archaic language it's a beautiful story.

[Efreak · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're like me, the following passage briefly is enough to love this book. I can't decide if I want more about of the gods of mankind in book 2. It could be amazing, but it could also be terrible. It's a C J Cherryh book, however, so I have high hopes for it however it goes.

He dreamed of groves, vast trees; and of a hill. This was Caer Wiell; but he called its name Caer Glas, and there was no well, but a clear spring bubbling out over white stones, flowing unhindered to Airgiod’s pure wafers in the vale, and the view was clear and bright toward the Brown Hills. He rode the plain, tall and bearing the same pale stone on his breast—rode among others, with the blowing of horns and flourishing of banners. Arrows came down like silver sleet, and the sullen host before them fled, seeking the mountains, the dark places at the roots of the hills. The Daoine Sidhe warred, and in the sky glittered the jeweled wings of dragons, serpent-shapes passing like storm in the blowing of horns and the clash of arms.
Then were ages of peace, when the pale sun and green moon shone down without change, and harpers sang songs, beneath the pale, straight trees.
There came the age of parting, when the world began to change, when Men came, and Men’s gods, for the vile things were driven deep within the hills, and Men found the way now easy. Came bronze, and came iron, and some there were of the Sidhe who abided the killing of trees, small wights who burrowed in the earth close to Men; but the Daoine Sidhe hunted these, in bitter anger.
Yet the world had changed. The fading began, and the heart left them. One by one they fell to the affliction, departing beyond the gray edge of the world. They took no weapons with them; took not even the stones they had treasured—for it was the nature of the fading, that they lost interest in memory, and in dreams, and hung the stones to stay in rain and moonlight to console those still bound to the world. Most parted sadly, some in indirection, simply bewildered; and some in bitter renunciation, for wounded pride.
He felt anger, a power which might have made the hills to quake—Liosliath, the stone whispered in his mind, and he drew breath as if he had not breathed in a long, long age, and looked up and outward, forcing shapes to declare themselves in the mist which had taken the world, trees and stones and the rush of wind and water.

[Ryan Southworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Things there are in the world which have never loved Men, which have been in the world far longer than humankind, so that once when Men were newer on the earth and the woods were greater, there had been places a Man might walk where he might feel the age of the world on his shoulders.”

So begins The Dreamstone by C.J. Cherryh. This was a surprise Half Price Books find, a shorter work by my favorite author, and straight fantasy (of which I had yet to read by Cherryh). All of which made it a book I was excited to read.

This cover does justice to the book and even relates a very distinct scene from the narrative (sometimes I wonder if illustrators have even read the book their drawing for). I like it!
In brief this is the story of Arafel, whose Faery land of Eald is the last holdout of Faery kind in the ancient British Isles. Mankind approaches everywhere and through fear and superstition – as well as her friend Lord Death – Ealdwood is kept safe from their incursions. Arafel lives largely in a world apart, able to transition from her own Ealdwood – a beautiful, rich forest whose edges continually shrink due to Mankinds growth – to the Ealdwood of our own world, which is a tangled, dangerous place that men fear to go.

The story follows a man named Niall and his descendents, whose lands lay next to Eald and whose lives come accidentally in contact with that of Arafel. Though content in her lonely world, she finds herself drawn to mankind and drawn to aid Niall’s family in their very human struggles. But the consequences of the interaction between Faery and humanity are wide-ranging: Arafel’s help stirs other creatures of myth and legend, and if unchecked, they would bring destruction to far more than Niall’s lands.

This was…a weird book. Though slim (187 pages), it was actually divided into two very distinct “books” within the book and the whole first section, “The Graugach,” seemed preliminary. It wasn’t until the last half to third of the novel where it really seemed to pick up pace and make progress towards a plot line and story arc. Though I enjoyed it, and it is written with characteristic brilliance, it was certainly not my favorite Cherry book (though I’ll undoubtedly seek out the sequel someday).

If you're interested in any of my other book reviews, you can find them at www.thisdadathome.com.

[2Due · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting small book I picked for the title and for the author, of whom I already read 2 sci-fi books and really, really enjoyed them.
A fantasy book based on Celtic mythology, quite different from what I read so far of hers, but not less enjoyable. The style is different, but interesting, it flows well, dialogues are good and has good characters. One thing that I felt is that there's not really a focus, there are many characters you follow as you read and the time is stretched on years. It does feel like you're in some kind of a mist as you see time go by, almost like from Arafel's point of view. It can be a good and bad thing at the same time since you learn to like these characters, yet cannot get too attached to them as they age/die.
There have been a couple of points that unfortunately I found boring... too many names to keep track of and little going on, but they are well balanced with really good, fast paced moments, especially the end that really wrapped up the story with an amazing ribbon.
Arafel is a fascinating character and all her interactions, especially with Death, are intriguing and interesting.
At first I wasn't sure if I'd have read the sequel, but with the last chapters it really grew on me and I'll gladly continue. I recently went on a trip in Dublin and I randomly found "The Dreaming Tree" in my book hunting, which at first I thought was the sequel as I recognised the cover, only to discover it contains both books. Both are now proudly sharing a spot in my dear collection.

[James]

It was that transitional time of the world, when man first brought the clang of iron and the reek of smoke to the lands which before had echoed only with fairy voices. In that dawn of man and death of magic there yet remained one last untouched place -- the small forest of Ealdwood -- which kept the magic intact, and protected the old ways. And there was one who dwelt there, Arafel the Sidhe, who had more pride and love of the world as it used to be than any of her kind. But fear of the world of Faery ran deep in the hearts of men, and when Ciaran Cuilean, Lord of Caer Wiell, a man with Elvish blood in his veins, found himself the object of increasing distrust and suspicion from his men, his king, and even his own family, he knew he must once again put his humanity aside and return to Ealdwood. For shadows of a newly awakened evil swarmed across both lands, and unless Ciaran reclaimed his haunted weapons from the Tree of Swords and joined Arafel, he would see this evil overtake not only the warm hearthstones of the mortal keeps but the silvery heart of Ealdwood itself!

[A room full of books~ :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, somewhat mixed feelings on this. The first few chapters were intriguing, and beautifully written; however, once Niall got back to where he came from, the pacing suddenly went from lush and rich to something basically just like a Cliff's Notes level of summary for nearly the entire rest of the book (until the battle at the end, anyway)-- not sure what in the world happened to the writing there, but it was a very clear difference, and it was much less interesting from that point forward (at least until the very end), unfortunately. Also, while the Sidhe lady was a total bada**, I was rather disappointed that *all* of the *human* women in the story were literally only there to be 'prizes'/babymakers for the men. 🙄 I will admit the book had a pretty epic ending, though. So, overall, I guess this stays at 3 stars.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Cherryh most when she does her ethnographic thing--submersing readers in a culture she's created down to the most minute detail (but in very few words). I read her Morgaine & Vanye series (the first three, at least, there might be another) and enjoyed parts of it, but Dreamstone is better than those books.

The world she creates here is primarily Celtic, though there's a lot of carryover from Morgaine's milieu. The story is multi-generational, but as ususal, Cherryh provides an immense amount of detail and description in a very few pages, which is quite a talent. Cherryh takes time to explore the gap between the faery/fey/elf world and the human world, and the experiences of men and women caught in the grasp of both. She also throws out some amazing descriptions of the passage of time, an important concern in the novel, in a way that marks well the impermanence of men and all they do.

The final battle is a bit muddled (intentionally, due to the human/elf world overlap) but that seems to be a thing with Cherryh--the battles are there, but not really her primary interest.

A good book that's a cut above the usual fantasy stuff, even Cherryh's own.

[Marley Pillow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the writing style - very ethereal and haunting - but found the plot vague and hard to get into. I also felt like no one character was truly dug into as I would’ve liked. Chapters 15-18 were more engaging and if the first 14 chapters had been more like those, I would give four stars. I enjoy a slow-paced fantasy, but there wasn’t much payoff for me with this one. I wish there was a prequel following Arafel and Eald during the time Men first came, or even following Lord Death.

I have the sequel and will give it a read sometime.

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a complete slog of a read for me. Throughout I felt like I was hovering over the text never fully engaging with it. The writing style was similar to her Morgaine books, which I do enjoy, but this lacked the strong, intuiting characters those books had to draw me in. I was reading the Dreaming Tree omnibus, but given my lack of interest, l decided to bail out at the end of this first volume.

[William Leight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because this is a Celtic-themed fantasy, set in alternate version of ancient Ireland, World Fantasy Association regulations require that it be written in a heavy-footed, vaguely epic-sounding style, full of sentences like “O man, the Gruagach weeps for you.” (At least, I assume that’s the reason, as Cherryh doesn’t usually write like this and it doesn’t really add anything to the novel.) However, though the writing is ponderous, the story is not. Aided by the fact that the central character, Arafel the Sidhe, last of her kind, is immortal, and so has only a tenuous relationship to the flow of time, Cherryh skips lightly ahead when she feels like it, thus ensuring the story never gets too bogged down. And the first half is fairly well done: the back-and-forth between Arafel and Evald (the bad guy in this half of the book), as each in turn dreams the other's life, is powerful, and the character of Niall Cearbhallain, the leader who thought he was out until they pulled him back in, is well-executed if not entirely original. (Even the Gruagach is tolerable, despite his tendency to apostrophize Niall as “O man” and refer to himself in the third person.) But Ciaran Cuilean, the central character of the book’s second half, is less interesting, and the climactic confrontation fails to impress: the first half of the book does much better by having no climactic confrontation at all. Cherryh can do fantasy well, but she’s a little too much in thrall to the Celtic atmosphere she wishes to create here.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantasy tale inspired by the Daoine Sidhe, Celtic fae folk. Cherryh's prose is slow and evocative, reminiscent of Dunsany. It took me a while to get used to the style and the human story. But soon enough, it hit the spot for a certain comfy pace with its ancient forest, ancestral jewels and a somber elf.

[Nathaniel Nemeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was just so poorly written. I had no idea what was going on the entire time. It felt like I started a book in the middle of a series, even though it was the beginning. I don’t know how this was published. I was looking forward to reading both books, but I had to stop after this one.

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fully engrossing, with an interesting narrative structure I wasn't expecting. Very enjoyable.

[Serafina Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most Lord of the Rings-y book that wasn’t actually Tolkien I have ever read

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it very slow paced. But from an elven perspective it makes sense that the narrative is slow to mankind 😂

[Jon Packer · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Got 80% through and didn’t care about anything that was happening. Nice prose, empty characters.