Journey to the Fringe

Stone Mage Wars #1

by Kelli Swofford Nielsen

Long ago, Stone Mages were revered in Lyria. They were men and women who could use powerful tradestones to harness their unique gifts of wind, rain, and earth to help those around them. But war with the Southern realm has threatened the mages with extinction. The truth about the tradestones has been lost, and the remaining magic is dwindling. When Princess Ivy, the beloved daughter of the king, is abducted, it seems that all hope for Lyria is lost as well. But when an unlikely group of loyal subjects embarks on a dangerous journey to the far-distant Fringe, the hope of restoring crown and kingdom is renewed. Among the group is Simon, a fool with wisdom beyond his years; Gilda, a nonmagical witch; Burr, a young thief; and Merrick, a jaded sea captain. Their quest will test their courage, their strength, and their friendship. But at the Fringe, they encounter a truth that will change everything they thought they knew about themselves, and this small band of heroes must embrace the power that is their birthright and stand together as Stone Mages of Lyria.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Adventure, Lds Fiction, High Fantasy, Audiobook

340 pages, Hardcover

First published April 18, 2012

About the author

Kelli Swofford Nielsen graduated from Utah State University with a bachelor’s degree in teaching English. She and her husband, Jeff, live in Chicago, Illinois, with their two sons. Journey to the Fringe is Kelli’s debut novel.

Reviews

[Anna T · Rating 2 out of 5]

*sigh*

This book has some serious problems.

I gave it two stars because it has some promising world building and the characters had some potential. And I know that a bunch of other reviewers genuinely enjoyed the book. But the writing just didn't deliver for me.

The story comes from so many characters' perspectives and switches between them so often (multiple times a chapter) that it's hard to keep straight who's currently speaking. A couple times, more than halfway through the novel, we suddenly read from a new person for two pages and then never hear from them again. Because the book was trying to juggle so many significant characters, it was hard to get to know any of them or their arcs very well. Another result of having so many character perspectives was that they all sounded the same, which also made it harder to distinguish between them or connect to really any of them. And when they did differ in tone it felt so jarring I couldn't tell if I was reading an adult book or a middle grade. The ten-year-old suddenly sounds like a college graduate in one part, then later on the bad guy they've been hyping up for the entire novel sounds like he came out of a cheesy 80's cartoon.

There is also some serious pacing issues. It's hard to tell if days, weeks, or months have passed between chapters. There's hints of characters working for weeks to hone their skills, but since you don't spend any of that time with them, their triumphs come across as several Mary Sues' unexplained power boosts. New significant problems are brought up and then immediately solved by a never-mentioned- until-now secret or memory, resulting in the big moments having lower stakes than expected.

Lastly, all the exposition and action scenes were hampered down by grammar issues and the book just telling what happens instead of delving into how each character learns and grows. Show, don't tell, and except for a few scenes, this book mostly tells.

The world building really does seem promising, but the book would need some serious cutting and rewriting for it and the most important characters (whoever they may be) to really shine. It seems like the author intended to write multiple books but hasn't been able to, and I wish some of the more interesting characters would have been introduced in this volume with their full arcs saved for the future ones.

TL;DR: There's some interesting world building, but too many perspectives, flat characters, and serious pacing issues make it feel like an early draft instead of a finished work.

[Erin(and Hannah) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tired of Vampires, werewolves and dystopian books? Here's a refreshing new author weaving an exciting adventure. While it started out a bit slow for me, I think it mostly was so because of introducing so many characters at the outset. It never left me confused, though, with the author keeping pace with the reader. Just when I thought it might be too slow for me, it picks you right up and gallops you through a fun, almost "swash-buckling" adventure. I dreaded the ending knowing this was the first in a trilogy (usually I hate starting a series when I know the next installments aren't out yet.) However, the story wraps up convincingly well and leaves you satisfied. Yet, I'm still anticipating the next! A great book for both boys and girls, young reader to young at heart. Way to go, Kelli!

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Loved it! I am so excited for the next two. The characters are well developed, I loved each of their individual stories, loved the adventure, the bravery, stories of redemption (not sure if that is the right word for it) with a touch of romance (but not sappy). I want to be suave and cool like Saffi, feminine and brave like Ivy, and powerful like Mara. Well done Kelli Swofford Nielsen. Bring on the next two.

[Janie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know the author's parents and I was excited to read her book. I liked it a lot. It is a fantasy geared toward young adults. It is a well thought out book, the characters are developed and the plot is intriguing. It's about magical men and women who use powerful tradestones to harness their unique gifts of wind, rain, and earth to help those around them. There is a war against those who use their powers for evil. The good ones are called Stone Mages and are all but extinct. An unlikely band of people embark on a dangerous journey to the Fringe to try to save their kingdom. There is nothing to object to in this book. I would recommend it and I look forward to the 2nd one in the series.

[The Purple Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book review coming soon on All Things Purple http://iheartpurplestuff.blogspot.com

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is about a lost princess, finding her way back as she meets loyal friends. They discover amazing things about themselves, and the past that help them defeat a horrid tyrant who is set on power. I thought it was very enjoyable, but a very light read. Kelli Nielsen had great character development and unique aspects to her story. I felt like there was some nice originality, but familiar ideologies that were not so original. There was a little bit of romance, but not much. There were a lot of moving parts in this book, but she did not just do a good job of organizing them, but making them work, flow and intertwine throughout the story. It did not have a lot of depth to it. I felt she could have written a 1000 page book on it, not just a couple hundred pages.
Enjoy a fun, easy read while still getting all of the action, friendship (along with romance), and a special world where you can get lost in.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give 3.5 if I could. It was good, but not great. The story was original, but it felt familiar. The characters were interesting to read about, but not deep enough to feel attached to. I liked it, but wasn’t excited about it. it’s probably best for younger teens.

I liked that it was low on angst. And the original world was a good concept.

It’s marked as a book #1, but it felt more like a stand alone. Which I actually prefer right now. Maybe other books will just be in the same world? 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

We listened to this on CD although Goodreads says the CD format does not exist...

Loved the symbolism, and the many times there were lessons about finding our gifts and the work it takes to develop a gift. Lots of examples of friendship and sacrifice for something bigger than yourself.

I'm a little disappointed that this was published in 2012 and another one is not out yet! It is clearly indicated that this will be a series. I'm ready for more!!

[Elicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good. The writing was solid and the characterization was good. My biggest problem with this book was that it didn't really feel fresh and new, more like fan-fiction taking elements from other series and putting them all together. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't a story that felt compelling and original. It's still a fun read and I'd be interested in a knowing how the story would continue.

[Benjamin Fisk · Rating 2 out of 5]

It felt like the author tried to cram two books into one short volume. The characters did not have much depth to them. The story line with magic in this reality and how it worked was lacking. I would not get the second volume. On the bright side it is a clean, simple story, maybe some one younger would enjoy it more.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun read. Their magic reminded me a lot of the bending from Last Airbender. The plot was a bit predictable, but it was still well written. It didn't fully grab me and pull me, but it was enough to make me want to keep reading it.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable story with good, honorable characters and a great message. (When I read the author's bio and saw her picture and that she was in the English department at Utah State, it made me really curious as to whether we were there together. She looks really familiar!)

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really hoping for this to get better. It was good enough, but I never really felt a connection to the characters. I think part of that was there were too many main characters and they just couldn’t be developed.

[Myra · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the plot was mildly interesting, the characters, dialog, and execution was too juvenile for me. Maybe fun for a young reader. Although there was too much switching around characters, and repetition, which I think would have annoyed me when I was younger anyway.
I love the cover though.

[Garce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I spent 3 years of my life searching for this book again. This book probably shaped who I am or something. It’s a pretty basic fantasy book but basic is so good and awesome when you’re 11 years old. I didn’t know it was a series though, maybe I’ll … continue it?? Wouldn’t that be crazy

[Jodee Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

good clean book with adventure and problem solving. happy ending. easybread. 3.5 stars.

[Debra Salas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a refreshing change of pace. I enjoyed the characters and the world and look forward to reading more about them.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit more YA read but fun. Not so serious that I needed to listen to every word. Enjoyable, romantically very clean, and unique in the world of fantasy!

[Nisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I was sad to discover that no others had been published in the series. I very much enjoyed the character development and the unique “magic” system.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun story! Likeable characters and unique use of magic in the story.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This says it's book 1, but I can't find any follow up. I hope so, because this was an awesome read!!

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I originally got this as a book on tape for a trip to help pass the hours of driving...It was not a normal genre that I would have chosen, but I enjoyed it.There is the elements of magic, danger, suspense in good verses evil, and the unlikely relationships the develop because of good banding together. It is a great combination, except for the part about the cliff hanger at the end. Good prevails for now, but....book 2 will let you know what happens next and now i am invested and interested in the likeable characters. :)

Stones that have been passed down from family members give people an identity of having special gifts over: water, earth,time, seeing into the future, moving from one place to another (space). Some people have lost the knowledge of how to use these gifts until the kingdom of Lyria is under attack from the southern, blood thirsty giants ruled by Abbodon. Addodon knows of his gifts and is using them to rule over not just his own kingdom, but all no matter who or what gets in his way. He has convinced the king of Lyria to banish his daughter because she stands as a threat to getting what he wants. Some loyal common people in the kingdom, go off on a seemingly impossible journey to find and bring back princess Ivy. Simon Alder, he will learn he is a time mage, Gelda Reed the rejected witch who will learn she is an earth mage, John Merrick, the captain of the Saphire ship that they use to find Ivy is a water mage, Burr, the stole-a-way orphan, is an animal mage, and Laith, who has been acting as a common sea crewsman is really the betrothed prince to mara the princess, but he ran from his duties until now, he is a seer, and Mara is a vessel that evil mages can control, but she is also a water mage on her own. They go on this journey and find not only Ivy, but Medwin on the danger journey to the fringe. he is an old and experienced seer who teaches all of the travelers/rescuers about their gifts and helps them to use their gifts to fight back evil and win back the kingdom and freedom for it's people. They come across others who help them. the mine dwellers. They rescue them to and in turn they help with reclaiming the kingdom. Saffi is one of those girls and she and Merrick have an interesting way of showing their friendship. In the end Mara and Laith go to live on the fringe as Medwin has given to Laith as the son he never got to see grow up...Medwin dieing after wounds from fighting and Mara not wanting to be near the people she cares about because of her being a vessel that other's can control. Laith also being a mage that others try to abuse go off together. Saffi and Merrick go on the sea to discover different continents. Burr finds a home and acceptance with his gift with Gelda. Simon accepts that he can still be queen Ivy's friend even though he is a commoner. They rebuild the kingdom, but know that some of the stone mages that were under Alladon's rule lived and may come back again.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a decent book and it was fun to read, but the plot was very predictable. Sometimes it felt like the characters were following archetypes exactly to a T.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the whole, I enjoyed Journey to the Fringe. The plot was well thought-out, the magic system worked, and the characters were interesting, but I found it somewhat hard to connect to the story. Nielsen uses the third-person omniscient style, but rather than focusing on one or two characters, she introduces many characters. You’ve got Ivy (the kidnapped princess), Simon, Gilda, Burr, Merrick, Hastings/Laith, Medwin, Princess Mara, semi-villain King Than, and the main baddie, Abaddon. Because you’ve got all these perspectives, you don’t really graze more than the surface level of each character’s emotions. While this does serve to give the reader a holistic view of the story and events, it also keeps the reader at a distance. Nielsen tells the reader what’s happening, rather than allowing the characters to draw you through the plot and tell you their story. The whole novel read rather like a very detailed outline.

The characters themselves were easy to like and I enjoyed each of their perspectives, so it’s tough to say who I’d cut. Each of the characters had different gifts that were later important to advancing the plot. Perhaps rather than cutting characters, I would’ve zoned in on one or two people as the main POVs and used dialogue and plot to bring out the likeability of the others. This could’ve easily been done if Nielsen had zoned in on Simon and had him interact with the other characters. I liked that she didn’t focus too much on Ivy just because she’s the princess and it’s YA, so I wouldn’t want her to be the main POV though I liked her. Hastings/Laith had a very interesting backstory, and the novel would’ve been really interesting if he’d been the main character and somehow got caught up in the rescue-the-princess plotline.

Overall, it was good, and I enjoyed reading it, but I found the style distancing for me as a reader. 3 stars.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Journey to the Fringe was a very well-written and captivating novel. After I read it, I was amazed when I learned that this is the author’s debut novel. It’s about a fantasy kingdom called Lyria. Long before Lyria existed, there used to be what were called Stone Mages. These men and women had power over the elements, and each of them had tradestones that helped them use their powers. In current-day Lyria, the princess Ivy—the hope of the people—was kidnapped, and a motley crew of Lyrians want to go rescue her, believing that she was taken to what was called the Fringe, or the very dangerous edge of everything the Lyrians knew geographically. To make matters worse, the Southern realm threat of invasion hangs over all Lyrian’s heads like a storm cloud. Those that have dared to travel to the Fringe have never returned because of the treacherous sea waters, so this group of people knew that they would be risking their lives to save the princess. The group consisted of Simon, a comedian; Burr, a homeless thief; Gilda, a magical witch; and Merrick, a sea captain. When they reach the Fringe, they find more than hope for their despairing nation. They find something that will change their lives forever. If these unlikely heroes band together and rise as Stone Mages of Lyria, then they can succeed. Nielsen described the scenery and the characters eloquently, making the setting easy to visualize and the characters very likable and easy to relate to. Normally, I’m not a fantasy fan, but this novel put that into question. Filled with mystery, high adventure, suspense, mystical powers, plot twists, and a spoonful of romance, this book will keep you turning the pages, anxiously anticipating but never truly knowing what will happen next.

[Sheila (sheilasbookreviewer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Journey to the Fringe is a fantasy with a very interesting world. Though it took me a few chapters to get into the story, after I became acquainted with all of the characters, the story took off for me. A unique aspect of this book is how many different POV's (points of view) are used in this novel. I felt that this allowed more story to be told. If this book had only been told by one point of view, I don't think it would have been as rich and bold. I loved many of the characters such as Princess Ivy, Simon, Laith, Captain Merrick, Gilda and of course the old seer Medwin. All of these characters have a gift that makes them a Stone Mage. All of their individual gifts are Earth elementals harnessed to the wind, rain and earth. Princess Ivy can control "space" and open up portal doors and Simon can control the gift of time. I loved the scenes where they used their unique gifts.

The characters are in a battle for their homeland, Lyria. It has been taken over by the evil Abaddon, who with his strong, Southern warriors want to annihilate the Lyrian people. There is a lot of action and great battles in this book. The characters are so well written that you care about them quickly. They each have their own personal battles and reasons to be journeying to the Fringe. I can't wait to read more in this series. The first book can actually stand on it's own, without any other books to come. This book is written for the Young Adult Fantasy reader, but with the many great adult characters, adult readers will also connect with this book.

To read more of my reviews go to: http://www.whynotbecauseisaidso.blogs...

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

War is threatening in the kingdom of Lyria, the Southern realm is trying to take over Lyria. Things look especially dark when Princess Ivy, the most beloved to the Lyrians is abducted. None of the Lyrians are sure just what to do, so it takes a while, but eventually a small number of them set out to save her from the Fringe, a far distant and dangerous place for them to go. Our heroes for this adventure are Simon, he's a fool, Gilda, she's a witch who's just had her witches trade stone revoked because she's never actually done magic, Burr, a small boy who steals away into the ship the heroes are on and Merrick, captain of the vessel they are to sail on. These heroes, along with Princess Ivy will go to far off places, fight the evil with in their midst and most importantly learn valuable lessons about themselves and others, in their quest to get back to Lyria and help in the coming battle before it's too late.

I LOVED this book! I've had it on hold at the library for an awfully long time and was finally able to get a copy. This book was well worth the wait. I loved the plot, it's fast moving and engaging. I love the characters, they seem real and go through real things, even though they live in a make believe land. I loved that it's clean. You must read this book! So great.

[Debbie]

I'm sorry, but I just could not get into this book. The chapters were SO SHORT. As in ANNOYINGLY short. It wouldn't be so bad if it was all one story, but every chapter switched to a different person's story. So here you are reading about someone's story line, you are just getting into it, and then the chapter ends. And then the next storyline starts up, you read 10 paragraphs (not even enough to get into the story line) and then the chapter ends. It just kept repeating this process over and over and over between 4 or 5 characters. I got to page 50 and I was already on chapter 32 (only a slight exaggeration). I just couldn't handle it any more and had to put it down.

Also, this author totally spelled everything out for the reader. This is okay in some circumstances, like when it is a new world and you might need to explain certain things, but the author didn't leave anything as a surprise. Rather than let you guess where they were headed, she just told you. Rather than let the girl be surprised when some people came to rescue her, they just told her right away. It drove me nuts.

Sad, because it sounded like it could have been a cool story. And I'm sure it was...but I'm not willing to find out in the manner in which it was presented.

The end.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm writing this review after 3 years of having read the book. so... I may not remember things perfectly. But, if memory serves:

This book started out somewhat slow, but still held my interest. The story revolves around several characters who have control of a particular element (I'm using the term used loosely here since "time" isn't exactly an element). However this magic requires a specific gemstone (e.g. Ruby for fire) in order to harness their ability.

I found this to be an interesting check on the magic as it allowed for our protagonists to be extra vulnerable when removed from their stones. During one part, for example, it felt a bit (to me) like that part in Chrono Trigger were the player is separated from their gear and need to sneak around and find it. If that reference doesn't make any sense to you then... fine.

The series is intended to be a trilogy, but the second book hasn't been published to date. However, the story of this first book is relatively self contained.