The Stone of the Stars

The Dragon Throne #1

by Alison Baird

Alison Baird, a fresh new voice in the fantastic tradition of Marion Zimmer Bradley, presents the first volume in a wondrous new trilogy of adventure, magic, and mythic beasts... The City of the Dragons Ravaging the once peaceful world of Mera, the evil God-King Khalazar and his army of barbarians seek a legendary talisman of unfathomable power called the Stone of the Stars. But the only clues to its location are contained in an ancient scroll, which rests in the hands of four young fugitives. Now this quartet of innocents-a storyteller, a priest, a runaway slave, and a visionary-must find and uncover the real nature of the Stone. Pursued by Khalazar's fanatic warriors, these travelers will journey to a long-vanished mystical isle where humans once dwelt alongside dragons. And it is here, amid the haunted ruins of a city built by a forgotten race, that their quest-and their destinies-will truly begin...

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Young Adult, Paranormal, Magic, Adventure, Fiction

624 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 2004

About the author

Alison Baird is a resident of Oakville, Ontario, Canada, and a graduate of Trinity College, University of Toronto, where she earned her Honours B.A. in English and her M.A. degree.

As an author she had an early start, publishing her first poems when she was 12. Her first book, The Dragon's Egg, was published by Scholastic Canada: it was a national bestseller and a Regional Winner of the Silver Birch Award (a children's choice award). It is now featured on school curricula across the country. The Hidden World and White as the Waves: A Novel of Moby Dick were both CCBC "Our Choice" selections, and White as the Waves was shortlisted for the IODE Violet Downey Book Award. Baird has also written two trilogies, the Willowmere Chronicles and The Dragon Throne. The Stone of the Stars, the first book of The Dragon Throne, received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly.

Baird's short fiction has appeared in On Spec magazine, a Canadian periodical of original science fiction and fantasy for adults. Her story "Dragon Pearl" received an Honourable Mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror published by St. Martin's Press. Another short story, "Moon Maiden," appeared in the acclaimed young adult anthology What If. . .? Amazing Stories Selected by Monica Hughes (Tundra Books), which was an ABA Kids’ Pick of the Lists and was featured on the New York Public Library’s Recommended List.

Reviews

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of the usual cliche things you might find in a fantasy novel. The plot was ok. A little slow to start, but it did grab me in the beginning. The characters are like stereotyped caricatures. You have the handsome priest, Damion, the wise old woman Ana, Jomar, the macho chauvinist guy, Lorelyn the tomboy, and Ailia who is the Mary-Sue of the story. They don't really have a whole lot of depth, and mostly stick to the stereotypes they were assigned. Gag me. I didn't care much for the plot twists that neither surprised me nor were very interesting.

It might sound like I didn't like this book, but that's not true. I did enjoy it enough to want to continue the trilogy. I would almost put it in the "so bad it's good" category, but it never really reached that terrible level. It came close at times. There is some cringe-worthy dialog for sure. I also admit to having a weakness for dragons. Dragons automatically make a book cooler for me. The dragons in this don't show up until near the end, but they are pretty cool, so points for that. There are also other mythical creatures that show up, but they really seemed to serve no purpose other than to say "hey, here's a magical creature blocking your path." It's good if you like that sort of thing like I do, but they have to be there for a reason.

A flawed book, but not a bad read by any means.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable fantasy read.

[Morgan Dhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alison Baird, The Stone of the Stars


I fell in love with one of the main characters, Ailia, the minute she thought to herself: "I always wanted hair like the princesses’ in faerie tales, golden hair that was long enough to sit upon. It was one more item in the long list of things life had denied her. Adventure was another. Adventures, when they happened at all, happened to men and boys. For a girl there were but two possible destinies, housewifery and spinsterhood: and both meant a life confined to the home." It's not just the baby butch girls that long for adventures, after all.

Then we met Damion, the young priest. He seemed a bit stuffy at first, but soon revealed an adventurous heart and an inner longing for romantic quests. In a very short time, he saves the life of the third of the story's significant characters, Lorelyn, who also intrigued me from the start. Appearing mysteriously as an infant in a monastery, hearing voices indistinctly, and dressing up as a boy to save the scroll of destiny from the invading bad guys - she certainly knows how to make a good entrance.

The cast of major characters also includes Ana, the requisite mysterious wise woman who knows much more than she's saying and is clearly something more than she's believed to be, and Mandrake, the requisite mysterious person of great power and questionable motivations who is clearly playing a deep and probably evil game.

There's a quest, of course, for an object of great power that is thought by some to be only a legend, and by others to be just the thing they need to conquer the world. And there is the person with a great destiny - although Baird leaves open the question of exactly who that person really is for rather longer than usual.

There's nothing here that breaks ground in terms of the tropes of fantasy, but it's well-written, smartly put together, and the cast of main characters have charm and depth.

[Martini · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a complex story...the main characters through a series of events meet up and search for a stone and that is basically it...the whole book is really, about the journey. This journey in particular moves at a crawling pace.(at least it did for me...>.<) The character aren't very complex and for the obvious reason that they are all cookie cutter characters. One example would be the main character. She's mousy, she likes to read, she's smart but awkward, she has a secret crush on the handsome protagonist in the book. She keeps all her feelings inside(introverted). She knows way too much and talks quite a bit. she's basically the info dumper in the story next to the old lady, who is their guide. There's a twist in this book but, it should become clear to you about halfway into it.

The book wasn't bad but, it didn't strike me as a must read. I found this book hard to grade because, it's a introduction into a brand new world and probably sets the groundwork for the whole saga.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really great book. The blending of traditional fantasy elements and the Christian mythos was awesome, and her descriptions (especially concerning places) are spectacular. The mythology and world she created was amazing. The characters were also really good, though they sometimes ventured into too clichéd territory.

My only issue was that the plot was actually kind of predictable. Things were just too obvious, so you knew that it wasn't going to turn out that.

[Cali De leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book a while back and it became one of those stories that I simply couldn't forget about.

The Stone of the Stars: The Dragon, is a remarkable fantasy novel that will bring you deep into its pages - into an unforgettable world filled with unforgettable characters, magic, heart-pounding adventure, and romance.

I give it four stars and highly recommend it for fans of its genre.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an imaginative fantasy full of suspense, mystery, and various characters. No two are alike.

[Bev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marion Zimmer Bradley is WAY better.