The Burning Stone

By Kate Elliott

Review By Robert Thompson 8/4/99

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This is the third book in the "Crown of Stars" series. I thought that I had read one of the earlier books, but i soon realized that I was mistaken- I wish I had read both of the previous- Kings Dragon, and Prince of Dogs. I might have understood this complex story a bit better.

This story takes place in a fairly realistic Medieval world in which the nobility is tightly interwoven with the dominant religions- Second sons, second daughters etc. of the Noble families often being dedicated to the church. Most of the nobles are fairly decent, as are most of the clerics- even the heretics are as decent if not better than many of the "fundamentalists". The peasants usually don't suffer any more than peasants normally do.

Although the society tends to lean toward the Matriarchical in many respects, the highest ranking noble in this story is King Henry, who is a pretty decent king, although beset by problems within and without his kingdom, and within his family. While most of his children don't see "eye-to-eye" with him, they are all pretty decent, and even the "spoiled" one isn't too obnoxious. Some of the Nieces, Nephews and Cousins are a different matter.

Although in this book there are several characters more or less equally important in moving the story along, it revolves around King Henry's son Prince Sanglant and King's Eagle (an elite messenger group) Liath. Both have some interesting bloodlines, which include some non-human.

In telling the story of the humans involved, this story can stand alone-, but in understanding the larger picture, it would help if you read the previous books first. I still haven't figured out what the heck Eika and the Quman are, other than they are non-human. Apparently there was a war or wars with them in the recent past.

In this episode we have lots of different familial conflicts and a few minor to middling battles, some good character development, but it all leads up to the next volume- Apparently a Race of Beings that "quit the earth" eons ago will be returning soon, and there MAY be "Hell to Pay" when they do.

I did enjoy this book quite a bit in general, although there were a few things that I could have done without- like the bisexual experimentation among King Henry's youngest son Prince Ekkehard and his companions. It wasn't "in-your-face" but it was there and I didn't think it was necessary.

All in all, it was an engrossing tale, and I was sorry to finish it. I'm looking forward to the next one. I plan on going back and reading the first two- wish I had done it first.

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I just finished King's Dragon, the first book in the series. I understand the overall picture a little bit better than I did while reading The Burning Stone , although it is obvious I'm going to have to read Prince of Dogs before I'm completely clued in. That is OK- I'm enjoying this series as much as anything I have read in the last six months.

In this story, we are introduced to most of the main characters in the one reviewed above.

The author gives a pretty accurate picture of politics, ambition and life in a feudal system. We learn how and why King Henry's sister Sabella tried to wrest his kingdom from him, and how the whole country suffered for it. We see the first big invasion of the non-human Eika, and Prince Sanglant's heroic efforts to stop them.

I still don't have a really good picture of the Eika yet- They seem to be physically half way between lizard and human, but their society is very like that of wild dogs.

King's Dragon is not as well polished as The Burning Stone , and it is not s compelling; but is still a very good story. If you like this genre in general, you will probably enjoy this book. And even if I'm not giving it a Rave Review, it is worth reading, especially since the series as a whole looks like it is going to be superb.

I'll probably read the next one this week, and will add my review down below when I get a chance.

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Reviewed 9-6-99

Well, Prince Of Dogs Is Much better than King's Dragon- It has the more polished writing that I saw in Book three, and a more exciting story than in either one or three, although a little less character development.

IN this episode we see the misery of the refugees from the Eika invasion, how in adversity or even cruel slavery some people not only keep their compassion and honor, some find it where it never existed before. And we see more of how some nobles are truly noble, and others are less noble than the "peasants" that they rule.

As King Henry continues his Progress, doing the best he can with politics and family problems, Liath manages to keep busy delivering messages, and staying out of Father Hugh's hands as much as possible, although when he does finally corner her, many people suffer. (you will see if you read it- I don't want to spoil it.)

Alain begins to come to grips with being the Heir to Count Lavastine, managing to keep the values of a good, solid middle-class upbringing, yet not being too uncomfortable with new responsibilities and privileges.

Princess Sapienta manages to get pregnant by Father Hugh, delivers a healthy child, then decides to lead a troop in battle against the Eika. Princess Theophanu mostly bides her time.

For most of the book, Prince Sanglant is chained with the dogs (hence the title) in the Eika held city of Gent. Finally, during the climactic battle between the humans led by Count Lavastine & Alain and the Eika, Liath manages to free him.

I really enjoyed this book- I'm not sure which I liked better- this one or the The Burning Stone- Had I read them in the proper order, I might have enjoyed the third one more, But this one had a lot more action than either of the others.