Summary:
"Long after the last of the great heroes of old has died, the Undead King is stirring again, amassing a goblin horde ready to sweep out of the mountains and destroy all of humanity. The only thing preventing utter annihilation is Edmund—a stuttering librarian who knows a secret, a secret that every thief, assassin, and king would kill to have. Fleeing from relentless peril, Edmund wages a solitary battle against an ancient evil. But how can one man succeed when so many before him have failed?"
My Thoughts:
Can I just start this by saying that I love stories that have a librarian as a main character? Some of my favorite books, TV shows, and movies have had librarians in them: Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines, Giles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and I adore "The Librarian" movies created by TNT. Riddle in Stone proved to be just as enjoyable.
I actually felt a little sorry for Edmund. So many people make fun of him because he stutters, but he is such a well-educated individual, and I just wished he would get angry enough to where he could just go on a huge rant without stuttering and make everyone else just shut up. Then again, that would have been against his nature and character. Anyway, after being told that the beautiful Molly would not be interested in someone boring like him, Edmund decides to go on an adventure...even though he has no idea how difficult that will be. He's never traveled. All he knows are his books, so well that he has them memorized, which is a very useful skill. I imagine that trying to lug around a number of large tomes would be extremely tedious.
It is because of his exhaustion, sore muscles, and blisters from all his walking in the beginning that we discover that Edmund has magic...nothing too special, though. He didn't take the time to learn much more than a few spells, and not well enough to be able to perform more than one or two a day. I liked that because it didn't make him this amazingly strong and smart and moral compassionate hero. It takes Edmund time to learn and grow and become stronger as he deals with more.
His main companions in this story are Thorax, a dog that starts to travel with him and proves to be quite useful and loyal. (Is it really bad if I admit that she was my favorite character? She was great). Then, about midway into the novel, Edmund meets Pond Scum--and you will have to read the book to find out why his name is Pond Scum--and he quickly becomes quite useful in helping Edmund, so much so that they become partners in this adventure.
Riddle in Stone is filled with magic, trolls, goblins, elves, a riddle to be solved, fights, and an epic journey that really did leave me wanting to read the next one. I have to say one of the really fun parts for me was the image I got in my head when Edmund first set out on his adventure. I just kept picturing Bilbo from The Hobbit movie when he is running out of the Shire, yelling "I'm going on an adventure!" It was amusing and actually helped to draw me into the story even more than I already was.
My main issues though were Edmund's stuttering (so I hope to see that he overcomes that by the trilogy's end), and how a great deal of the book was basically Edmund alone. Yes, from the beginning he was traveling with Thorax, but you can't really have a lot of back-and-forth conversation with a dog. I'm hoping the next book won't have that issue as much, since it seems like Edmund and Pond Scum will be traveling together.
I really did enjoy this book and I look forward to reading the next one. Overall, I give it a 4.5/5. Seriously guys, give it a try. Riddle in Stone is only $2.99
Riddle in Stone at Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/riddle-in-stone-robert-evert/1114700783?ean=2940016203645&isbn=2940016203645
Riddle in Stone at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Riddle-Stone-The-Series-ebook/dp/B00BL09E6O/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1361886905&sr=8-7&keywords=riddle+in+stone
I actually felt a little sorry for Edmund. So many people make fun of him because he stutters, but he is such a well-educated individual, and I just wished he would get angry enough to where he could just go on a huge rant without stuttering and make everyone else just shut up. Then again, that would have been against his nature and character. Anyway, after being told that the beautiful Molly would not be interested in someone boring like him, Edmund decides to go on an adventure...even though he has no idea how difficult that will be. He's never traveled. All he knows are his books, so well that he has them memorized, which is a very useful skill. I imagine that trying to lug around a number of large tomes would be extremely tedious.
It is because of his exhaustion, sore muscles, and blisters from all his walking in the beginning that we discover that Edmund has magic...nothing too special, though. He didn't take the time to learn much more than a few spells, and not well enough to be able to perform more than one or two a day. I liked that because it didn't make him this amazingly strong and smart and moral compassionate hero. It takes Edmund time to learn and grow and become stronger as he deals with more.
His main companions in this story are Thorax, a dog that starts to travel with him and proves to be quite useful and loyal. (Is it really bad if I admit that she was my favorite character? She was great). Then, about midway into the novel, Edmund meets Pond Scum--and you will have to read the book to find out why his name is Pond Scum--and he quickly becomes quite useful in helping Edmund, so much so that they become partners in this adventure.
Riddle in Stone is filled with magic, trolls, goblins, elves, a riddle to be solved, fights, and an epic journey that really did leave me wanting to read the next one. I have to say one of the really fun parts for me was the image I got in my head when Edmund first set out on his adventure. I just kept picturing Bilbo from The Hobbit movie when he is running out of the Shire, yelling "I'm going on an adventure!" It was amusing and actually helped to draw me into the story even more than I already was.
My main issues though were Edmund's stuttering (so I hope to see that he overcomes that by the trilogy's end), and how a great deal of the book was basically Edmund alone. Yes, from the beginning he was traveling with Thorax, but you can't really have a lot of back-and-forth conversation with a dog. I'm hoping the next book won't have that issue as much, since it seems like Edmund and Pond Scum will be traveling together.
I really did enjoy this book and I look forward to reading the next one. Overall, I give it a 4.5/5. Seriously guys, give it a try. Riddle in Stone is only $2.99
Riddle in Stone at Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/riddle-in-stone-robert-evert/1114700783?ean=2940016203645&isbn=2940016203645
Riddle in Stone at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Riddle-Stone-The-Series-ebook/dp/B00BL09E6O/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1361886905&sr=8-7&keywords=riddle+in+stone
Riddle in Stone can also be found in the iBookstore and via Kobo.
You can also find Robert Evert at his blog: http://robertevert.blogspot.com/
You can also find Robert Evert at his blog: http://robertevert.blogspot.com/
Other Readings:
Currently I am reading The Water Witch by Juliet Dark, Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz, and A Conspiracy of Alchemists by Liesel Schwarz.
Wow!! Thanks so much Danielle!! I really appreciate your kind words and encouragement. Thank you very much!
ReplyDeleteIt was an enjoyable read. Thank you for writing and publishing.
ReplyDelete