The Stone of Knowing (Stone Cycle, #1)

by Allan N Packer

[phyllish]

A stone that allows the bearer to know the thoughts of others. . .

My rating is 4.5 stars

A stone that allows the bearer to know the thoughts of others. . .

When I received the invitation to review The Stone of Knowing, I was intrigued. And seeing that Allan Packer is a debut author had me jumping at this opportunity. I can say unreservedly that I am thrilled that I did.

He may be newly published, however his writing is quite accomplished. The language he uses is rich and colorful. The plot was very interesting with many twists and turns. The characters were very well developed. I was invested from the very start.

There are a number of principal characters. Thomas Stablehand, the finder of the stone and a master at working with horses. Will, a soldier. Rufe, another soldier. Vangellis, the monk. Stefan, the king. Elbruhe. . . Each one plays a significant role in this saga.

Thomas and Will are the primary characters. Thomas is actually a fairly typical teenage male, making choices that have far-reaching implications. Shortly after discovering the stone, he made some very poor choices that caused pain and grief to those around him and to himself.

Will was my favorite character. He was the very definition of bravery - not because he wasn't fearful but because of how he responded to the fear. With great determination and fortitude, he rose above his circumstances and truly embodied the description ""mighty man of valor"". One of the best scenes in the story, if not the best, was when he was a captive - his bravery and his quick thinking had a stunning result.

While I was still at the beginning of the book, the author contacted me to see if I had finished reading yet, curious as to my thoughts. Here is what I told him:

According to my Kindle, I'm at 33%. So far, I'm mad at Tom, intrigued by Rufe and love Will! :-)

I'm certainly enjoying it so far. I'm very curious about why the stone only works sometimes. Depending on what I make for dinner, I may be able to finish it tonight. Maybe. Hopefully.

I'm certainly invested. If only my job didn't interfere with my reading!

Your writing style is great! And I love that you aren't afraid to use multi-syllabic words.

The enemy encroaching on the land is evil and very dangerous. Thus the tone of the story is somber and there is much talk of battles. Despite this, there is humor (I laughed out loud at the encounter with the bear!) and hope is injected in such a way as to keep it from being dark. The battle scenes are kept from being gruesome and yet provided enough detail to allow me to follow what was going on.

Years ago I read the series The Dragon King Trilogy by Stephen P. Lawhead. At the time, I didn't have thousands of books on my Kindle (or even a Kindle!) and therefore I tended to read the ones I liked over and over. I probably read these books twenty times, maybe more. The Stone of Knowing reminded me very much of the style that I recall from those readings.


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I was given a copy of this book. I was not required to give a favorable review nor was any money received for this review. All comments and opinions are my own.