The Burning Stone by Kate Elliot
January 2nd 2007 07:31
The Burning Stone by Kate Elliot
In Prince of Dogs, Sanglant is rescued from his canine state and the Eika defeated and their leader Bloodheart killed by Liath. Everything seems to be set for a happy ending. But in The Burning Stone, Sanglant upsets the apple cart, when after a tepid romance, he marries Liath against the wishes of his father, for whom Liath is good enough to be a concubine but not as a royal wife. Therefore, both Sanglant and Liath run away and are given sanctuary at a remote cloister. Liath's mother Anne has resurfaced and has taken them into the cloister where Liath is supposed to be trained for the art of mathematici, the sorcery most feared by the church and also the most powerful.
Elsewhere, Father Hugh is in disgrace but in a trial for sorcery manages to get Liath convicted and himself escapes. Alain's father Lavastine is hounded and killed by Bloodheart's cursed hand. Since, Alain was adopted by Lavastine, his inheritance his contested and he quickly loses the countship.
Sanglant and Liath have a child called, of all things, Blessing but Liath's mother and her companions do not want them to be together and plot to separate them. The heart of the novel is the revelation that Liath is a descendant to the ancient royal throne of an emperor who had managed to unify the world and hence, her potent magical prowess is the linchpin for various interests in the novel.
The Burning Stone turns around the Crown of Stars saga and redeems the story mainly by concentrating on Liath's past and making the grand design, the conspiracy at the heart of the novel, clear to us. It is much more interesting that the tepid Prince of Dogs but it also lays all its cards open. I do not know how Elliot will manage the story in the remaining volumes but this volume has at least succeeded in retaining and awakening my interest in the series.
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