Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940044791589 |
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| Publisher: | William L Stuart |
| Publication date: | 08/12/2012 |
| Series: | The Gemstone Chronicles , #1 |
| Sold by: | Smashwords |
| Format: | NOOK Book |
| Sales rank: | 1,093,412 |
| File size: | 329 KB |
| Age Range: | 12 Years |
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian
4.2 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
11 reviews.
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I love fantasy books, so the blurb on The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian by William L. Stuart caught my attention.
There were a few great things in this book:
– A strong family. More often than not, the hero or heroine are from a broken home or something tragic happens to a family member as the impetus for an adventure. Not in this book. I liked how Stuart placed a family with strong values and good relationships in the centre of his tale. It was neat to see how they worked together and leaned on each other.
– Light and Dark elves. It was an interesting premise and I like how the issues of today were explained by the “fall” of the light elven community.
The rest, I am sorry to say, I really didn’t enjoy. For me the story felt a bit long-winded at times, and not descriptive enough in other places. For example, the grandfather has a lot of knowledge about survival in the wild, and here Stuart goes into great detail. But when we are introduced to the elves, and other magical creatures, he leaves off the description and just gives names that are hard to pronounce.
I also felt that this book needs even more editing. I’m not talking about small grammatical errors that sometimes appear. The story is choppy with events happening at one point, and the necessary information to digest the event happening in a later chapter. We learn only near the end of the book that the grandfather was in the military and that’s how he knows so much. Also we learn only after the fact that the grandson knows karate.
I also found the name that had been given to the grandfather rather odd. I could not reconcile a skilled survivalist with the name Bebop. I just called him grandpa while I read. It is not until the end that we learn how he came to be called Bebop – from his Grandkids. But the whole time he refers to himself as Bebop, and I couldn’t take him as a character seriously.
As this book wasn’t to my liking I very much doubt I would read the rest in the series.
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I liked how the story was personalized for the author's grandchildren. It made it more endearing. What a fun story for grandparents to share with their grandchildren.
I enjoyed the magical world and the gemstone trivia. The inclusion of gemstones gave a new freshness to the story. It was interesting and witty.
I look forward to finding out the rest of the tale.
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A fantasy story is explored within this book…
The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian, written by William Stuart, starts with two characters – Aidan and Maggie – who find a stone. This particular stone frees an elf. Then Aidan, Maggie and company are chased from their home by some enemies and are forced to live in an entirely different world. But at the risk of revealing too much about this book’s plot, I will say no more about that though.
On a related subject, please note that this book is part of a book series called The Gemstone Chronicles.
Switching gears now to the cover of this book, the image of the crossbow with different colored stones imbedded in it is interesting. Personally, I would have liked the cover more, however, if there were images of some of the characters in addition to the crossbow.
Changing topics away from the book’s cover and to the editing, a good attempt at editing is accomplished. However, there tends to be commas where no commas are needed.
The pacing of the book has points where the storyline flows and then stalls though.
The pacing seems to stall, in this reader’s opinion, when there is a lot of backstory that is being explained.
The content of this book is also highly focused on the fantastical, which is to be expected since the story is firmly situated in the fantasy genre.
Switching topics from the content and to the character development, the character development especially reflects in the development of the family and the close bonds keeping them together despite the children being adventurous. But at the risk of revealing too much about the storyline, I will say no more about that though.
Overall, I would rate this book 3 stars out of 5 stars for the reasons already explained above.
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We are proud to announce that THE GEMSTONE CHRONICLES BOOK ONE: THE CARNELIAN by William Stuart is a B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree. This tells a reader that this book is well worth their time and money!
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Reviewed by Heather Osborne for Readers' Favorite
The Carnelian is the first book in The Gemstone Chronicles by William L. Stuart. Maggie and Aiden come to stay with Nana and Beebop, their grandparents, for spring break. Their time is usually spent jet skiing, rock hounding, and four-wheeling. On one of the rock hounding expeditions with Beebop, Maggie finds an oddly-shaped rock in the form of a cross. That night, a mysterious human-like shape appears in her room, beseeching them to free him from his prison. Beebop determines they must return the stone to the woods, but Maggie and Aiden have other ideas. They break the rock, freeing a Light Elf by the name of Findecano. He was imprisoned by evil forces of the Drow, a mysterious evil power of his world. The four humans are drawn into an adventure to seek out the missing stones of the Elven bow and put a stop to the evil spreading throughout his world. Will they manage to make it through the first quest alive?
Mr. Stuart is a very clever storyteller. I liked all the factoids about gemstones and their various protective elements. His twist on Elven mythology was also unique. I found the characters entertaining, especially Maggie. She had to be my favorite out of the group, especially with her ferret, Lucy. I felt that the book could use a second editor’s eye to tighten up some of the sentences and remove excess word usage. Other than that, I found The Gemstone Chronicles, Book One: The Carnelian compelling and I am looking forward to reading the continued adventures of the group!
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Aidan and his sister Maggie are visiting their grandparents Beebop and Nana in North Georgia home. Aidan loves spending time with his grandparents probably because of Nana's cooking and freedom he enjoys while visiting. Beebop is a rock-hunter, who makes interesting jewelry with his finds, always searching for the next interesting rock. Nana has food blog with family tested recipes some new and old. While out rock-hunting with Beebop, Maggie finds unusual stone giving it to Beebop. None of them ever expected what's about to happen next though. A projection emerges from the rock showing a man asking for help. Beebop and Nana think it's best to leave the rock alone. But Aidan and Maggie against Beebop and Nana's wished smash the rock freeing the man. The man introduces himself as Findecano Saralonde is in fact an elf magically trapped for the last two hundred years. Findecano has some information that his homeland needs to know about The Elven Bow doesn't hold it's rune carved gemstones any longer. The four magical gemstones especially The Carnelian for courage. Everything is not as it seems in Findecano's homeland much has changed over the past two hundred years not all of it good. Findecano is determined to retrieve and return gemstones to their rightful place. What is amiss in Findecano's homeland? Will Findecano complete his task? Will Aidan, Maggie, Nana, and Beebop help? Your answers await you in The Gemstone Chronicles Book One:The Carnelian.
A very charming beginning to series. I really enjoyed many aspects to the characters, history, and backgrounds. I found the concept fascinating and unique. A great read for young adult. I will definitely check out the next book in the series.
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Aidan, his little sister Maggie, and their grandparents, Beebop and Nana, find themselves drawn into the magical realm of Celahir after they accidentally free Findecano, a Light Elf who has been imprisoned for centuries in a rock. Findecano explains that he was hidden away in this prison after he discovered a plot by the Dark Elves to steal the gemstones from the magical Elven Bow. The family accompanies him deep into the heart of Celahir to to recover the first of the gemstones, the Carnelian, which is reported to be in the clutches of a kelpie, a mythical horse-like creature that feasts on human flesh. While the set-up is a bit slow, the pace really picks up after the family departs our world for the magical realm of the elves. A lovely fantasy adventure that will appeal especially to children ages 9-12.
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William Stuart has proven beyond a doubt with his children’s fantasy, The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian that Grandparents Rock and the hero worship young children give them is well deserved! The adventures young Aidan and Maggie went on with Beebop and Nana were definitely more exciting than the latest electronic game! As the story begins, Aidan and Maggie go rock hunting with their grandfather. The kids come across a most unusual stone that contains a magical elf from another world. What do the grandparents do? They offer the elf a place to stay, food, all without the huge hoopla that we all KNOW parents would have shown! Findecano, the elf, is being chased by an ugly troll who has been after him for eons and who shows up the next day through a hidden ‘barrier’ between our world and the magical world of Celahir. The group, grandparents, elf and kids must travel to Celahir through the barrier and their magical adventure truly begins as they go racing through the perils presented by so many magical creatures! If not for Nan’s ability to be unflappable and Beebop’s “MacGiver-like” brains and ingenuity, the four of them would never have stood a chance! Aidan and Maggie witness firsthand what keeping a cool head can do, learning valuable lessons along the way. But, will they be back home before their parents come to get them? Would their parents even believe what happened to them? This could be one time that what happens at Grandma’s STAYS at Grandma’s!
William Stuart has created a beautiful escape for children, filled with awe inspiring wonder. His descriptions of a world so different from our own invite the imagination to run wild! What I especially liked was how he allowed his characters to ask about and learn of our world, too, through Beebop, Nana and even the kids. A well-done adventure for children of all ages to share!
Thank you for sharing your imagination with us!
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Review of The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian by William L. Stuart
I reviewed a complimentary e-book version provided in return for my fair and impartial review.
The problem some readers have with fantasy or urban fantasy is the notion of suspension of disbelief. In our contemporary, science-oriented, “I can’t believe it unless I see it” world, the notion of elves, werewolves, shapeshifters, faerie, angels, and other supernatural or paranormal (translate: NOT the usual) entities seem difficult to believe. But a good writer of fantasy (think, for example, of Mercedes Lackey) can bring the imagined world to life. Such is the case for this reviewer with this first installment in “The Gemstone Chronicles” series. In “The Carnelian,” young Aiden and Maggie, while helping grandfather Bebop rock-hunt near his home in the North Georgia mountains, find “fairy crosses,” small stones which look like crosses. But Maggie also finds a really different type of stone, and that night, activated by a static electricity charge between Maggie and Bebop when passing the rock, an Elf appears from it, followed the next morning (after Aiden destroys the stone to free the Elf) by the Troll who has hunted him for millennia. Trust me: you won’t even blink an eyelash, as these events seem to follow in natural progression; no disbelief need apply.
Of course, the magical events don’t stop here (and you wouldn’t want them to), so come on along, buckle up and enjoy the ride. Author William Stuart has a deft turn with settings and dialogues, offering explanations that fit in neatly (and believe me, he knows a whole lot more about rock-hunting, preservation, and use than I ever did before, so it’s also educational), and his characters are well rounded and elicit plenty of empathy. I found this book so comprehensible I only wish I could travel to North Georgia and hunt for fairy crosses too.
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I liked the first book in this series, but this one is much better. I became engrossed in this story very quickly. The author continues to impart a genuine warmth and love between the family members/main characters, which is very refreshing. In the first book, the narrative was very repetitive making the story drag, but that is not the case in this one. The story flows quickly and smoothly. I enjoyed learning about the various gems in the story......answered a Jeopardy question from reading this book :). The interaction with the giant takes you through a range of emotions and helps teach a valuable lesson. I think this is a great story for all ages. The story completes itself but has plenty of teasers to make you want to continue the series.
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