THE GEMSTONE CHRONICLES Book One: The Carnelian by William L Stuart

THE GEMSTONE CHRONICLES Book One: The Carnelian by William L Stuart

Blurb: When Aidan and Maggie find a fairy cross while rock-hunting with their grandfather, it's just an oddity. But when they discover there is an elf imprisoned in the stone and set him free, they and their grandparents, Nana and Beebop, are attacked by Dark Elves and forced to flee to the magical world of Celahir.

In Celahir, Findecano - the elf the children freed from the fairy cross - leads them on a quest to recover gemstones stolen from the Elven Bow by the Dark Elves. Without the restoration of the gemstones to the Elven Bow, the balance between good and evil in Celahir - and the human world - could tip toward evil.

Book Cover/Title - My publisher says that a book title helps sell a book. I'm not sure if this title would be a selling point, but it certainly fits the nature of the story. The picture on the cover also depicts the story, as it represents the Elven Bow, and the four gems that were stolen from the bow. 4 feathers.

Characters - The biggest problem I had with the characters, was, I couldn't tell which one was supposed to be the main one. Since it's a book written for young adults, I assumed it would be either Aidan or Maggie, but I think it ended up being Beepop. But, Aidan and Maggie had their share of saving the day, and causing problems, as they slowly learned their powers. I just felt it was Beepop that the story really revolved around. BTW, I love the name Beepop, and I wish I'd had a grandpa like him. I thought the characters were well-developed, even the elves and other mythical creatures. 4 feathers.

Plot/Story line - This isn't actually an original story line as there are numerous books and movies about crossing over a barrier to a fairy world. Our history is rich with these types of tales. But, the story was presented well, and at a good pace. Of course, knowing this was Book One, you knew nothing was going to happen to the small group of adventurers, so no plot twists there. 4 feathers.

Editing/Formatting - There were some missing words, and a lack of commas, which I see all the time in indie books. A good editing would resolve this problem, plus help with some of the sentence structures. 4 feathers.

This was an enjoyable book, and I think young adults & older adults will like this story. I'm curious at what transpires to drag the children and grandparents back into another adventure. I give it 4 feathers.