Review:
The Stone Crown by Malcolm Walker
Walker Books, 2008. ISBN
9781921150197
(Age 13+) The Stone Crown takes a very different look at the Arthurian
legends and the time travel genre. The narrative takes place on two
levels; one set at the time of Merlin and Arthur and the other in the
present. However the Arthur that we meet is not the traditional one
that inspired the round table and chivalrous behaviour. This Arthur is
a king of Merlin's making and is entirely more earthy and rough around
the edges.
In the village of Yeaveburgh, Emlyn and Maxine (Max) discover something
weird about Sleeper's Spinney and the McCrossan family: Emlyn finds a
figurine of a horse and rider and by so doing releases an ancient
warrior from his prison. It becomes Emlyn and Max's mission to restore
the figurine and find out what the role of the McCrossan family is in
the mystery of the warrior and his companions.
The task is not an easy one. The McCrossan family has been keepers of
the Spinney and the warrior for countless generations and must ensure
the continual maintenance of the stone crown which ensures the warriors
stay quietly imprisoned.
This is an engaging piece of fantasy writing that is thoroughly
absorbing and worryingly believable. This book is a blend of mythology
and sinister forces struggling to come alive again to plunge the world
into a new Dark Age. Refreshingly different.
Reviewed by Mark Knight.
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