The Stone of the Stars

I thought this book was fairly good. Its true that the "twists" weren't too difficult to figure out, but in my opinion the storytelling itself outshone all of that. There were a lot of characters presented, but it's obvious when reading that they are not important. In the beginning I was immediately reminded of the "Silmarillion," but fortunately that stopped about two pages in. And as for teenage fiction, apparantly this book is classified as Young Adult (or, at least, her previous books were written for that age group). There's plenty of good YA fantasy out there, and I don't see it as a bad thing. In reality though, this book isn't for everyone. If you absolutely hate predictability, don't pick this up. But if you are looking for a good story, I think this book was wonderful. Baird's descriptions were vivid, and she did a good job intertwining her own imagination with other mythical elements.

On Great Island lives Ailia, a young woman who wants to go to the University on the Continent. Her parents, fearing for her safety refuse even after she won a scholarship until it looks like King Thalazor's going to invade the island in his search for the Star Stone. With that in his possession he believes he can conquer the entire world of Mera. When Ailia is allowed to enter the university, she meets Damion, a beautiful but troubled priest who's beginning to believe what he thought were myths were in fact truths.Damion meets Ana, a white witch. She believes that one of the students at the university, Lorelyn is the long awaited Tryna Lia whose destiny is to rid her world and the world of Eldiana where the lower benevolent gods fled after the Great Disaster of Madrian. These three people and runaway slave Jomar travel to the world of Trynisia, a land of magical beings and untold wealth to look for the Star Stone and face an adversary who believes he knows how to get what he wants: the star stone and the Tryna Lia, the daughter of a planetary deity.Book one of the Dragon Throne series is everything a reader could want in a fantasy book. There are magical realms where fantastic creatures of legend actually live, a quest to be performed that must succeed if Tryna Lia is to defeat her enemy and claim her throne, and a prophecy that must be fulfilled by those brave enough to attempt it. Alison Baird is a bright new voice in the fantasy firmament.Harriet Klausner