Stones of Quentaris is a little different from the two other books that Michael Pryor has written for The Quentaris Chronicles. This is the first time he has not used his original characters, and I think this story has benefited from a change. By creating a new ‘hero’, Pryor has been able to make the relationship between Jaq and his father a central theme in Stones of Quentaris. Since Nisha and Tal were both characters with deceased parents, a relationship with a family is something that did not feature in Pryor’s previous two books, and it adds an extra layer to the story.

Another thing that is better in this book than in Pryor’s previous two is that he has dropped his annoying habit of dividing the story into a myriad of chapters, each lasting only a couple of pages. It is also good to see that he is no longer going out of his way to title his chapters in the same old annoying format: ‘Cutlery and Its Maker’, ‘Nisha and Stanas’, ‘Whole and Complete’, ‘Cold and a Cure’. Instead, he has let himself title his chapters freely in Stones of Quentaris, and it has done the book a world of good.

One not-so-good thing to be said for this book is that, at the start, it lacks motive. The lack of information about what is going on in the early stages of the story can, at times, give the illusion of a fairy-tale, where the bad people are just doing bad because they are bad, and the good people are just doing good because they are good. Motive is often a weak point in Pryor’s Quentaris novels.

By about thirty pages in, every reader who picks up this book is likely to have figured out what it is building up to – (if they haven’t they can just check the cover,) – and with such a build up, the part of the novel actually devoted to the problem presented on the cover is disappointingly small. If you intend to read this book because you want impressively written action scenes, you’d be better off reading something else. Edge-of-your-seat action does not seem to be Michael Pryor’s forte.

Overall, if you like fantasy books about magic and elementals, and have read few enough of them to be easily pleased, this book is for you. Read with an open mind and a criticism-free heart!

Jaq has set himself up as a peddler. His father is one of the merchant guild and disapproves. On the eve of a big festival in Quentaris, someone is stealing huge stones that make up various parts of the town; a step, a pillar, a statue and an obelisk. Jaq stumbles across one of these thefts and is saved by a powerful and mysterious stranger called Kastoli. Kastoli and his companions are wizards who realize that someone is trying to reunite the stones to unlock an old and evil magic.p.11 –15 “Rounding the corner…nothing else he could do.”When Jaq first encounters the sandmen. ( )