| reader into the life of a boy named Jerat, who is part of a "brood trove" (children of a chief) in an ancient "tier house." Jerat's is a story of familial love awakened in a tough, cold environment. The author does a stunning job of conveying the most profound of human emotions as she describes intricate societies organized around the suppression of personal feelings. Lyrical and magical Celtic references are laced throughout the descriptions of culture and lore in this beautiful, yet tragic, work of imagination. Though those not steeped in the fantasy genre may have a hard time getting into this complex story in the first chapters, they will be rewarded for their efforts. Older readers will embrace the themes of race and gender discrimination, and the moral ambiguities of the characters' actions. 2005, Bloomsbury, Ages 10 to 16.
School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up-Two related stories weave into one in this fully realized fantasy. Jerat struggles to come of age in the dangerous world of the Chief's Brood Trove. Though an able fighter, he is set apart from his more violent brethren by his sensitivity. Interspersed chapters relate how Nela, a Findsman's daughter from many generations in the future, learns of Jerat's world. Using a magic stone, she unconsciously sees the earlier age through the experiences of a female Chief Singer, whose people fear the violent Bear-men of the Brood. When this Singer and Jerat meet, their actions bring about a powerful change for both of their cultures. Browne brings readers right into these fascinating societies, revealing them through the minds of the lead characters. It is initially challenging to keep track of the various classes and roles, especially in Jerat's uniquely structured environment, but compelling writing and vivid characters make immersion in these carefully constructed worlds quite enjoyable. The shifts between Nela's point of view and that of Jerat work very well. While the girl starts out as a curious historian, she eventually takes a powerful role in completing the story that Jerat had set in motion so long ago. Elements of mythology, family dynamics, and caste systems fill scenes with richness and depth without detracting from the compelling plot lines. This multilayered novel may be daunting for readers new to fantasy, but fans of the genre will relish the complex, but thoroughly satisfying tale.-Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
In a complex fantasy with mythic overtones and strong themes of love and guilt, a magic stone imparts visions that link ancient male- and female-centered cultures to their far-future hybrid descendant. Each time would-be archeologist Nela touches a black pebble turned up at her father's dig, she witnesses scenes from long ago in which Jerat, a young warrior desperate to save his dying younger brother, forces Moon-Eye, an enchantress of the forest-dwelling Night Hunters, to sing a spell that actually remakes the world in the image of the singer's heart's desire. But it all goes wrong, for Moon-Eye has fallen in love with Jerat, and Jerat with power-and the magic's misuse lays a killing blight on the whole land that is still active in Nela's time. The tale suffers from a lack of balance, as Jerat is so dominant a character that the others come off as a thin supporting cast, and the tale's slow-building emotional pressure is blown off in a too-quick and easy climax. Still, some strong writing and a setting containing three vividly nuanced invented societies will carry readers along. And-how rare-it seems to be a stand-alone. (Fantasy. YA)
Review by Carole Holdway
Nela's father is a well respected Findsman who seeks clues to unlock the mysteries of the past. Nela is keen to follow in her father’s footsteps and hopes to be the first woman to successfully find evidence to gain knowledge about her ancestors. When the mysterious stone is unearthed Nela’s father senses it is linked somehow to ancient stories explaining the evolution of their society. When Nela touches it however, a strange connection is forged which introduces her to two figures from the past. Throughout the story Nela's life becomes inextricably bound to the lives of these two figures as the stone weaves its spell upon her exposing her to war, love, death and mysterious ancient magic.
When I first began to read The Story of Stone I did not instantly recognise the period in which the narrative took place. However as soon as the ancient civilisation took hold I felt reassured of the type of legend inspired adventure story to expect and I was not disappointed as the plot unfolded. What I found really refreshing in this book though was the notion of ancient land dwellers, albeit in a fantasy setting, seeking to find clues to reveal their own past. This added credibility to the narrative, providing an insight into the powers myths and legends had upon our forebears prior to the dawn of science, whether in a fantasy setting or in our own society.
The blackened, barren land where the group of clue seekers are based has its own story to tell which is revealed as Nela and the reader become immersed in another world.
N. M. Browne creates an interesting cast of characters and effectively fuses fantasy realism with magic, folklore and drama.
The Story of Stone is a highly readable adventure story for older readers who enjoy adventure stories set in fantastical setting.
Bridget's Review
Browne's latest book is set in an alternative time which seems to represent both a primitive, prehistoric era, and one which may have succeeded some disintegration of our present world (and therefore applicable to either and each scenario).
The story links physical objects with humans as indissoluble entities which may appear in various forms, weaving through the years and through the lives of those who touch them. It is indeed the physical act of touching one particular stone which projects Nela into a violent absence from her own world.
"She touched the stone delicately with the tip of her forefinger; it seemed to pulse under her finger like the heartbeat of a small animal... She heard a sound within her head...a long note like the resounding note of a prayer bell peeling high and clear. She blinked as her vision dimmed and thought she heard a sweet voice singing words she couldn't hear."
These fits mark her apart from the cruelly demarcated world in which the Chief, his Brood and his followers are all powerful, and the Bondsman, a slave who may be killed for the slightest mistake, is a despised remnant from an earlier race with different values and talents.
Browne sets different strands of the story beside each other, gradually revealing the story of Stone, and exploring relationships, the process of growing and loving, of power, subjugation and loyalty.
Disturbing, intriguing and filled with subtle and powerful reference to ancient earth myths, and the reinvigoration of the natural world after calamity has devastated it.
School Librarian Volume 53 Number 4 Winter 2005
By Chris Brown
'NM Browne's first book Warriors of Alavna has intriguing elements of time travel within what is essentially a historical novel. I vividly creates spheres of the elemental brutality of life, skirmishes and war amongst the tribespeople of these lands in Roman times.
Five books on and whilst her writing has grown more assured and fluid, in the making of the story and in the wholly imagined vibrant detail of the lives and socially inherent parameters of her characters, it maintains those raw edges of brutality and violence. In the beginning archaeologist equivalents, findsmen, have recovered a stone which proves to tap into some connection with the very essence of the being of Nela, the individualistically inclined, wayward, daughter of a chief amongst the searchers. As things develop she makes tentative links with one of the slave servants, links which turn out to be revelatory. Interspersed with Nela's story is a second: a saga of inheritance, power struggle, jealousies and loyalties engulfing the life of young Jerat, one of many sons of a tribal chieftain. The reader is suspended between which of these tales precedes the other, or whether they are coincidental but in differing places, until gradually a convergence of plot crises makes for a brilliantly paced sequence of thrills and narrowly avoided catastrophes.
The fates of the characters is all the more gripping because of the enticing and involving qualities of the telling. This book is a powerful and haunting story revealed by powerful and haunting writing.’
Books for Keeps No.156 January 2006
AG
Three interlocking strands form this compelling story: Nela, who is researching the past, finds a stone which enables her to catch a brief but intense glimpses of the life of her people long ago; in an intermediate time Jerat and his family seek peace after the death of their old Chief: and far in the past is the mythology that has led to the current way of life of their peoples. Gradually we become aware of the parallels between the lives of Nela and Jerat, both at the pivotal age of 16 and both struggling to break the mould by breaking the conventions of their respective times. The mythological strand is woven intoboth stories, its impact felt most strongly by Jerat, but still evident in Nela's time.
I was captured by each of the stories and was waiting for their gradual but inevitable linking, when it came, the fantastical element perhaps inevitably took over, which I found something of an anticlimax. However, it is an utterly absorbing read which amply repays the degree of concentration needed to tease out the strands and work out their parallels.
Carousel, Spring 2006 Issue 32
Stuart Hill
This is a tale of giants and fairies, but forget any comfortable ideas of nursery rhymes or Hans Christian Anderson. This story investigates the bedrock of European mythology and the roots of civilization. In the world of 'Bear Men' and the 'Night Hunters' – giants and fairies respectively – terms such as 'magic' are not understood, so integral to their lives is the idea of the ceremonial manipulation of their living environment. But when Jerat, a BearMan, captures Moon Stone, one of the Night Hunters, he abuses the Power when he makes her use the 'Magic of the Last Resort' to save his younger brother. So begins a chain of events that will slowly poison the land and make corrupt everything that was once living and growing.
Many years pass and a new civilization grows up in this story of satisfyingly complex interweaving of themes and leitmotifs that examine the ideas of forbidden love, culture clash and magic.
Armadillo – Winter
Mary Hoffman
This is the fifth fantasy novel that N.M.Browne has written for Bloomsbury and she gets better with each one. The Story of Stone is in fact two stories - a device that Browne has used before. She says that the idea came to her as Giants and Fairies, but that sounds fey compared to what we have here. We begin with a girl, Nela, who finds a stone that seems to carry within it the spirit of its previous owner.
That owner is probably one of her ancestors but Nela too is from a primitive society, even though one interested in its past. The other story is of Jerat who lives in a hierarchical culture where the Chief of the clan has four wives and numerous children. He acquires baby twin brothers born to the Wife of the Second Quarter, who is his mother too. Years pass and he still feels responsible for them.
Jerat has to become a man and accept a new Chief who hates him. One of his brothers is sick and to cure him, Jerat has to trap one of the Night Hunters and force her, through the intense emotion of her captivity, to use the Magic of Last Resort.
All this is converyed to Nela through the stone she has found. She escapes from her father and the man he would force her to marry and runs away with their slave, the only person who understands her and the stone.
It's a very complicated and complex story that well repays close reading. And I look forward to the next.
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