Balancing Stone

Greenwing & Dart #6.4

by Victoria Goddard

Hope Stornaway of Chare has been busy since she graduated from Morrowlea. A foundling orphan, she has discovered her family origin and mostly managed to fulfill the requirements to inherit the Ironwood fortune. Mostly.

Since there are still those few outstanding hoops to jump through before she can take up her place, she has ended up the guest of Jemis Greenwing’s family friends in Ragnor Bella.

Ragnor Bella is supposed to be the dullest town in Northwest Oriole. Hope was actually rather looking forward to a quiet Winterturn. But even with doing her best to sidestep the chaos that follows Jemis around, Hope can get into situations all on her own ...

A side story to the main Greenwing & Dart series, Balancing Stone takes place shortly after Plum Duff (and a few days before The Saint of the Bookstore). Please note it contains spoilers for some of the events in the main series!

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy Of Manners, Magic, Novella, Canada

54 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2024

About the author

I walked across England in 2013, fulfilling a long-held dream. I'm currently the sexton of an Anglican church in Nova Scotia, which means I am keeper of the keys and opener of doors (and shutter-off of alarms). I have a PhD in medieval studies from the University of Toronto, looking at poetry and philosophy in the works of Dante and Boethius -- both the poetry and the philosophy come into my stories a great deal (and occasionally the Dante and the Boethius).

I like writing about the ordinary lives of magical people on the other side of the looking glass ... and the extraordinary deeds of ordinary folk, too. Three of my favourite authors are Patricia McKillip (especially 'The Riddle-Master of Hed' trilogy and 'The Bell at Sealy Head'), Connie Willis ('Bellwether' and 'To Say Nothing of the Dog,' which latter would make my top-ten books on a desert island), and Lois McMaster Bujold ('The Curse of Chalion' and its sequels).

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

My love for Hope Stornaway knows no bounds. Spends the first half the story roasting Jemis for all the chaos that surrounds him but the moment a small adventure pops up before her, she doesn't even think about turning it down 😂

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun short story that adds to the "Greenwing & Dart" series. Particularly to one Hope Stornaway who needs to know her true name.

It is always interesting to have a conversation with a two tailed fox. :)

[lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh hope you are truly something special. also i love whenever we get somebody else's interpretation of jemis, what a guy

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely look at Hope’s stay in Ragnor Bella. It’s wonderful to see a female perspective (not that I don’t love the Goddard men). Practical Hope is looking for her true name and gets some very unexpected help. This won’t mean as much if you aren’t up to date with Greenwing and Dart.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awww

We get to see the Dart lands from Hope’s point of view (mostly the rock composition, of course) as she searches for her true name from a different perspective.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I've heard that if you whisper a question into their ears, you'll be sure to find out the answer. Though it probably won't be an answer you want to hear."

"Is that what the stories say?"

"That's what all stories teach us. [p. 49]

A brief, calm and uplifting interlude on the edges of the Greenwing and Dart series. Hope Stornoway, who's in love with Jemis Greenwing's friend Hal (who happens to be the Duke of Fillering Pool) is staying in Ragnor Bella over the Winterturn festival. In order to claim her inheritance, she needs to discover her true name ... 

Luckily Ragnor Bella's reputation for dullness is wholly undeserved, and when Hope goes for a walk she encounters interesting rocks, a two-tailed fox and a bookseller who offers oddly specific philosophical arguments in answer to Hope's dilemma. Short and sweet: I'm really looking forward to the next full-length novel in this series!

[Joe Kessler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another interstitial novella in author Victoria Goddard's Greenwing & Dart cozy fantasy series, this time focusing on Jemis Greenwing's schoolmate Hope after the events of the sixth / latest novel Plum Duff. As introduced in the book before that one, she's in love with his best friend Hal and also heir to a magical legacy from the birth parents she never knew, which she can only receive if she somehow learns her true name. This interlude suggests (but doesn't confirm) a resolution to that thread, but as rewarding as that is for returning readers, it arrives fairly late in a pretty short text. Mostly we follow the new protagonist as she takes a walk through the woods near Ragnor Bella, where she has a mystical experience and a few fruitful conversations that ultimately get her to start thinking about the mystery from her family in a different way.

Still: the characters are fun to revisit, and it's always nice to see Jemis from an outside perspective, not to mention spot the subtle connections to other entries in the writer's broader Nine Worlds saga. Nobody should begin their read here, obviously, but it's a pleasant check-in for anyone already familiar with the background.

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[Varadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine, it's cute, I like Hope. I just wish things could ever resolve in this series. Ever. Anytime.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved seeing a different perspective of Jemis, the Darts and Ragnor Bella. Hope is a great character and I may have squeed a little when the author’s note at the end mentioned that her story would continue. I would love to see more of her (and Hal).

[Fernanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

que história adorável sobre a hope, curtinha mas cheia de autodeterminação, e amei como a narração não esquece que a hope é uma geóloga, acadêmica e que seus amigos também são acadêmicos

(e sempre hilário ver todo o cast de greenwing & dart na visão de um terceiro)

"Even if you lose some, or—or grow on from others, you will make more friends, find more family. Sometimes in the most unexpected of places and the most incredible of manners."

[kvon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short side story, illuminating Hope Stornaway, who shows up in other books in the Greenwing and Dart sequence. She is on a quest for her true name, and entangling herself with above chaos agents.
You can start here if you want a sense of Goddard's writing style, but it does contain spoilers for the previous books, be warned.

[Steven desJardins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brief interstitial piece with some delightful character work, fun callbacks, a demonstration of the utility of a proper liberal arts education involving textual analysis when conversing with the fey, and the perfect closing line.

[Erica O'Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this world- the characters, the world building, how intertwined all the story lines are- but sure would love even more another full book!! The shorts are fun, but … a long read is so much more satisfying. Is another full length story in the works?

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want a tattoo of that last line.

[Yasaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, rounded up to 4. A nice bit of Hope POV, in between books.

[2025 READING CHALLENGE: TL;DR]

[Nicole Luiken · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the pov from a geology major and I'm hoping to see more of Hope's story as the Ironwood heiress.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely story, though it makes me ache for a new Greenwing & Dart book.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In order to claim her inheritance, orphan Hope Stornaway is on a quest to discover her true name.