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The Memory Stone #1
Journey Through the River Cities
Theus is sold into servanthood by his poverty-stricken family, and taken by his kindly master on a journey across a continent, following the course of the Landwide River. He learns a great many things that he has never known or dreamed about the world beyond his family's small farm. He begins to learn the secrets of the memory stones, the extraordinary objects that can store information for people. He learns to handle weapons, and puts his knowledge to use in the turbulent world he experiences. And he learns that even though a beautiful young daughter of a high noble family is beyond a commoner's reach, he can dream about breaking through that social barrier!
- GenresFantasy
299 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 22, 2017
105 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
August 9, 2023
Sadly disappointing
This series, was one of the more puzzling reads that I have had ever come across.
Some parts were enjoyable, other parts made me cringe, other parts made me listen with interest and other parts made me kind of role my eyes.
I bought the first two books in the series as an omnibus combining Jeffrey Quyle’s ‘Journey Through the River Cities’ and ‘The Deadly Magician’
The story is relatively simple.
The main character, Theus, is a farm-boy in an area called the jewel hills.
(Why a farm-boy? That was the first cliché in many. Couldn’t he have been a miner, even a cook.)
His family has had a bad year so he is sold as a slave… hem hem, indentured servant to a kindly man.
And that is how his adventures begin.
As he travels he learns about the world he lives in, about memory stones, magical jewels that when attuned to an individual can store their memories for future use.
That was one of the things I really liked about the world, the idea of a magical flash-drive that people could use. I felt that it had potential.
Furthermore, he learns to use the sword, as the master of the caravan Theus is traveling with decides on a whim to teach him the blade.
Theus falls in love with a noblewoman and to add to that there’s a prophecy involved as well, regarding the chosen one and a great evil that needs to be defeated, vanquished, expelled.
There’s more but I shall leave it to the reader.
As I said previously, this book was puzzling, mostly because I felt that it had so much potential.
Potential that sadly wasn’t realised.
There were parts I enjoyed, but those were just enough for me to continue reading.
One of the problems I encountered was that the author almost always told; hardly showed.
We were always told how Theus felt, we were told why Theus did something; for example, we were told countless times how humble Theus was, rather than just letting his actions show his humility, it was as if the author wanted to hammer it home by telling us as well.
I got it the first time, but it just went on and on.
I feel that the romance wasn’t very believable, I didn’t even realise when or how the noblewoman fell in love with our hero.
Furthermore, it seemed to me that every woman Theus met fell in love with him. And even if they didn’t there would be some sort of complicated entanglement. At some point a sort of but not quite love triangle developed.
And again, lots of telling, not just once but multiple times. It almost felt like the two were trying too hard not only to convince the reader, but themselves as well. Now if that was the intention of the author, it was a good attempt. On occasion I will admit that there were a few ughs from mine end.
(Ughs… not good)
Reading some of the reviews I noticed that a few of the readers did not like how the protagonist was good at everything.
Personally, I didn’t mind that at all. After all, as readers we live vicariously through the characters of the books. And I always cheered when a character was good at almost everything.
Peter Kenny, the narrator of the audiobook did a good job. Though I’ll have to say, quite a lot of the characters in that story sounded overly posh.
The saving grace of this book was the magical system, the narration and perhaps the world itself.
This was a 2.5 stars for me. It was just okay.
This series, was one of the more puzzling reads that I have had ever come across.
Some parts were enjoyable, other parts made me cringe, other parts made me listen with interest and other parts made me kind of role my eyes.
I bought the first two books in the series as an omnibus combining Jeffrey Quyle’s ‘Journey Through the River Cities’ and ‘The Deadly Magician’
The story is relatively simple.
The main character, Theus, is a farm-boy in an area called the jewel hills.
(Why a farm-boy? That was the first cliché in many. Couldn’t he have been a miner, even a cook.)
His family has had a bad year so he is sold as a slave… hem hem, indentured servant to a kindly man.
And that is how his adventures begin.
As he travels he learns about the world he lives in, about memory stones, magical jewels that when attuned to an individual can store their memories for future use.
That was one of the things I really liked about the world, the idea of a magical flash-drive that people could use. I felt that it had potential.
Furthermore, he learns to use the sword, as the master of the caravan Theus is traveling with decides on a whim to teach him the blade.
Theus falls in love with a noblewoman and to add to that there’s a prophecy involved as well, regarding the chosen one and a great evil that needs to be defeated, vanquished, expelled.
There’s more but I shall leave it to the reader.
As I said previously, this book was puzzling, mostly because I felt that it had so much potential.
Potential that sadly wasn’t realised.
There were parts I enjoyed, but those were just enough for me to continue reading.
One of the problems I encountered was that the author almost always told; hardly showed.
We were always told how Theus felt, we were told why Theus did something; for example, we were told countless times how humble Theus was, rather than just letting his actions show his humility, it was as if the author wanted to hammer it home by telling us as well.
I got it the first time, but it just went on and on.
I feel that the romance wasn’t very believable, I didn’t even realise when or how the noblewoman fell in love with our hero.
Furthermore, it seemed to me that every woman Theus met fell in love with him. And even if they didn’t there would be some sort of complicated entanglement. At some point a sort of but not quite love triangle developed.
And again, lots of telling, not just once but multiple times. It almost felt like the two were trying too hard not only to convince the reader, but themselves as well. Now if that was the intention of the author, it was a good attempt. On occasion I will admit that there were a few ughs from mine end.
(Ughs… not good)
Reading some of the reviews I noticed that a few of the readers did not like how the protagonist was good at everything.
Personally, I didn’t mind that at all. After all, as readers we live vicariously through the characters of the books. And I always cheered when a character was good at almost everything.
Peter Kenny, the narrator of the audiobook did a good job. Though I’ll have to say, quite a lot of the characters in that story sounded overly posh.
The saving grace of this book was the magical system, the narration and perhaps the world itself.
This was a 2.5 stars for me. It was just okay.
May 18, 2017
I believe my taste most be warped somehow. This is another example of a book where everyone gives it 5 stars but that I found hard to justify.
The MC is a Mary Sue. He doesn't need much time to master anything new and all characters are there to show how amazing, humble, caring and good looking he is.
I gave this book 2 stars because the author at least makes him fail from time to time.
The MC is a Mary Sue. He doesn't need much time to master anything new and all characters are there to show how amazing, humble, caring and good looking he is.
I gave this book 2 stars because the author at least makes him fail from time to time.
September 30, 2017
Redundancy Made It Difficult
The first few chapters were fun and intriguing. However the story bogged down into redundancy for me as the adventure fell into a pit of "huh"? I will probably not continue with the series. It is well written with few grammatical errors. It just didn't keep its excitement.
The first few chapters were fun and intriguing. However the story bogged down into redundancy for me as the adventure fell into a pit of "huh"? I will probably not continue with the series. It is well written with few grammatical errors. It just didn't keep its excitement.
June 3, 2017
Good read.
This was a pretty good book about a boys journey from his living life on a farm and being sold as a servant to a crew member of a caravan to help his family. It's about his journey into becoming a man and learning a trade. He finds he has a special ability with the memory stones. It was an intriguing story I recommend.
This was a pretty good book about a boys journey from his living life on a farm and being sold as a servant to a crew member of a caravan to help his family. It's about his journey into becoming a man and learning a trade. He finds he has a special ability with the memory stones. It was an intriguing story I recommend.
July 27, 2017
Beautiful!!
It's been a long time since I've read a book that has kept me immersed in a story for every page.Everything from the world building and main characters were put in such a great mixture that it complements themselves.This is good decent and clean book that so beautifully done that you will not put it down till it's finished
It's been a long time since I've read a book that has kept me immersed in a story for every page.Everything from the world building and main characters were put in such a great mixture that it complements themselves.This is good decent and clean book that so beautifully done that you will not put it down till it's finished
April 9, 2021
3.5 Stars.
I enjoyed this simple story. Sure it's wish-fulfillment, but that's okay.
It would have been better if Theus' rapid mastery of the sword was explained by something. When combined with his ability to absorb skills from memory stones, the risk factor almost drops to zero.
I'm happy to read at least one more in the series. We'll see if it gets better or worse.
I enjoyed this simple story. Sure it's wish-fulfillment, but that's okay.
It would have been better if Theus' rapid mastery of the sword was explained by something. When combined with his ability to absorb skills from memory stones, the risk factor almost drops to zero.
I'm happy to read at least one more in the series. We'll see if it gets better or worse.
September 14, 2024
Very enjoyable read
Unique world & likeable MC. It's a set up for the coming stories; but it's interesting on its own. The MC is young, talented and idealistic - but not a total fool. He gains some skills, learns some of his lost heritage and now he's on the run. The editing is really good - only a couple of bloopers. It's been mostly clean. I hope the rest stay that way.
Unique world & likeable MC. It's a set up for the coming stories; but it's interesting on its own. The MC is young, talented and idealistic - but not a total fool. He gains some skills, learns some of his lost heritage and now he's on the run. The editing is really good - only a couple of bloopers. It's been mostly clean. I hope the rest stay that way.
May 21, 2017
Good enough for me to want to read the next book in the series. Not great in terms of originality
Kept my interest even though there were times I felt I was reading a juvenile fiction book. Main character is beginning to develop by end of book.
Kept my interest even though there were times I felt I was reading a juvenile fiction book. Main character is beginning to develop by end of book.
July 1, 2017
Nonstop action looking forward to the next booking can't wait
The type of book to graduate from the start and doesn't let you go to the final page looking forward to what the author has next
The type of book to graduate from the start and doesn't let you go to the final page looking forward to what the author has next
July 7, 2017
Well written
The pace and tempo of the story is great. It makes you not want to put it down. The story builds slowly developing a rich and detailed world. Without over description of the land and individuals around the hero. Now off to book two.
The pace and tempo of the story is great. It makes you not want to put it down. The story builds slowly developing a rich and detailed world. Without over description of the land and individuals around the hero. Now off to book two.
July 30, 2017
A pleasant surprise
The cover looked terrible I almost passed this gem up but you know what they say never judge a book by its cover the story is awesome and the plot is always evolving the characters are life like and believe able all in all a great read
The cover looked terrible I almost passed this gem up but you know what they say never judge a book by its cover the story is awesome and the plot is always evolving the characters are life like and believe able all in all a great read
December 31, 2017
Good
This was a good read, I enjoyed it very much. It's very descriptive and detail let's you know what is being said and what actions are taken place. If you like a clean and well thought out story then this is for you.
This was a good read, I enjoyed it very much. It's very descriptive and detail let's you know what is being said and what actions are taken place. If you like a clean and well thought out story then this is for you.
April 28, 2019
Another book I listened to on Audible. Wonderful narrator - Peter Kenny . The versions released on audible seem to be books 1-3 in 2 parts? I can't quite tell. Fun story, interesting magic, low key danger, my kind of read/listen. I really dislike books with too much gore.
July 8, 2017
It was a good book. I couldn't put it down.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There was plenty of action and adventure. I can't wait to start the bent book in the series.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There was plenty of action and adventure. I can't wait to start the bent book in the series.
July 22, 2017
Enjoyable reading
This story about a young man forced into servitude to help his family make ends meet is a very interesting fast pace action packed story.
This story about a young man forced into servitude to help his family make ends meet is a very interesting fast pace action packed story.
August 7, 2017
FGreat book
Great book , plot builds up slowly and then you are hooked. Never read books like this before (alchemy based) but maybe I found a new genre of fantasy.
Great book , plot builds up slowly and then you are hooked. Never read books like this before (alchemy based) but maybe I found a new genre of fantasy.
September 17, 2017
Enjoyed
I enjoyed all the adventure that were undertaken, and I also enjoy a good romance and a lot of action
I enjoyed all the adventure that were undertaken, and I also enjoy a good romance and a lot of action
November 2, 2017
Strange book on many fronts. A coming of age book, A fish out of eater book and a book of magic all rolled into one. Well done in it's many parts and i look forward to what the future will bring.
February 10, 2018
Decent story, great mythos, but main character was sometimes difficult to relate to.
March 13, 2020
3.5 to 4 stars, such a good start to a series. Just the kind of book that I love and enjoy to most. Great job to the author and I look forward to the next book in the series.
March 7, 2017
Good Start
At first I thought the story was aimed at teens with its simple sentence structure and depth but the action and characterization kept picking up as the characters started to mature. It became a rousing adventure and I want more.
At first I thought the story was aimed at teens with its simple sentence structure and depth but the action and characterization kept picking up as the characters started to mature. It became a rousing adventure and I want more.
March 11, 2019
Enjoyable beginning
This begins a great adventure it seems. This story was immersive and a joy to read. I am looking forward to the next in the series. Thank you Jeffrey Quyle for a fun story.
This begins a great adventure it seems. This story was immersive and a joy to read. I am looking forward to the next in the series. Thank you Jeffrey Quyle for a fun story.
March 26, 2017
Great book, will be buying the next one.
I really liked this book. The characters were multi dimensional, there were twists on the traditional fantasy story and you got to see the main character develop, without the character being over powered or the best at everything.
I really liked this book. The characters were multi dimensional, there were twists on the traditional fantasy story and you got to see the main character develop, without the character being over powered or the best at everything.
April 18, 2017
Ok, that one was different. Compared to the ingeniarii series, no magic system but more of a crafting power base. It's interesting!
April 19, 2017
Not sure about the story...
This book is a set up for the next one. A prologue of sorts. Nothing wrong with that per say but not very satisfying.
This book is a set up for the next one. A prologue of sorts. Nothing wrong with that per say but not very satisfying.
April 23, 2017
Entertaining
The story line kept moving from one adventure to another while while the learning of life skills continue to evolve.
The story line kept moving from one adventure to another while while the learning of life skills continue to evolve.
November 5, 2017
This is a very well written book, with a likable main character and an engrossing story. Its a fun read.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews