Ravenstone

Ravenstone #1-2

by M.S. Verish

Ravenstone: The Complete Saga

Both novels in one volume! (Legend and Curse of the Ravenstone
**Bonus Short Story Included** (The Hawk's Shadow: A Tale from Secramore

They were destined for failure.

When a mysterious and manipulative wizard, learns the deadly relic know as the Ravenstone has been uncovered by a self-proclaimed regent known as the Priagent, he hastily assembles a group of mismatched travelers to steal and deliver it to safety. The unlikely company sent to retrieve it consists of Arcturus, an exiled politician with a fondness for wine, Kariayla, a winged slave girl on a quest for redemption, Jinx, an unlucky thief and his imp counterpart, and Hawkwing, the wizard’s personal spy, at the helm.

Distrust, secrets, and inexperience threaten to compromise the mission as the group is forced to travel in the company of the enemy. Doubt turns to the wizard who employed them on this precarious quest, and as the Priagent marches toward his goal, a second Cataclysm is imminent. Yet even he is driven by another—a darker force that has yet to reveal itself.

The Ravenstone's ominous Shadow obscures the fate of Secramore, and unless the threat is vanquished, none will be spared the curse of its darkness.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Ebooks, Amazon, Fiction

686 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 18, 2018

About the author

M.S. Verish, better known as Matthew and Stefanie Verish, are co-authors as well as husband and wife. They knew they were destined for marriage when they could write together without killing each other. Their writing partnership has rewarded them with wonderful journeys into the realm of fantasy, culminating in the epic world, Secramore. The couple shares a love of nature and art and lives in Northeast Ohio with their shelties and large family of cavies.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A crotchety, old, maybe mage. A tall, mysterious "tracker." A thief, aptly named Jinx, and a girl with wings. These four characters come together to form an unlikely bond that sees them take on a task masterminded by a wizard of dubious repute. These innocents are literally tossed into the winds of chance to battle the evil that is the Ravenstone. Throw in a demon, spiritual beings and you have a tale not unlike Dorothy, the Tin Man, The Scarecrow and The Cowardly Lion. Certainly not the same as Oz in fantasy, but in character development. This saga molds the players in a most unexpected way that makes you feel good about the strength of their inner being. Characters richly developed and ever progressing right up to the end.

This tale moves subtly, but with purpose. Not a violent, zap them with sorcery every other page book, but one that is enjoyable without the slam, bang, boom, slash, kill of some fantasies I've recently read. A light, feel good read.

[Merle · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

I read the first book until chapter 20 (out of 26 I think?), and nothing really happened. It was so boring, not really well written and most of the characters were really weird and annoying.
I also never really remembered who was who because they had all these code names and it was soo confusing.

I wish I could give 0 stars.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the key questions I ask myself when summing up a book is, "Would I read a sequel?"

It's telling, then, that with the sequel actually included in the same volume - no effort or expense at all involved in getting it - my answer at the end of the first book is "no".

A bland and trite fantasy world. An unimaginative quest. Incompetent characters with not much depth to them, and three out of the four of them end up having exactly the same trauma (having killed someone). But what really puts me off is the language.

At first inconsistently, but later on most of the time, it's written in what I think of as Vancian prose: excessively ornate, and therefore distancing. People don't just say things; they "utter" and "voice". I don't enjoy that even when Jack Vance does it, and he at least does it competently. Few other people do, and these authors are not among those few. For example, they seem to think that "obviate" means "make obvious," which it certainly does not.

The prose therefore ends up as a clumsy disaster, like a clown in a crowded broom closet.

A better story, better characters, or a better setting might have tempted me to read on, but with all of those mediocre at best, the terrible prose was too much to wade through for a second volume.

[Jeff Hildebrand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book engrossing enough that I read it straight through without taking breaks between the books. The plot seemed well written: A group of misfits whose flaws appear to get in the way of their mission more than their strengths get them through it. But in the end, it was written in a way that showed the mistakes the characters made were necessary to get them through the difficulties and get the job done. A more competent group would likely have perished or been severely handicapped by going more efficiently through the quest. Some of the flaws were simply funny, some are extremely sad. The biggest strength is how the characters develop the ability to support each other when they are needed. Each one has an integral moment when they have to step up and do the right thing. This I liked about the plot. Though I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because a couple of villains seemed to need a bit more explanation for some of the things they did and some of the ways they changed in the end. But plot wise, it worked out.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ravenstone

I found the creation of an alternate universe very interesting. When a couple travel and meet another couple they decide to travel together. Eventually they become a group of 6. As friendships grow within the group the group fluctuates in size and the story grows. The characters develop into real people. I would recommend this tale to all lovers of J.R.Tolkien's Hobbit.

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantasy & Reality Good Mix

M & S do a great job keeping the story rolling with fantasy and real world incidents, therefore the reader is able to be part of the character development. Just when you think Game Over...it’s Not. A lot of Ups and Downs, but once again the reader is engrossed in the story, thinking what’s next?

[J Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spellbinding adventure!

It took me a few chapters to get all the characters sorted out but once I did I devoured the story. I read both books without stopping. There is good paranormal action, over-the-top intrigue, mysterious subplots and backstories, and some interesting battles. It is well-written and an engrossing plot.

[Pepper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m very much caught up in the story

And I’m looking forward to seeing what the future brings our stalwart adventurers. I don’t know if this information is considered to be a spoiler but I feel the need to say that Arcturus is irritating in his blind refusal to respect the beliefs of his companions.
I am really into this book.
I have never Reviewed a book before finishing it..

[jan christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Adventure

Interesting and thought provoking . Multiple characters and sub plots. Not an easy read, but very enjoyable. Highs and lows in a tale of adventure and fantasy.

[Lynne Mountford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enthralling

The characters developed well. The story was well paced and gripping. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this well written story set in s mystical world.

[Terrie Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great page turner

Raven stone is a great page turner. Couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. Waiting to read the 3rd. book.

[Dave T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting tale.

I really liked the story and the ending pretty much wrapped everything up although it did seem a bit rushed. It definitely did hint at more tales to come.

[Bernadette Hutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re read as you go.

Five stars but really i had to re read each chapter or almost all. Strange characters but they develop well.

[Debbi Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

This was a page turner for me! A very easy read as well as a great story. If you like fantasy novels read this Saga!

[Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the characters, the world, the plot and its movement. One thing I found annoying was overuse of the word 'obviate'.

[Clare Pass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

A book you can't put down once you've started, left feeling lost after I had finished it, wanted more.Can recommend this book

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

The character Arcturus has a similar personality to that of the robot in Star Wars. No, not R2D2, the one everyone liked. The other one, C3PO, the one that is needy, negative, rigid, opinionated, officious, and usually wrong about everything. C3PO was a minor character whose chief role was to serve as a foil to R2D2. For some reason the authors of this book thought it would be a great idea to create a character with the personality of a C3PO but to make him one of the main characters. Shudder.

Then there is Jinx, a young adult street punk. He is basically a cretin but the writers thought he would also make a great main character. The authors have Jinx using poor grammar to reinforce the idea that he is unschooled. The authors themselves use poor grammar in their writing which leaves the impression that they were also poorly educated in English usage.

The other 2 main characters are ok at best.

The plot is barely interesting in the first book, and just disappears for large parts of the second volume as the characters spend most of their time wandering aimlessly through a vaguely described wilderness. Descriptive writing was sorely lacking.

I give it 2 stars for being good enough to read. But I had to push myself to finish it and wish I had spent the time reading something better.

EDIT:
I wrote the above review before reading the short story that is included in Ravenstone: the Complete Saga. I was not planning to read the short story but changed my mind and did read it. I didn't realize that the story is a sort of a conclusion to the two novels, or I should say it presents a lack of conclusion. I have now changed my feeling about the books from not much caring for them to actively disliking them. I am changing my rating from 2 stars to one.

The books seem to have never been properly plotted out. There is no plot cohesion and no real ending to the story. It all just peters out, leaving me feeling the whole story was rather pointless. Add to that the unlikable (to me) main characters and I feel like I have to give these books a negative recommendation. The authors do know how to write, even given their problems with grammar, but these books were just ill-conceived.

[Scot · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quest saga that brings together five characters out of the ordinary, each with a particular skill or gift, each with an intriguing backstory and a sense of otherness. It is set in a magical world, and we get a map at the beginning to reference as the character move from land to land and encounter different peoples and cultures. A girl who can call up a storm in the sky, a cantankerous red-skinned scholar/mage, a thief boy out of Oliver Twist, a mysterious tall tracker with his soaring falcon, and a prisoner kid called the White Demon.

I liked the characters well enough, enjoyed their process of bonding, and encounters with helpers and dangers along the way. But the first volume never had a sense of closure, just bled right into the next, and after working my way through both long books, I really wanted some sense of closure, which I felt I had earned and the story merited. Got fizzle instead of climax, then more fizzle in an epilogue. I noted a short story by the author at the end of the book's listing, so I read it and it picked up the tale a few years later, an epilogue to the epilogue I guess. There were still loose ends to tie up, though that story dealt with one in the last sentence -- a sentence which would have made no sense if the reader had not just read the earlier volumes! I give the author credit for the fantasy cosmology he created, but he needs to work on climax, closure, denouement.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good fantasy story that starts with Kariayla, a winged servant girl, and Arcturus, an exiled politician, as they find themselves banded together after Kariayla is left in the lurch by one she considered a friend. They quickly find themselves in the middle of a murder in the desert that ends up leading them to the home of a mysterious wizard, who has drawn them in along with an experienced tracker, Hawkwing. The story then becomes a quest for a legendary stone capable of destroying magic that has fallen into the hands of a self proclaimed regent intent on setting himself up with an empire of his own. During this the group are joined by a not so successful thief and an imp who has taken to him. The group then have to separate and reconvene as events spiral, distrust takes hold, and secrets are exposed. The story flows pretty well with peaks and troughs in the action where characters are developed further and their histories exposed, which probably could've done with a bit more breaking up. The intensity of the story is managed well though and the second volume where events really take a turn is far better than the first as we see the characters' for who and what they really are rather than having been told about them. Overall a pretty good saga.

[Kimberley B Pinzon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pls pls someone message me to tell me what happened to Jinx to make him say to Scorch that he didn’t want anyone to see “this.” He had his hood pulled over his head, I think. I don’t want to have to read the sequels now that Hawkwing is dead and Kariyela seems settled. Someone tell me! How did he get out of his stone entombment at the end of Ravenstone and what changed about him?

[Carolyn Milne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried very hard to like this book. I ended up not finishing it as it didn’t hold my interest. It was however fairly well written and if the story catches your attention I’m sure it will be enjoyable.

[Bob Neupert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holds Your Interest

Although I found reading a little tedious, the plot held my attention. The narrative seemed overly written at times and I was tempted to skip ahead at times. I am glad that did not. Overall I recommend reading. It is a pretty good book.

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main char

[Kate Eron]

I didn't finish it, so I don't feel comfortable tearing this book. Technically, I had trouble even starting it.

[T.A. Burke · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Trite and slow with no prospect of a change.

[Kurt Leichtle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read

The plot moves rapidly but always clearly. Difficult to keep track of the threads at times. Yet worth the effort and I welcome a sequel,

[Melinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Lost interest.