Witmantel

Language of Stones Trilogy #3

by Robert Carter, Jan Steemers (Translator)

Gwydion waakt al sinds mensenheugenis over het Engelse Rijk. Hij heeft de druïden zien komen en gaan en hij heeft koning Arthur ten strijde zien trekken, in de tijd dat men hem Merlijn noemde.

De legendes spreken over een terugkeer van koning Arthur, maar in het alternatieve Engeland van Robert Carter is er niemand behalve de magiër Grydion die een bloedige burgeroorlog kan voorkomen. Samen met zijn leerling Will gaat hij op zoek naar de magische stenen die duizend jaar eerder zijn opgericht om Engeland voor onheil te behoeden.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Historical

377 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

I was born in Staffordshire, near Etruria, the place made famous by Josiah Wedgwood, but was brought up in Sydney, Australia and later in Lancashire, England. I studied astrophysics at Newcastle University, where I started the student science fiction society. Writing novels has always played a part in my life, and I've tried to see the world enough to be able to write fiction with the help of personal experience.

After university, the US oil industry was booming so I went to Dallas, Texas, later on I worked on rigs in various parts of the Middle East and the war-torn heart of Africa. I was aboard the Ron Tappmeyer, a rig that blew out in the Persian Gulf, killing 19 men. It was dangerous work, but well-paid, and it took me to places that outsiders rarely see, like the Rub-al-Khali of Arabia and hard-to-reach parts of equatorial Africa.

When I left the oilfields, I spent time on travel, first to East Berlin and Warsaw, then to Moscow and Leningrad. From there I took the Trans-Siberian railway to Japan. In Hong Kong, I worked on a road survey, took tea with the heir of the last king of Upper Burma near Mandalay, and on the path to Everest base camp just happened to run into Sir Edmund Hillary. After traveling around most of India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, I returned home and took up a job with the BBC. Four years later, I left BBC TV to write. I finally settled in London, but I still like to head off to interesting parts when time allows.

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally. I feel like I've been reading this trilogy for about 10 years, and I am finally done.
Unlike the first two books, this one feels like it's had chunks cut out of it - important chunks that would have made the story flow much more smoothly. It's still slow as anything though, and I'm relieved to be finished.
Not a book to keep and re-read.

[Katherine Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great read. The ending was a twist and very interesting

[Tabitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant end to a very interesting trilogy

[Anthony Zappia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this the third book in the trilogy very disappointing. I think Robert Carter could have condensed his story into two volumes rather than three. I found the story to be long and ponderous. While using the standing stones and ley lines of Great Britain was a great idea, I found it difficult to follow the story line as to where exactly the characters were geographically. A really good map showing the "Lorc" and the battlestones locations would have been helpful, not the sub-standard map with writing to small to read. Overall I couldn't wait to finish the book, which is disappointing as I think Robert Carter had some great ideas in this Arthurian tale.

[Tineke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tormenting slow fantasy. I liked the overall story, but why so slow? And so many characters which I keep forgetting. I expected a lot more of this book