The Wandering Isles: A Crown of Stones Novella (The Crown of Stones Novella Series Book 1) by C. L. Schneider – Review by Francis O’Sullivan

The Wandering Isles, A Crown of Stones Novella (Novella Series #1)The Wandering Isles, A Crown of Stones Novella by C.L. Schneider
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Wandering Isles is the first in a series of novellas that continues the story of C.L. Schneider’s Crown of Stones series. It’s been a while since I read the series, so it’s great to get more of the story!
The novella format is a departure from the longer novels that made up the original series. It works well with this story, which focuses on a single incident on Troy and Kane’s journey. It’s an intense, mysterious story with strong psychological elements which is short enough to hold the reader captive for the duration.
The connection between Troy and Kane, both magical and personal, is a powerful force and motivator in the Crown of Stones series and the nature of this story, where the two are travelling alone and are forced to confront and expose some of their deepest and darkest fears, really develops that relationship.
For me, this is a five-star read. I was totally immersed in the strange world Troy and Kane found themselves in and couldn’t put the book down! It reminded me at times of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and also of a Stargate SG-1 episode (The Gamekeeper – S2 Ep4). It was also great to be reminded of the Crown of Stones series – I want to reread all of the books now!
This could be read as a standalone, but for me it was particularly powerful in that it reminded me of the events and tensions of the novels. If you have enjoyed the Crown of Stones series, this is definitely worth a read! If you haven’t read them yet, this might be a good place to start as a shorter story that gives you a taste of Schneider’s style and introduces the characters.

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