The Crown Of Stones Complete Trilogy by C. L. Schneider – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur.
The Crown of Stones Complete Trilogy by C.L. Schneider
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Magic Price.
Ian Troy is a Shinree, a race of magic addicts whom have been taken into slavery, drugged and made to forget their history, identities and their addictions, but Ian was brought up differently, he was brought up to be a soldier for Rella, a kingdom in a perpetual war, but underneath is an innate talent for wielding magic which he wishes he could use more, but the Queen forbids it, until one day, in the midst of the latest battle, there is an earthly upheaval and during the throes of it, Ian starts to feel the vibrations of magic nearby. As he searches for the item, Ian is unaware of the power he is about to unleash, so when he finds the Crown of Stones, all he can feel is the magic within it, the pleasure and the pain combine and block out all sense and all he wants to find is peace, so he casts using the magic he has found, however, it isn’t until afterwards that he realises the price that he has just paid to achieve that wish.
As the years pass, Ian is devoted to another addiction, regret, his regret for what happened and the losses he still feels, so he tries to drown the pain and the need to cast with wine, women and bounty hunting, but as he is chasing his latest target, he is confronted with something entirely different. He has been chasing this particular woman for what seems an age, however, when she finally confronts him, nothing is as it seems and he is thrown back into that seamless addiction he had ten years before, but this time, Ian is not sure that he can control, or curb it again, but that is not the only thing that has him worried, this encounter has made Ian sure that the Crown of Stones is being sought by another.
As he makes his way back across the realms to Rella, he encounters more than he bargains for in both the people and the places he travels through, but deception surrounds him, as does magic and that is the one thing that he does not want. Will Ian be able to get to the Crown of Stones before anyone else has the chance to use it with nefarious intent, or will the danger and his addiction prevail?
Magic Scars.
Ian Troy is back and he is numb, everything has been taken from him, his memories, his magic, his will and his freedom, as well as the freedom of his friends. As everything slowly and painfully returns he is recruited into a desperate rebellion against the High King Draken, a long time enemy of Ian’s.
He is tasked with the job of retrieving and repairing the Crown Of Stones, an object he has used in the past which creates the magic scars which cover his body, it is an artefact of his people which is now lost again, but which is needed to overthrow the High King. Ian is reluctant to use it again and put himself in the path of addiction his use of magic causes, but he knows he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter if he is to save his scattered friends.
What he cannot understand is why his scars are multiplying even though he is not using his magic, this is where he learns about his ancestry and the secrets which have been buried in the past, but can Ian reconcile the man he was, the man he is now and the man everyone needs his to be?
Magic Borne.
Ian Troy returns and he has more magic scars than ever, but when his spells show him something he was not prepared for, he has to think about his past, present and future and base his decisions on the uncertainty surrounding him. He is still a fugitive, thanks to his past castings, but he is now wanted in multiple lands, as well as by his father, but he still tries to make the world around him a better place, even though as usual, it doesn’t always go to plan for him, or those close to him.
While he is casting spells to find out what his father has planned, he journeys to different times and places, but not all the answers he seeks are available to him and while on one of these journeys, he experiences a bleak future where everything he has worked towards has been thwarted. The resistance he has been routed, the tenuous relationships within it destroyed and nearly everyone he knows is dead and all hope that was there is now gone, so when Ian returns to the present, he is determined to stop this future in its path, so he uses the knowledge he gained while there to do this.
Meanwhile, tensions build between the lands of Mirra’Kelan as peace treaties are stretched to breaking point and political posturing is showing people’s true colours and is leading the armies closer to the return to the brink of war between the lands. Ian is also realising his increasingly apparent transformation his casting is causing, so he tries to stave off from casting in an attempt to buy himself some time, but as he searches the past for a way to defeat his father, bring peace to the lands around him and break the transformation the Crown of Stones is causing, he has to battle his inner demons too.
How far can Ian go before he breaks and how big a sacrifice will he be willing to make in order to reach his goals and will he be able to pay the price demanded?
This series is a race against time in a fantasy land where good versus evil and all the grey areas in between, as a reluctant hero faces the past and future in order to save a world which he struggles to merge with. A world where apartheid rules, magic is both life, death and currency and those who wield it are both saviours and destroyers. An epic aventure where one man has to face his demons head on in order to find the peace he truly desires, is what you will only be able to find by reading this addictive, roller-coaster of emotions until its conclusion.
Reviewed by @roxsannel
