Sovereign Stone Review

The authors of the long and very complicated Dragonlance series should be given more credit for the other series they have produced.  These stories give the usually vague and cliché fantasy races intricate and complex cultures, which outshine the drab and flat versions in their more famous books.

The first book, a singular tale that acts as a long prologue to the story of the following two, is called Well of Darkness.

The story talks about the lifetime of the second child of the king, Dagnarus and his Anakin-like turn to evil and literal powers of destruction.  In this fantasy world, there are the usual four elements of magic, but in this one, the fifth—called The Void—is a destructive, purely harmful element, knowledge of which is forbidden in the kingdom.  Feeling he belongs in the emptiness between the other four elements, Dagnarus pushes his scholarly whipping boy to learn magic of the Void, somehow seeking out documents and practitioners.  After that, he begins to seek out the same honor bestowed upon his brother: the power of a Dominion Lord—a soldier of the gods blessed with great powers to fight the powers of The Void.  From there things get stranger, but not uninteresting or jarring.  The whipping boy, now grown, and an expert at void magic and ferreting out its practitioners, has found and ancient void artifact for his master.  The knife creates vampire-like creatures called vrykyl, servants to the knife’s owner and being of the void powerful enough to fight the dominion lords and meant for the task, should the need ever arise.  When Dagnarus’s father died, his jealousy and arrogance finally show itself to everyone who never suspected his true intentions and devotions, as he declares was on his half-brother over the throne.

The book is very well written, engaging every step of the way, no mater what you do or don’t expect.  There are many other aspects not mentioned, such as the Orken already suspected due to omens, Dagnarus’s illicit love affair, and the whipping boy’s hero worship of Dagnarus’s brother.

Sadly, two most major issues are not truly addressed in the book.  It is only until the second book do we get an understandable reason to turn to the void for power as use of it not only harms or breaks other things, but creates ulcers and sores all over you as you use it.  Secondly, the chamberlain and man in charge of rearing Dagnarus , the elf Silwyth, vows revenge, never to be seen, heard, or cared about again and that’s all his machinations for war ever truly amount to.

This is definitely a recommended book o read if fantasy is up your alley, especially if you love to see plots unfold and worlds that are expansive and intricate.  It’s a stand-alone story, so if the later two don’t pull their weight, this on still does on its own merit.