THE LIGHTSTONE
By David Zindell
Voyager (Harper Collins) - September 2002
ISBN: 0006486207 - PB
Fantasy

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde, MyShelf.com
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Get stuck into this tubby tome and you might not want to get unstuck; it's that sort of book. Zindell manages to create some lovable - and hissable - characters that live on in the mind and if his plot of the quest for a grail-like golden cup is unoriginal, anybody who can keep my attention happily for over 800 pages gets my vote for a thumping good read.

The island continent of Ea has entered a new dark age as the dreaded Red Dragon Morjin has arisen and seeks to open the portal to let out a demon that will rule the world. So it is up to Valashu Elahad and his companions to join the quest for the lost Lightstone and thwart the evil so a new age of light can come about. They will have to journey across thousands of miles and encounter frost giants, a black bog that is a portal in itself, shape shifters, dragons and more. They will gain new friends and enemies, discover things about themselves and unearth many magical artifacts including the enchanted sword Alkaladur before they can beard Morjin in his den.

Zindell has drawn on Arthurian legends, Tolkein and a vast store of fantasy novels to create the first part of a new epic. We don't learn as much about the various different realms as we do in the novels of Eddings and Jordan, but this remains a person-centered novel, despite all the derring-do. Maram the cowardly prince who is terrified of bears and loves drink and women is a particularly original creation and Zindell does a nice twist on some stock characters that come to life impressively. This is a very readable book which entertains even when there isn't anything in particular going on. If the author can come up with a sequel that is anywhere near as good, then his place in the annals of good fantasy fiction is assured.