The Stone and the Maiden (House of Pandragore) - Hardcover

Jones, Dennis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0380978016 ISBN 13: 9780380978014

Publisher: Harper Voyager, 1999

Synopsis

The Legend

The myths name it the Signata: the place that contains all places, the moment that contains all moments. As enigmatic to the gods as to mortals, the sacred treasure is said to have appeared but thrice in forty centuries, always in a different form, and each time to vanish as suddenly as it came. Its purpose and powers, no one knows. Yet in a world threatened by an ancient and merciless evil, it seems the only hope--if it can be found.

The Evil

The barbarian Tathars cut a scarlet swath across the lands of the Ascendancy, led by Erkai the Chain, a master of the dreaded Black Craft. However, there exists a power that dwarfs even Erkai's sorcery: the force known as Deep Magic, long ago banished from the world. But now Erkai has found a way to break the ban, and seize that terrible power for his own.

The Destiny

Defeating Erkai and the Tathar horde falls to Mandine Dascaris, heiress to the throne of the Ascendancy, and to the young soldier Key Mec Brander, an outlander from the distant lands of the Elthame. Together they embark on a secret, desperate search for the Signata. To fail means the ruin of their world--but the price of success may be no less than their lives.

About this title

About the Author

Dennis Jones is a full-time writer who lives with his wife Sandi, in Canada, where he is currently working on a new novel of epic fantasy.

Reviews

YA-The relentless Tathar, silver-haired raiders known as the White Death, have defeated the armies of the Ascendancy. They stand poised to conquer, yet they are only pawns in the hands of Erkai the Chain, a twice-born master of the Black Craft determined to break the ban of Athenais and access the Deep Magic. Luminessa Mandine Dascaris and Victurion Kienan Mec Brander have been chosen by the Two, the gods of their world, to find the Signata, the only hope to defeat Erkai. They are helped and hindered by a varied cast of characters including Mandine's father, her half-sister, a priestess, a priest, and others. Jones has taken the familiar shapes of high fantasy and recast them into something new and unique. He has constructed a vibrant and interesting world populated with characters to care about or despise. The exposition of fantastic elements never takes over and bogs down the plot. The story moves quickly to a satisfying conclusion, always a nice feature in the first book of a series. No cliff-hangers here, but readers will still want to know what happens next.
Susan Salpini, Purcellville Library, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Despite its conventionality, Jones's fantasy debut follows a story line sufficiently compelling to carry most readers to its end. The brave and beautiful Mandine Descaris, heiress to the royal throne of the Ascendancy, faces the Tathars, a horde of barbaric horsemen who are ravaging her country. Leading the Tathars is the sorcerer Erkai the Chain, master of a dreaded form of magic: the Black Craft. In company with the valorous and virtuous captain Key Mec Brander (her eventual consort), Mandine seeks a magical talisman, the Signata, that can defeat Erkai. But the Signata has appeared only three times in the past 4000 years, so finding it promises to be a long, arduous quest. Mandine's half-sister, Theatana, meanwhile allies herself with the ambitious Lord Bardas and does her best to deceive Mandine and take the throne of the Ascendancy for herself. Jones's prose is graceful and his pacing brisk. His principal characters lack original, nuanced personalities, however, and the medieval setting never blossoms into a fully imagined, unique world. Nonetheless, the author's persuasive plot should keep most fantasy readers engaged. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The first of an epic fantasy series, from the erstwhile purveyor of Cold War thrillers (Concerto, 1990, etc.). Mounted barbarian Tathars, advised by the maleficent sorcerer Erkai the Chain, have invaded the Ascendancy and destroyed its greatest army. A bastard descendant of the Ascendancy's ruling dynasty, Erkai returned from the dead after his previous bid to seize the throne failed. Now, his powers steadily increasing, he wants revenge. In the meantime, dark-haired, golden-skinned Mandine Dascaris, eldest daughter and heir of Archates, ruler of the Ascendancy, receives a message from the gods that she'll need the Signata to defeat Erkai's dreadful magic. The enigmatic Signata has appeared only three times in all history, most recently 700 years ago as a coin. Mandine's champion will be young warrior Key Mec Brander. As the Tathars besiege the Ascendancy's last city, Mandine's vicious half-sister, Theatana (she's already dabbling in black magic) plots to kill Archates and Mandine and install herself as ruler. But Mandine and Key escape from the city and, helped by the magical Near Folk, seek the Signata even though they don't know what or where it is, or what to do with it if they find it. The backdrop's carefully developed and fashionably sadistic if neither particularly original nor logical, while the plot, resembling a series of afterthoughts, seldom grips: a so-so launch. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The courageous daughter of a tyrannical ruler joins with a young outlander soldier in a quest to save their world from an army of barbarians led by a vengeful and ruthless sorcerer. Set in a fantasy world with overtones of ancient Rome at the time of the barbarian invasions, Jones's first novel features strong male and female protagonists, a vivid assortment of villains, and a satisfying conclusion that leaves room for sequels. This promising fantasy debut belongs in most libraries.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0380978016
• ISBN 13: 9780380978014
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432