The Jasper Forest (Guardian Cycle) [Paperback]

Julia Gray (Author)

Book Description

Series: Guardian Cycle | Publication Date: June 1, 2001

The Jasper Forest is the second book in the Guardian Cycle, a sweeping fantasy epic from one of the best new storytellers of the genre. Exiled from Vadanis, the homeland he risked his life to save, Terrel finds himself adrift on the ocean. Delirious with hunger and exhaustion, he is at the point of giving up when he realizes that he is approaching land. Rescued from the perilous waters by two fishermen, Terrel is nursed back to health; but the ghosts of his friends, both dead and alive, are still with him. For now, events on Vadanis are beyond his control. His new home, however, faces difficulties of its own, and Terrel may be in a unique position to overcome them. Leaving behind the villagers, he embarks on a remarkable quest to discover the truth—about the world and about himself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Julia Gray is fast gaining a reputation as one of the best new fantasy writers on the block' SFX 'A spellbinding new storyteller' Maggie Furey

From the Publisher

The Jasper Forest is the second book in the Guardian Cycle (following The Dark Moon), a sweeping fantasy epic from one of the best new storytellers of the genre. Exiled from Vadanis, the homeland he risked his life to save, Terrel finds himself adrift on the ocean. Delirious with hunger and exhaustion, he is at the point of giving up when he realizes that he is approaching land. Rescued from the perilous waters by two fishermen, Terrel is nursed back to health; but the ghosts of his friends, both dead and alive, are still with him. For now, events on Vadanis are beyond his control. His new home, however, faces difficulties of its own, and Terrel may be in a unique position to overcome them. Leaving behind the villagers, he embarks on a remarkable quest to discover the truth ‹ about the world and himself.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 567 pages
• Publisher: Orbit (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841490571
• ISBN-13: 978-1841490571
• Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 4.2 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,713,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real pleasure!, November 14, 2003

By 

Stephanie Noverraz "crooty" (Lausanne, Switzerland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jasper Forest (Guardian Cycle) (Paperback)

This is the second book in The Guardian Cycle (after The Dark Moon, and before The Crystal Desert, The Red Glacier, and Alyssa's Ring).

After saving the Floating Islands from utter destruction by bargaining with the elemental in the mines of Betancuria and letting the Enchanter take all the credit, Terrel is sent into exile, cast off on the ocean on a makeshift raft, with no idea where he is going. Probably to Macul, a land said to be inhabited by barbarians. Moreover, his link with Alyssa has been broken since he's been over water. After weeks adrift, at the mercy of the waves, his frail embarcation is finally driven ashore in a lagoon. The boy is about to die from dehydration when he's rescued by two young men, Aylen and Olandis, who take him up the river to their village.

In Fenduca, Terrel is taken in by Aylen and Olandis's father Kerin and step-mother Ysatel, and slowly recovering from his ordeal. Alas, he doesn't speak these people's language, and he can feel the whole village is suspicious of him. Could he really come from the Cursed Islands? Could he be an enchanter, a Sharakan? After some difficult times, Terrel is finally accepted when the villagers discover he has the power to heal animals, a power even Terrel was unaware of. And little by little, he'll learn their language and history: Fenduca is situated at the foot of a great black mountain, on the top of which lives the tyrant king Ekuban, in the jeweled city of Talazoria. And since the valley is the source of some riches coveted by Ekuban, the latter and his soldiers are constantly harassing the villagers.

Terrel has been searching for a way to go back to his home island of Vadanis when he has a dream in which he learns that there might be another elemental in the city of Talazoria, and that a terrible earthquake is threatening the world again if he doesn't stop the king from angering the "demon". Indeed, Ekuban has been holding the elemental prisoner in an old dungeon surrounded by a moat, and entertaining his nobles by sending beggars and cripples to fight it, to their death. Terrel will have to leave his new found friends soon.

The rest of the book describes our hero's journey to Talazoria, stopping on the way, against his will, in a mysterious valley enshrouded by clouds and where the sun never shines, to help lift a curse that has been preventing the women to have children for the last four years.

I liked The Jasper Forest a lot. It's not that this volume is extremely original, the layout being approximately the same of that of The Dark Moon, nor that the overall plot is passionating, it's just that the characters are so extremely likeable, and the story so well-written, that Terrel's day to day life becomes a real pleasure to read!