Customer Reviews

Reiffen's Choice: Book One of the Stoneways Trilogy

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

AMAZING! That is simply the one word to describe Reiffen's Choice. This book is filled with amazing descrpition. The creativity that is in Reiffens Choice is unbielvivable. Once you start reading this book it begans to rap it's pages arouind you until you cant put it down. This book has all the coponits of a great novel its filled with action, beutiful description, and an amazing plot. If you miss out on this great book than you will be sry. This book is great for all ages, and all types of readers. I feel in love with this book once I started reading it, and I am sure you will to.

If you like fantasy books - the kind that draw you into a new world, the kind that have fascinating, 'real-feeling' characters making difficult decisions, but still maybe managing to have a bit of fun along the way - you're going to love this book.

And it's the first in a trilogy, which, in this case is a good thing. Not because the author is going to drag the story on forever & ever & never get anywhere, because you won't feel cheated at the end of book one, just eager to read the next book! But the real reason this is a good thing is because it means we're going to get to visit the world of Valing Manor and the Stoneways and even Ussene at least a couple more times.

More of Redburr and his slightly skewed but always hilarious worldview. More of Avender's life, and what he chooses to do with it. More of Ferris' acerbic wit. More of Skimmer the nokken! And of course, more about the choices Reiffen will have to make and the consequences of those decisions. All of which make the prospect of looking forward to two more books in the Stoneways trilogy a very good thing indeed.

I loved this book and can't wait for the next one!

You already know the plot of this book, so I will make a strong statement that I am not a fantasy genre book lover, and then urge you to buy/read this book.
Well-written, compelling story. Well-paced, characters you can relate to, each bringing some gift to the table/journey. Connected to history without indulgent detail. Good range of evil, both magical and human. Love these scrappy kids and love forward to being with them in Book Two when we learn more about the Q: Can a young boy stay strong in his core while being offered seductive power, particularly a boy who is not as whole as when we first met him? Thank you for an exciting introduction to people and creatures I don't know but whom I want to know better.

Very well-written and well-structured this is a great read for fantasy fiction lovers of any age. In a nutshell, Reiffen's Choice is a story of friendship and the difficult choices one must make as one grows up and finds one's place in the world. Twelve-year-old Reiffen is heir to the throne of two kingdoms. Before he can even contemplate claiming his birthright, he is kidnapped by three very evil wizards who wish to rule through him. Reiffen finds himself imprisoned in their sinister world where he is offered a choice of cooperating with the wizards or being forced to do their bidding in any event. His friends Ferris (a girl) and Avender (a boy) set out to rescue him along with a flinty dwarf (Nolo) and a shape-shifting bear (Redburr). The characters are unexpectedly complex and unpredictable--which is a very good thing because your interest in them never wanes. Richly evocative descriptions of the various kindgoms and fortresses add depth to the worlds Butler has created; likewise, the humor and hominess of some of the characters balances the darkness of the plot. The surprise ending underscores the complexity of both the plotting and the characters. Stay tuned for the second installment of this trilogy.

Reiffen's Choice is a great choice to read. Reiffen's Choice is a book about a kid named Reiffen who is truly a king to two thrones, though it's also about Ferris and Avender, his two best friends going through an adventure to rescue Reiffen from the evil Wizards! It's filled with talking Seals, shapshifters, Wizards, dwarves, and tons of magic, the book to read if you like Eragon and Harry Potter, but better! Ferris is a one tough girl that is set on joining adventures with the guys, and Redburr has a huge appetite! The book is a page turner! If I could I would have given it 6 stars!

Aune Mitchell

There weren't enough books like this around when I was twelve. Can I get do-overs? No? What a shame. It'd be cool to be a bookworm growing up in an era when so many writers are focusing on young adult fiction. Even as a hoary-haired grown-up I enjoyed Reiffen's Choice, and suspect younger people will appreciate it still more. Maybe especially boys. It's darker and creepier than Narnia and (I think) less infested with "girl cooties" than the Harry Potter and His Dark Materials sequences. There are many conventional features (dwarves, wizards, talking animals), but the world is nevertheless unique, and the writer describes it beautifully. And anyway, dwarves and wizards and talking beasties are often the very reasons we read fantasy. While not weighed down with a lot of angst and introspection, there are parts of the story that really moved me --- in one instance (Molio), to the point of tears (I'm glad I wasn't reading it aloud to someone. That would've been embarrassing!). My only gripe is the ending. I'm not a fan of cliffhangers and would have preferred the story to be told in one big book rather than three small ones. But now I'm hooked and looking forward to the next installment.

Fantasy fiction is not my usual choice in a novel. However, my daughter encouraged me (actually she challenged me) to read at least a bit of Reiffen's Choice, which she insisted was an outstanding example of this genre. What a great read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am delighted that there will be two more. Is the book targeted to 'young' readers? Perhaps. But as an 'old' reader I'm convinced that anyone, of any age, who has a modicum of imagination will be fascinated by the world and the characters the author has created.

This book, in a word, is charming. The characters are lovable, and their struggles are real. The world is detailed and described in a way easy for all ages to understand. While the book is aimed at younger readers, and the characters are young, Butler does not pull punches. Over and over, the characters endure trials that will test their friendships, and change them forever.

Reiffen's Choice by S.C. Butler is the first novel in The Stoneways Trilogy. It also marks Mr. Butler's first published novel. Admittedly I had never heard of Mr. Butler, nor this novel, until I was perusing the shelves of a bargain book store and found it. That is one of the great things about bargain bookstores; they give you the opportunity to take a chance on authors, and books, that you have never heard of before. Here are my thoughts on this novel.

The plot of this novel is riddled with clichés and overused plot devices. What seems like an interesting concept quickly deteriorates into plot lines that I have read in countless other novels. Things such as a boy being the `true' heir to the throne are just heaped in unimaginative plots in this book. It almost seems as though the author picked plot points from a variety of different fantasy books and combined them into a book. If the book was not so repetitive of other books it may have been a decent read, however, as it stands it fails to capture my imagination or hold my interest. Other plot points include talking animals that can shape change and seem to have the one answer that will solve every situation, to the loss of a friend only to find out that friend is still alive and well. One or two of these minor subplots being clichéd and overused may have been okay, but this book just seems steeped in them.

The characters of this book are a mix of kids and adults with a few `exotic" characters mixed in. Characters such as Reiffen, Avender, Ferris, and Redburr are slightly interesting, but again the drawback of all the characters is that they are so predictable. I don't recall being surprised by any characters actions in this book. In fact I would even go so far as to say fans of the fantasy genre may be able to read the first one hundred pages or so of this book and know what will transpire for the characters throughout the book. The dialogue seems stiff and unimaginative. The characters say just enough to move the plot ahead without really focusing on character development. To me, the characters seemed flat and rather one-dimensional and mere card board cut outs of more interesting characters in other novels I have read.

Some criticisms about this novel:

1 - Too much description. There are several times throughout the book where Mr. Butler over describes things to the extent that the actual story becomes bogged down and sputters through the descriptiveness. While the adage of show don't tell holds true, sometimes show too much takes away from the story.

2 - The length of this novel. It is marketed as a young adult novel. However, at well over 400 pages and needless description it doesn't come across as such.

3 - The clichés and unimaginative plots and characters. When I read a book I am looking for something new and interesting. I got neither with this novel.

A positive about this novel:

1 - Mr. Butler's prose, with a little more honing, is good. It just seemed like he didn't trust his imagination instead using others as a crutch. Word choice, flow, and narrative were, for the most part solid. For a new author I was pleased with what I found.

In the end I simply was not satisfied with this novel. I wanted to like it, but the inconstancies, clichés, and repeated plot elements severely affects the novel. After finishing the book I was left with the feeling that Mr. Butler is a talented author and just needs to trust his own imagination instead of using plots from other author's novels. Maybe, fans who are just starting to get into the fantasy genre will appreciate this novel. However, when reading the cover blurb and seeing that it is being compared to Raymond Feist's Magician my expectations are naturally raised. This novel is no where nears Feist's work and it's a shame the publisher tried to place it up there. A may check in on Mr. Butler's later works, but my expectations will be much lower next time.

Two of the biggest qualities I enjoy within fantasy books are quality character interaction and pace.

This book has it in spades.

Personally, I don't really enjoy as much Tolkein or Robert Jordan's styles- a lot focuses on the surroudings and has too many characters that you don't get to understand them as well from the inside out.

My two favorite authors before this book were David Eddings and Barb/JC Hendee. SC Butler is now added to the list.

Funny, unexpected characters like a shape-shifter with a tremendous appetite and an actor trapped in a rock make for great laughs and entertainment.

while the beginning starts out slowly, The pace of the last 100 pages was fantastic and i can't wait to read# 2.