5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, December 18, 2006
WARNING: This book is the second in a trilogy.
Okay, so maybe I'm the only one who missed that. When I finally figured it out (the words "Book Two" on the cover were a good clue), I had to run out and buy the first one,
The Water Mirror (Dark Reflections). I read that one as fast as possible, so I could get to this one. The first book was fantastic and ended with a huge cliffhanger. If I hadn't already had this second book in my possession, I probably would have been quite frustrated. My point being, read
The Water Mirror (Dark Reflections) first! There is a certain amount of knowledge that is assumed in THE STONE LIGHT. You might be okay without it, but the story certainly makes more sense with it. Also, if you haven't read
The Water Mirror (Dark Reflections) yet, but intend to do so, you might want to stop reading this now.
Vermithrax, the flying stone lion, Merle, the orphan girl, and the Flowing Queen, who rather defies description, have escaped from Venice and the Egyptian army. Their troubles are far from behind them, though. If they want to save Venice, they'll have to locate the only possible ally they can think of, Lord Light. After the things the people of Venice did to Lord Light's messenger, though, he might not be so willing to help. Even if he does, what will be the cost? Before they can even really worry about all of that, they'll have to get to him. He makes his home at the bottom of Hell.
Back in Venice there is a small but strong rebellion growing. The kind of rebellion that could make enemies into friends, and even, just maybe, succeed. Provided the leader of the rebellion doesn't turn out to be the biggest enemy of all.
This is a good book, but I really wanted it to be a great book, like I thought the first one was. The characters are wonderfully, fully realized, the adventures are adventurous, the story progresses... It's just a very typical second book. There are more new questions than there are answers to the original questions and it feels like everything is just being set up for book three. Perhaps after the next book I can give you a different opinion of the trilogy as a whole. It's kind of like Star Wars, the old ones; everyone has an opinion of the separate movies, which is different from the whole.
Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman
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4.0 out of 5 stars
A descent into hell with an array of unusual creatures, February 25, 2010
This is the second book in the Dark Reflections series and is the sequel to The Water Mirror. Merle travels with Vermithrax, the stone lion on a mission to visit Lord Light in Hell while her companion, the thief Serafin, joins a group intent on resisting the Eygptians occupation of Venice. The group is led by a sphinx who can appear as a woman. They plan to assasinate the pharoah and it is unclear if the sphinx can be trusted or if she has her own agenda. On their trip to hell, the group finds all sorts of unusual stone-like creatures, the Lilim who menace them and a man who claims to be Winter, in search of his love, Summer. In hell, Lord Light is surprising to them and brings back Junipa to the story. A horrifying doctor and the mysterious Stone Light also appear in hell. While the worlds and creatures portrayed are very imaginative, the translation seemed a little stilted and I missed the emotional connection that I had with the characters in the first book. The book ends in a cliffhanger on both stories, so I would recommend having the sequel at hand. On the whole, it was a good, but not a great book.
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