Customer Reviews

Stone of Time (Runesword, Vol. 6)

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"The Stone of Time" is the sixth and thankfully final book in the Young Adult fantasy series, Runesword. The story is continued by two previous authors, Rose Estes (known for her early D&D Endless Quest and Greyhawk novels) and Tom Wham (board game designer). Different authors for each book seem to have been the theme for this series in efforts to quickly crank out more stories. While the authors may be different, the characters pretty much remain the same. Cal the warrior, Bith the sorceress, Hathor the troll and Endril the elf are all back together again on their sixth adventure. The Norse God Vili (Brother of Odin) once again tasks them in finding and destroying another Runesword in attempts to reclaim more of his divine power. In a last ditch attempt to halt the Dark Lord's advancing army and wall of mist, the adventurers must find and journey to the fabled city of Abaton where the legendary Stone of Time is kept. By obtaining and learning to use the stone Bith hopes that she can alter the past so that the Dark Lord's forces never exist. Here are my thoughts on The Stone of Time;

Pros

+ Quick and easy read.

+ Cover by Larry Elmore.

Cons <Contains SPOILERS>

- Story jumps around too much and never really focuses enough on one thing. A common occurrence in this series.

- Cover art never actually occurs in the story. The characters do meet such creatures but are never actually attacked by or fight them.

- Hathor's mother is named Gething in one chapter then Gethring in the next. Where was the editor?

- The "Dark Lord" is remained almost completely faceless and not really a character, just a name.

- Bith and Cal's squabbling is still persistent and annoying. Quite possibly two of the most annoying characters I've ever read about in a fantasy series.

- Extremely abrupt and cliché ending. I never saw an army defeated so quickly and easily. Everything was way too convenient.

- At the end of the book it's revealed the Runesword was a fake and the group was tricked by Loki. Then Gunnar Greybeard shows up on behalf of Vili and requests the group to search for another Runesword. What? How exactly is this a conclusion? To me it seems the series was just cancelled after the sixth book was finished.

- No world map.

The cover of the book boasts "The Thrilling Conclusion to the Epic Adventure Series." Now if you've read the entire series you can't help but laugh at such a statement. The Stone of Time was pretty much on par with the previous books in the series. The story is loosely connected and the authors do make mention of the Outcasts previous adventures. My main issue with this series is believing the group of four characters stays together. Sure they're united at the beginning of each book by the god Vili to recover another Runesword, but beyond that it's sometimes difficult to see them adventuring together. Regardless, the books are short, easy reads so I continued the series to see what the other authors could contribute. Sadly, it wasn't much.

AND DON'T EVER BUY A SINGLE BOOK OF THIS SERIES...THE SERIES IS AT BEST MEDIOCRE, BUT THE FINAL NOVEL ENDS WITH THE GREATEST ANTICLIMAX THAT COULD EVER BE CONCEIVED. THIS SERIES SHOULD BE FORGOTTEN, ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE THINGS YOU THROW IN THE TRIZASH