Customer Reviews

The Summoning Stone (The Dragonfire Fantasy Series)

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The Southern Isle clansmen must come to grips with their murderous enemy from the north, Lord Phelan. This twisted ruler is bent on nothing less than the total extermination of the clansmen and he will stop at nothing until he has their leader, Caewlin, in his hands. Albeit as in any true high fantasy, fate delivers to Phelan a power weapon he intends to use in his brutal war against the Southern Isle clansmen. All the characters from the first book play pivotal roles that move this high fantasy to it's ultimate conclusion. A very impressive sequel to The Circle of the Swan, Jana Oliver again spins a well crafted story whose characters feelings and expressions move beyond the page to capture the reader's heart and soul. The characterization in this sequel seems a lot richer than in the tale before as Ms. Oliver has fine tuned her craft. Though this book has more violence and sex than the previous book, it is rendered in such a way not to be blatantly offensive and adds the depth needed to develop the characters. Any fan of fantasy will be rewarded well when they read this book. It is a stand alone novel, but is best appreciated when read after the first book.

Jana has done the superb job of creating a sequel that is equal to or better than her first book.

The Summoning Stone is high fantasy and romance in it's best forms. It weaves magic, adventure, and dragons together with one of the most vile villians to leap off a page. You find yourself truly caring what happens to the characters through to the end of the book. Even then, you want to know - what happens next?

Oliver has left you truly wanting more, and what more can an author ask than to have readers demanding the next book in the series? The Summoning Stone will make you do just that.

I read the first book of this series, The Circle of the Swan, on a cruise vacation this past fall. I couldn't wait to get the second book and find out what happens next in the world of adventure and romance that J. Oliver has created. I was not disappointed - the second book is as good as the first and even more finely crafted in some ways. It reminded me of a James Michener novel: a big story with big characters who love and laugh and cry and have grand and noble purpose to their lives. The setting and characters are realistic, with just enough magic and dragons sprinkled in to make it fun (rather like Harry Potter). There is somewhat more violence and sex in this book than the first, but it is not offensive and, like Michener, is rendered in a compassionate way that makes the characters human. From cover to cover, this book is pure storytelling - I highly recommend it!

Book Two of the "DragonFire" fantasy series by Jana G. Oliver, The Summoning Stone is an impressive and entertaining epic with a particularly Celtic mythos feel. It is the saga of Caewlin, a leader of men and his hazardous quest to defend his people and clan from a murderous conqueror. The fire-haired healing woman Aithne and Belwyn, the eldest son of a rival house rise with Caewlin to meet the ultimate challenge in this fantasy saga set in a far-off world of dragons, magic, and a land steeped in centuries of lore and ancient power.

This is a great series and I'm looking forward to the third book. Oliver has developed a rich world that blends high magic and sweeping themes with common sense and gritty realism so that you can sink your teeth in and have a good read without straining your suspension of disbelief. You get believable characters and motivations with all the trimmings of dragons, sorceresses, deities, wars, and the other fun stuff we read fantasy for, complete with a healthy wallop of story telling.