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Mark T. Barnes

The Garden of Stones (Echoes of Empire, 1) Paperback – May 21, 2013

by Mark T. Barnes (Author)

278 ratings

Book 1 of 3: Echoes of Empire

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Shortlisted for the Gemmell Morningstar Award - Best Debut Novel

An uneasy peace has existed since the fall of the Awakened Empire centuries ago. Now the hybrid Avān share the land with the people they once conquered: the star-born humans; the spectral, undead Nomads; and what remains of the Elemental Masters.

With the Empress-in-Shadows an estranged ghost, it is the ancient dynasties of the Great Houses and the Hundred Families that rule. But now civil war threatens to draw all of Shrīan into a vicious struggle sparked by one man’s lust for power, and his drive to cheat death.

Visions have foretold that Corajidin, dying ruler of House Erebus, will not only survive, but rise to rule his people. The wily nobleman seeks to make his destiny certain―by plundering the ruins of his civilization’s past for the arcane science needed to ensure his survival, and by mercilessly eliminating his rivals. But mercenary warrior-mage Indris, scion of the rival House Näsarat, stands most powerfully in the usurper’s bloody path. For it is Indris who reluctantly accepts the task of finding a missing man, the only one able to steer the teetering nation towards peace.

Print length

506 pages
Language

English
Publication date

May 21, 2013
Dimensions

5.4 x 1.4 x 8.2 inches
ISBN-10

9781611098938
ISBN-13

978-1611098938
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“From the very first page of [The Garden of Stones], Mr. Barnes immerses his first-time reader in a world filled with vivid cultures, unusual species, ancient mysteries, and complex characters. Through beautifully worded descriptions, he unveils an original fantasy landscape, filled with amazing details.” ―Bookwraiths.com

“Barnes drops his readers into a complex world that makes for an immersive experience for lovers of epic fantasy. The political machinations and constant familial betrayals are reminiscent of Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel series…The female characters on both sides are every bit as strong as the males, a refreshing change in epic fantasy. Highly recommended.” ―Library Journal

“The Garden of Stones was an immersive fantasy. It felt like being in the eye of a storm…When I finished, I simply did not want to leave this world…” ―Reading Reality

“You know that feeling when you a finish a really good book and you don’t want to leave the world it’s set in? That any book you pick up after just isn’t right because it’s not the book you were just reading? Well that just happened to me…I loved this world and the characters.” ―Marktimmony.com

“If you’re looking for something different, something to strike that vein of Eastern Fantasy with a twinge of weird, this is what you need to go with. Barnes has crafted a great debut with plot twists galore, exactly what speculative fiction needs.” ―Acerbic Writing

“This is an incredible read…It is a rich and lyrical style [that] flows. Tantalising all the senses. The world is detailed and tactile, with an almost awe-inspiring depth to it…Mark T Barnes is going to be huge, once the world gets up to speed!” ―Galaxy Bookshop

“[I] quite enjoyed this world that Barnes has created. It’s full of wonder and imagination, tons of creatures, and races that were well-crafted and constantly interesting.” ―SFFaudio

About the Author

Mark Barnes was born in Sydney, Australia, in September of 1966. A strong athlete, he was also drawn to the arts at a young age, penning his first short story as a seven-year-old. He worked in finance and advertising and eventually landed satisfying work in information technology, where he continues to manage a freelance organizational change consultancy. In 2005, when Mark was selected to attend the Clarion South residential short story workshop, he began to write with the intention of making it more than a hobby. Since that time Mark has published a number of short stories, worked as a freelance script editor, and has driven creative consultancy for a television series. The Garden of Stones is his first novel.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1611098939
Publisher ‏ : ‎ 47North (May 21, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 506 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781611098938
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1611098938
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.4 x 1.4 x 8.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,801,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,463 in Australia & Oceania Literature
- #18,059 in Occult Fiction
- #23,101 in Fantasy Action & Adventure

Customer Reviews:
278 ratings

About the author

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Mark T. Barnes

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Mark Barnes was born in Sydney, Australia, in September of 1966. A strong athlete, he was also drawn to the arts at a young age, penning his first short story as a seven-year-old. He worked in finance and advertising before establishing himself in IT services management. Currently he owns and operates a freelance organizational change consultancy.

In 2005, when Mark was selected to attend the Clarion South residential short story workshop, he began to write with the intention of making it more than a hobby. Since that time, Mark has published a number of short stories, worked as a freelance script editor, and has driven creative consultancy for a television series.

Mark is the author of the Echoes of Empire series, published by 47 North. The series includes The Garden of Stones, The Obsidian Heart, and The Pillars of Sand. The Garden of Stones made the Top 20 fantasy novels for the 2014 David Gemmell Legend Award, and was a finalist in the Top 5 for the 2014 David Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Debut/Newcomer. At present Mark is working on new urban fantasy, and epic fantasy, projects.

You can find out more at www.marktbarnes.com, his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/marktbarnes.author, or follow Mark on Twitter @MarkTBarnes.

Customer reviews

5 star		44%
4 star		26%
3 star		16%
2 star		4%
1 star		10%

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The Tatting Flutist

I gave up 1/4 of the way through

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

I always start a book under the assumption that I will enjoy the story. This time, I was disappointed to realize that I was not enjoying the story. The author writes as though the reader is already familiar with certain facts the author knows, but which are not immediately obvious. I found the author's storytelling to be confusing. I will not tell anyone not to read the book, as this is just my personal experience, and I would hate to drive someone else away from a book s/he would really enjoy if s/he read it. So, I recommend that you download a sample before buying, to see if the author's storytelling style is something you enjoy. Or borrow it through Kindle Unlimited if you are a Prime member. Try it before you buy it. If you like it, buy it.
I think the story itself is a good story. I am just having difficulty with the presentation.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jason Baisden

Really big and really complicated world....but enjoyable if you stick with it

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2015

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This was a tough, tough book to get into. I listened via the audible narration and the narrator is really terrific. Even so, it was probably 4-6 hours into it before I felt like I could wrap my head around the character names, general ideas of who they are, and physical characteristics. Things like the Lion Guard....that really is a group of Lion people with human level intelligence.

I agree with other reviewers that the world is needlessly complicated. It does seem like the author took a ton of video game and anime character types and stuck them in the world together. And, I also agree that the author did needlessly take things we have in real life, put them in his world, and just give them a new name.

My main criticism of this book is the villain: Corajidin. The author goes to great lengths to try to humanize his actions and motivations and display a man in true turmoil. I think he only half way succeeds. The issue I take with the character is that he's simply not a believable person to follow; that is, I don't see any compelling reason why anyone followed him. Yes, the author says they're opportunists, but that only goes so far. This character is literally weak at the beginning of the book and goes downhill from there.

Now, I've criticized a lot of things here. I will say that I disagree with others that say the characters aren't well portrayed. The cast is quite vast, but I had a really good idea of the sort of person each of them were by the books end. None of them seemed one dimensional (except, maybe, Corajidin). The books really strong upside is that the audible narratior is Nick Podehl, the same actor that narrated Patrick Rothfuss' works, which is pretty damn huge.

I also really like the magic system, though, Indris would laugh at me calling it magic. The idea is that, through a combination of reason and logic, characters can do...well, heck, it's magic alright. It just is. And it's pretty cool without being too overwhelming. The author doesn't have the characters use magic as the fix all solution to things either.

With all of this said, I think I'll head into book two to see where things go from here. There are a lot of questions I don't have answers to.

My advice: go for the audible, but buy the kindle version and then the audible upgrade. It's like $7 all said, which is really reasonable for an audio book.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Wow!

Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2016

Verified Purchase

I'll say it again: Wow!

Not for the faint of heart. This is a dificult reading. You need to be able to abstract a little since Mark T. Barnes won't handle you the basic information about how some things in this fantastic world works. But at the end you will be able to understand most of it.

This world is fantastic. Really fantastic. There is a very cool magic system in place. There are complex politcs that feels like a fast-paced Game of Thrones. There are lots of actions. There are memorable characters. There are promisses for yet more for the future. There are lots of secrets from the past.

Even better: There is no stupid boy forced to leave his village (near the end of the world) that must journey through the world in order to become a great warrior/sorcerer/hero

Definitely one of the best books I've read

2 people found this helpful

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Alex Wilkinson

A truly excellent book

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

The names seem complicated at first, but by a few chapters in they hardly register as difficult anymore and, in fact, can tell you a lot about who the character is and what their status in the world is. This was the only part of the book that made me pause even for a second, and even that wasn't enough to slow me. I read this entire thing in a day and I do not regret the lost hours of sleep one bit. It was a joy and the characters will stick with me for a long, long time. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves great fantasy, something different from the usual, or just extremely high quality writing in general.

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2019

Verified Purchase

I'm a sucker for interesting worlds, and this is an amazing world. It is very intricate, reminds me a little of the start of the Malazan series, where you are directly introduced to characters and world events with very little lead-in. For me the payoff was worth it. The characters, especially the main villain, can be simplistic at times, but I still enjoyed reading about them. Thus far this is a 3 book series that does not resolve all conflicts. I hope the author finishes the story of these characters.

One person found this helpful

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R. Woods

A good read

Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2015

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed the description of the book, and thought that there was some potential for an interesting book. Although the book promised political intrigue as a large component of the plot, it seemed more akin to a series of Mafia families who had taken over a nation than the game of houses/game of the council intrigues I have seen from other authors. Because of that, I had a little bit of a slow start. However, as the characters gain deeper development through the course of the novel, it becomes very engaging, as the complex interplays between the characters start to drive the story, and the characters become less archetypal and more relatable. One thing that did make things difficult for me was the use of made-up words for so many things made it difficult to really lose myself in the story as I was often stopping to try to recall the meaning of the unfamiliar word. I will definitely be continuing the series though...I was not ready for the book to end.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

R. HOW

Slow, confused mess

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

I'm about a fifth of the way into this, very little has happened, and you're subject to an avalanche of fantastical terms that aren't properly explained, and big scenes with lots of characters where it's hard to make out who is what. Clearly some very detailed world building, but it's too much hard work to bother with. Bad writing.

Amazon Customer

A good strong start to what is likely to be a major series.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 20, 2015

Verified Purchase

An intriguing novel and one that had me wanting more at the end. The world seems very well realized with the three major species on it obviously vying for some measure of control. The teaser that the humans have more to them than meets the eye was also tantalizing. Certainly it wets ones interest for future additions. However if I had a complaint it was regarding the rather variable power levels of the primary antagonists and their ability to literally wade through dozens of lesser foes without seeming coming to any harm, or even really being threatened. Why even enlist in fighting if a "champion" is so much better that an attempt at resistance is tantamount to suicide.
But this aside an interesting and impressive introduction to the fantasy cannon.

Seb

Complex and yet beautiful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 8, 2014

Verified Purchase

Don't be dissuaded by the first chapter; it's not easy to get into. I'll admit, the bombardment of new names, places and images is a bit much... but keep at it and you'll be rewarded with an excellent read.
With lots of visual description, gripping action and interesting plot line, the book expands into an immersive action adventure.
The magic system is interesting and described enough to get your head around but not feel like you understand its limits.

I think I'll sum it up by saying I'm about to buy the next in the series and forgo the other book I'd planned on reading.

One person found this helpful

Patrick A

could not get into this

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 23, 2020

Verified Purchase

could not get into this

One person found this helpful

K. Sanders

Waiting for the next installment.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2013

Verified Purchase

Couldn't really believe this was the lads 1st novel- it has a depth of detail equal to Tolkien or Game of Thrones. The world, the characters, the history is all there waiting to be expanded into many more stories. Hope he doesn't take as long to write the sequel of even prequel (there's a lot hinted at which would make a great story)

2 people found this helpful

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