The Blood Within the Stone by T. R. Thompson – A Book Review

Blurb:

A shadow is spreading across the land. Fear will be your downfall.

When the Prefects of Redmondis discover that their quick minds and quicker fingers hide secret potential, young thieves Wilt and Higgs find themselves unwilling recruits. Wilt’s ability to sink into others’ thoughts, knowing what action they will take before they do, is both a prized and dangerous gift.

The Nine Sisters of Redmondis have sensed a growing threat, and search for the one who can control the power of the blood within the stone. But even their sinister plots are nothing compared to the force that controls them.

As Wilt and Higgs rally their newfound weapons, they discover that the threat to their lives, and their reality, is much greater than they realise.

 

Author: T. R. Thompson

Publisher: Odyssey Books

Release Date: 22/07/2017

Pages: 352

My Chosen Format: Kindle

My Rating of ‘The Blood within the Stone’: 4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon UK, Amazon US

 

Review:

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Blood Within the Stone was one of those books that, within reading the first few pages I could tell I had a finely-written piece on my hands. The writing was pretty darn close to top-notch with only a light smattering of typos lurking here or there. It was the sort of writing that absorbed the reader and makes you want to carry on, and on. This just made it feel incredibly easy to get into and, even easier to get hooked.

One aspect of the book I didn’t enjoy/found high unlikely, was that the town they were in near the start not only knew of the thieves guild, but seemed to root for them to succeed. Bit odd that you root for a group of people who make it their business to steal from you. But the story was enjoyable and I could tell it was going to get better and better with each passing page, so I let that slip.

One aspect of the book that is refreshing, as far as a fantasy novel that clearly has a clear main protagonist is, was that the supporting cast of characters felt just as important, somewhat more so at certain times, than said main protagonist. They did not just feel like background characters in someone else’s life story, a trap many authors fall into when pouring way too much time, love and attention into their ‘main good guy’.

That is not to say that I don’t feel the author fell into one trap in particular. I feel he made his characters too perfect or too good at everything too fast. You do see them train with abilities they are trying to master it, but they master them and surpass any reasonable level far too quickly for me to find it believable given the circumstances they find themselves in. I feel also that, at times, the characters mature a little too quickly and take on roles that seem a bit too ambitious or lofty for them given what we already know of their personality.

Another thing that The Blood Within the Stone gives us is a fairly fresh magic system that relies more on the mental aspect of a magic system than other books. It’s always a nice thing to see something new that works well rather than something that flops due to an author trying too hard to create something different. Fortunately, I feel the author got the magic just right in this book.

The final thing that I will say on the book is that I thought the ending could have been a little more powerful. The antagonists as a whole just started to feel a little melodramatic and almost as if they had long ago ceased to be much of a threat to our heroes, but this could be partly/mainly down to my feelings towards the characters being a tad too good at everything too quickly. The antagonists just didn’t keep up to them at the speed at which they were progressing.

All in all it was a very enjoyable, despite my negative points (as the 4 out of 5 score shows), and very well-written piece of fantasy. This author certainly has it in him to do great things.