Review Blog

Nov 17 2009

The Stone Crown by Malcolm Walker

Walker Books, 2009. ISBN 9781406321517
(Age 13+) The Stone Crown takes a very different look at the Arthurian legends and the time travel genre. The narrative takes place on two levels; one set at the time of Merlin and Arthur and the other in the present. However the Arthur that we meet is not the traditional one that inspired the round table and chivalrous behaviour. This Arthur is a king of Merlin's making and is entirely more earthy and rough around the edges.
In the village of Yeaveburgh, Emlyn and Maxine (Max) discover something weird about Sleeper's Spinney and the McCrossan family: Emlyn finds a figurine of a horse and rider and by so doing releases an ancient warrior from his prison. It becomes Emlyn and Max's mission to restore the figurine and find out what the role of the McCrossan family is in the mystery of the warrior and his companions.
The task is not an easy one. The McCrossan family has been keepers of the Spinney and the warrior for countless generations and must ensure the continual maintenance of the stone crown which ensures the warriors stay quietly imprisoned.
This is an engaging piece of fantasy writing that is thoroughly absorbing and worryingly believable. This book is a blend of mythology and sinister forces struggling to come alive again to plunge the world into a new Dark Age. Refreshingly different.
Mark Knight.