The Stone Crown is a debut fantasy book by Malcolm Walker. This book was published by Walker Books.
Malcolm Walker was born and raised in south London. He now lives in Australia with his family. The Stone Crown is Malcolm's first novel and he currently works as a teacher and lecturer in English and Creative Writing at the University of Adelaide.
by Malcolm Walker
This book offers an unusual mix of compelling contemporary narrative juxtaposed and intertwined with a lyrical Arthurian tale.
Emlyn and Maxine are both newcomers, both misfits in their own way. But their lives are linked and their paths destined to cross in ways that neither can begin to imagine. Drawn to the ancient site known as Sleeper's Spinney, Emlyn and Maxine unleash an unearthly power when they unwittingly remove one of a group of wooden horsemen hidden beneath the earth. Containing the trapped spirits of Arthur and his men, the carvings have been held in check since the Dark Ages by a long line of Keepers, the McCrossans. With the Keepers prepared to stop at nothing to recover what has been stolen, Emlyn and Maxine are drawn into a parallel world of myth, magic and the supernatural. Arthur is awake – and he is no revered, grey-bearded king come back to save the Isles. Its thrilling climax sees a race against time as Emlyn and Maxine try to destroy the figures before Arthur and his guard are let loose and released into the world of twenty-first century Scotland.
A REVIEW OF MALCOLM WALKER'S THE STONE CROWN
I liked The Stone Crown very much, because it was an entertaining and well written fantasy book for young adults. It began like many other YA books, but gradually the plot began to develop and the book became very interesting and unputdownable. It was nice to read an original and fascinating YA fantasy book for a change.
In my opinion Malcolm Walker has managed to write a good book, because he doesn't underestimate the intelligence of his readers. Many YA writers tend to emphasize certain things too much in their books, but not Malcolm Walker – he trusts that his readers can think certain things for themselves. He handled some contemporary things in his books and he did it well – for example references to mental illness and drug abuse were handled exceptionally well.
The main characters (Emlyn and Maxine) were interesting and realistic characters – in my opinion they were just like normal teenagers, because the writer described both characters in a realistic way. I thought it was great that Emlyn was a nature photographer, because it's difficult to find nature photographers in fantasy books.
Malcom Walker used Scottish accent in dialogues (he used words like "nae" and "mebbe"). I thought it was nice that he decided to use Scottish accent, because it added realism to the book. I admit that at first it was a bit awkward to read these words, but once I got used to them, they didn't bother me much.
This book contained several short chapters, which were told from the viewpoint of Cei, King Arthur's sargeant-at-arms. I enjoyed reading them, because they added a lot of depth and style to the story. These chapters were charmingly magical and well written. I think that everybody who likes to read stories about King Arthur will find these chapters interesting, because this book is a contemporary reworking of the Arthurian legend.
The supernatural elements were handled in a good way. The irresistible blend of mystery, adventure and young adult themes made me want to read this book as soon as possible.
This book contained two detailed maps of Yeaveburgh, the Scottish village. These maps were excellent, because all the places were marked well.
I can highly recommend The Stone Crown to young adults, because it's a good and exciting fantasy book. This book blends contemporary youth issues and historical fantasy quite successfully – I think that YA readers will enjoy reading this book. I also think that many adults will like this book.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.