Gates of Stone
-
-
4.5 • 2 Ratings
-
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
In a world of blood and magic, a powerful epic fantasy begins...
AN EMPEROR’S DAUGHTER WHO WILL NOT BE DENIED
Just before her sixteenth birthday, Princess Katerina is refused her rightful place as heir to the Empire of the Ice-Bear—solely because of her sex. Determined to regain her inheritance, she murders the foreign lord she’s been ordered to marry and embarks on a perilous voyage to the lush, tropical islands of the Laut Besar in search of the vast wealth and power she needs to claim the Empire for herself.
A PRINCE FORCED TO TAKE A STAND
On a small island kingdom, Prince Arjun’s idyllic life is shattered when a malignant sorcerer invades, slaughters his people and steals the sacred sword of Jun’s ancestors. With his royal father dead and his palace in ruins, Jun reluctantly tracks the sorcerer and the magical blade far across the pirate-infested waters of the Laut Besar.
A SORCERER SEEKING TO DESTROY THE WORLD
Long ago the powerful relics known as the Seven Keys were used to safely lock away the terrifying evils of the Seven Hells. With Jun’s ancient sword in his grasp, the sorcerer Mangku has claimed the first Key, and begun his mission to unleash catastrophe upon the land.
As the destinies of these three entwine in the lawless islands of the Laut Besar, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. For if the sorcerer cannot be stopped, the world itself will be unmade…
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Initially unlikable yet nuanced characters pursue power or seek to save the world in this middling fantasy novel. When Katerina's father denies her right to succeed him as emperor because of her gender, the cunning princess murders the prince she's married off to and seeks her own path to power and glory. This theme of oppression breeding villainous motives recurs in the sorcerer, Mangku, who attacks the small kingdom of Taman and massacres the palace to steal a magical kris, one of the Seven Keys of the Earth. Only the arrogant prince Jun survives and, through the guidance of an elderly servant, is roused to pursue Mangku and reclaim the kris. Political machinations surrounding the wealth gained by trading narcotic obat in the Laut Basar region realistically bring together a variety of cultures recognizably based on those found in China and India, among others. Some incidents of gratuitous sexual violence are off-putting, but Macallan (the Outlaw Chronicles, as Angus Donald) provides steady plot momentum and thrilling battles that pull the reader through to the satisfying conclusion.)
