Book Review: The Stones of Valtara by Christopher Clargo

Genre(s): Epic Fantasy

Content warning: There are some fairly graphic battle/death/execution scenes throughout the book, as well as themes of child abduction and child harm.

Terania fought Mendaria years ago, in a bloody war that left both sides with an uneasy truce… Until Mendaria was once again united by a zealot named Kaine. Kaine returns to Terania with a singular purpose—he plans to take the land for his god and kill anyone who refuses to convert to his cause.

The Clansguard of Terania—the greatest heroes of their land—are gathered by the king to face Kaine. But events are at play that even the king isn’t aware of… And it may cost him his throne.

The Stones of Valtara is a Celtic-inspired fantasy with a number of main characters. There’s Tarek Grimbard, who was once a great friend to the king, but has fallen into disfavor; Cai, the adopted son of one of the Clansguard who can’t recall most of his past; Amira, the daughter of a chieftain; Rodric, the Teranian king; and Tomos, the king’s ailing son. There are more than what I’ve listed as the gets into its last half.

Every character has their place in the storyline—and it wasn’t always as straightforward as their introduction made it seem. There were several plot twists that I didn’t see coming, and as the book progressed it became more difficult to know which characters to trust and what was going to happen next. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but for the most part, the author did a great job of keeping their individual stories distinct.

There were a few times when I wished there was just a little more to some of the chapters, however. Some ended a bit more abruptly than I’d prefer, particularly early on (and not due to cliffhangers—they just…ended.) But otherwise, I thought the story and the different interwoven story arcs were done well.

And then there’s the action. There isn’t much in the first half of the book, but once past the halfway point, there was so much. The battle scenes were done well, and I liked the added twist of the advanced technology of the First seeming to overpower the standard medieval-style weaponry/armor… Yet it still had its weaknesses.

It’s clear from the ending that there will be a sequel at some point, but it isn’t available yet. And I still don’t know which side or who might emerge the victor from the conflict. I’ll be watching for book two.

Author website: christopherclargo.com