The Stone of Destiny, the Sorcerer's Stone, the Philosopher's Stone, Lia Fail - these are all names given to the legendary stone that can turn any metal into gold and can also heal any illness, can prevent death.

Morgan is in desperate need of this stone. His mother is dying, and there is nothing anyone can do for her cancer. She tries to reassure Morgan that if they just have a bit of faith, things will all work out as they should. Morgan is not buying it. He sees his mother's faith as doing nothing more than turning her once vibrant self into a frail, weak shell of her former self. In the tower of the church next door, Morgan sets out to create this stone with a bit of help from the materials and books his father left behind.

His friend Eny watches, waits, and warns. When a mysterious shop opens up suddenly one day, the occupants worry and frighten her. She warns Morgan to stay away and to be wary of these people, but the promises they have expressed to Morgan are too good to pass up. Bring them the stone, and Eny to watch, and a cure for Morgan's mother is waiting. The stone has been hidden for centuries, only fables, fairy tales, and legends hint to its whereabouts. Morgan will search, Eny will pray, and the crow will watch it all.

I have been waiting for time in my schedule to read this book, I'm glad I finally had the opportunity to finish it. It didn't live up to all I was hoping for, but it was not a disappointment. As a book geared toward younger readers, I think this would be a good, in depth read. As an adult who is obsessed with YA literature, the story fell a bit flat. It had everything it needed for a spectacular story, a fantasy world, conflict, good vs evil, heroism, faith, love, scary monsters, and a touch of magic. But for some reason the story just didn't seem to come together for me.

I think part of the problem for me was that there was quite a bit of showing of the scenes instead of living the scenes. There was great description, but it was all narrated instead of us learning about the environment as we experienced it. To me that is a big deal when reading. I like the action and movement of a story. When I feel like I'm being held at a standstill too long, I tend to tune out, which I did at several parts of this story.

The relationships between the characters fell short to me as well, both of the main characters were well written, but they never seemed to really interact well or long enough for me to get a good feeling of solidarity. We seemed through parts of the book to have two separate stories going on instead of two interweaving tales leading us to the same ending.

I hope you are still reading because I do want to say, this would be a very strong read for a younger reader, and the values taught in the book are definitely worth paying attention to. A good lesson in faith is never a bad thing, and relearning it in a fun, adventurous way is one of the best ways to do it. If you are a fan of christian books, alchemy, and giants who can crush you with a single blow, pick this up. Maybe you know of your favorite YA who may have these interests. ( )

When Morgan Issak learns of his mother’s cancer he turns to magic instead of God. He decides to seek it out along with his best friend Eny. The problem is, the more he tries the worse trouble he creates. Maybe I liked the book because I like Irish legends. Maybe it was because Jim Ware was so good at his descriptions that he painted pictures in my mind. It was almost like watching a movie in the mind. The lessons of true friendship, especially the friendship God offers is not lost in this story. I enjoyed the book and know that fantasy lovers will like it as well. This is a book I will proudly put on my shelves at school. ( )