The Fallen Stones

The story told from the pov of Gwernin, an OC meeting a cast of historical personages during his travels through 6th century Britain and Ireland. The plot is neglibile and serves as a framing device for a re-telling of myths and stories, Some of the events I had already read in the "The King's Druid", that work quoting them verbatim (read: copy-paste) from this one.

The author clearly knows her topic and shows herself to have meticulously researched the mythology and history of her timeframe, from historic events down to mundane details of everyday life.

Two things that struck me unfavourably about the main character was at the unconcerned attitude shown by Gwernin and his companions - a priviledged lot who use their status as bards and show more poets to benefit from apparently boundless hospitality and to finagle valuable gifts from their hosts - show on the occasion of two young boys being killed successively on the same day. Are they shocked, concerned, saddened by the tragic accidents? Afraid, worried, anxious about what might come of Colum Cille’s cursing the High King Diarmait? Nope, they just shrug and go back to business as usual, which is: idling, laughing and joking and, in Gwernin's case, ogling the girls. Who, being a husband and father, jumps at the first opportunity that comes "like a holiday to me, recalling my carefree wandering as a lad" to leave his family behind, not sparing them a single thought, except when missing company in his bed. Not exactly Mr Nice Guy, this. I would have minded more had he not failed to come across as a real person in the first place.

Lastly, as with "The King's Druid", I can't help griping about the incongruous mix of languages: Old Irish, Welsh and modern Irish place names are jumbled into the narrative along with their modern English equivalents. Characters speak Hiberno-English to signify their switch from British to Irish, unless they forget. The dialogue is peppered with snippets of Irish, as often as not out of context, misspelled, misunderstood or just plain wrong.

To sum up: This is not a novel, but a short story collecction that may be best enjoyed not by reading cover-to-cover in one sitting but by dipping into on a more random basis. Could do with a spot of editing. show less

The fourth installment in the Storyteller arc, Stones is reminiscent of the episodic storytelling of the first book, but knitted together more deliberately than was the case in Flight of the Hawk. Gwernin's travels to and through Ireland, and an abiding search for the history of Lovernos, serve as a common thread stitching together separate locales. Certain characters new to this adventure, along with familiar friends, lend an overarching continuity. The result is a satisfying blend of what is known and what is new, precisely what draws me to new books in series.

For me this served as a comfort read, providing the character portraits and patient plotting I admired in prior stories, not rehashing what came before but also no dramatic show more break. There is, for example, no shift of structure or character development as occurred between the first and second books. The biggest change with The Fallen Stones comes in its overt supernatural elements, which Grove acknowledges are drawn from the historical record (The Chronicle of Ireland) but infused with Grove's own druidical studies. These are new in being overt, but relayed comfortably within a narrative style established in prior books, though supernatural occurrences there were more ambivalent in the telling.

Gwernin is not the same person, either, but has grown in the intervening six years since The Ash Spear. He is recognisably himself, but fatherhood and a more sedentary life have inflected his old longing for travel. Though he jumps at the chance at traveling again, he returns in thought to how his outlook has been altered by the challenges and achievements in a settled community.

A welcome return to old characters and their experience in Dark Ages Britain. I will continue following Gwernin Storyteller, as other books come to light. show less

What a treat! I loved following Gwernin as he told tales and collected them on his travels through Ireland. The blending in of mystical elements was very well done, giving just a hint of the otherworldly to the story.

Although this is the fourth book in the Storyteller series, it stands on its own well enough that it's not necessary to have read the preceding volumes.