The Queen’s Opal (Stone Bearers: Book 1) by Jacque Stevens

4 Stars

Publisher: sjacquebooks

Date of publication: December 5th, 2017

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Series: Stone Bearers

The Stone Bearers—Book 0 (review here)

The Frog’s Princess—Book 0.5

The Queen’s Opal—Book 1

The Queen’s Gift—Book 2

The Queen’s Heir—Book 3

The Queen’s Bane—Book 4

Where you can find The Queen’s Opal: Amazon | BookBub

Synopsis:

Elves never use magic or leave the forest.

They aren’t supposed to get sick either, but Drynn’s mother just died from a mysterious illness, which has targeted the elven queens for generations. With no female heir left, the symbol of the curse—a green stone called the Queen’s Opal—passes to Drynn. Unwilling to lose another family member, Drynn’s impulsive and overprotective brother drags him out of the forest to search for a cure. And the oft-diseased humans seem the most likely place to start.

But the opal isn’t all that it seems. Once outside the forest, it shows Drynn visions of the first queen—a time when the mortal avatars of the lost gods walked the earth and the humans and elves lived in peace. Much has changed in the human lands since then. It’s a darker world, ruled by power-hungry wizards who covet any kind of magic. Magic like the opal. Magic like the natural energy the wizards can see inside the elves.

More than healing one illness, Drynn’s visions call for him to restore the world’s former peace, but if the wrong wizard learns about the elves’ innate gifts, even the forest will no longer be safe. 

Family bonds will be tested. Friends will become foes. With two kingdoms spiraling into chaos, can a shy bookworm conquer his fears to bring peace to the realm?

The Queen’s Opal is book one in a new high fantasy adventure series set in the same magical and exotic world as The Stone Bearers (2016).

This coming of age story will appeal to teen and young adult fans of the TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender, Cinda Willams Chima (The Demon King), Christopher Paolini (Eragon), and other works of epic sword and sorcery.

Clean Read. Fantasy violence and a few darker themes. Recommended for young adults and teens twelve and up.

Stone Bearers:
0. The Stone Bearers (2016)
0.5. The Frog’s Princess (2016)
1. The Queen’s Opal (2017)
2. The Queen’s Gift (2018)
3. The Queen’s Heir (2018)
4. The Queen’s Bane (Coming 2018)
5. The Queen’s Rite (Coming 2019)

Please Note: The Queen’s Opal is Book One. The Stone Bearers is a standalone novel that can be read before or after the full series.

The short story, The Frog’s Princess, can also be read in any order. Find it in The Fantastic Worlds Anthology (2016) or have a free digital copy delivered to you after signing up for my email list at sjacquebooks.com. Those on my email list will receive monthly emails with updates on deals, review opportunities for new releases, and other exclusive content.

Fairy Ring:
1. Fairy Ring: Shards of Janderelle (2017)
2. Fairy Ring: Changeling of Janderelle (Coming 2018)
3. Fairy Ring: Prince of Janderelle (Coming 2019)

Others: 
Winter Falls: A Tale of the Snow Queen (2017)
Depths: A Tale of the Little Mermaid (Coming 2018)

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My Review:

The Queen’s Opal is the story of Drynn and his journey into the human world. It is also the story of Tayvin and the reason why he wanted to leave the forest. Finally, it is the story of Kol, his secret and his hatred of the robes. What happens when Kol meets Drynn? What happens to Drynn in the human world? Will Tayvin find what he is looking for? Can Kol overcome his hatred for the “robes“? Or will that hatred be his downfall?

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Drynn (Aldrayndallen-Falberain): I liked Drynn. The main character in The Queen’s Opal, he was my favorite. I did feel bad for him. His mother dies, his brother forces him on a trip out of the forest and he gets kidnapped. On top of that, he starts to have these strange dreams about the first Queen and her life. He had a lousy couple of months. There was a point in the book where I wondered if he would ever be free of those people. I also was kinda hoping that Tayvin would find him first. I wanted to see a couple of those thieves get drop-kicked into next Monday (Picc and Cain mainly).

Tayvin (Tayvinaldrill-Falberain): I understood why he wanted to go to the human world. He wanted to save his brother. He couldn’t deal with losing another family member. He was impulsive and hot-headed at the beginning of the book. But, that tempered as the book went on. By the end of the book, he showed a lot of restraint. Even when Drynn told him what happened to him. I was half expecting him to go off and avenge Drynn.

Kol: I wanted to shake Kol during certain parts of the book. The way he treated Drynn at first. He wasn’t exactly nice. He was also afraid of the robes (wizards). That fear was understandable. He watched his mother burn to death, protecting him from his father. But to act the way he did after Xavien got guardianship over him was jerky. He refused to heed the advice that the dragonet gave him until it was almost too late.

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The Queen’s Opal as a great read. The author did a great job with world building. She took what was a flat 2d world and built it up. I can’t wait to see what this world is going to look like in the other books.

She also did a great job with character building. Drynn, Tayvin, and Kol were complex characters with many layers. They were as realistic as two elves and a halfbreed can be.

Any issues that I had with The Queen’s Opal were minor ones. I wished that more went into how the stone chose its bearer. During Drynn’s dreams, Saylee was called to the temple. But how? I also wanted to know why someone so young? With my luck, it will be answered in the next book.

The Queen’s Opal can definitely be read by kids as young as 12. The only thing that I could even see being traumatic for anyone younger are the beatings that Drynn and Kol endured. They were somewhat graphic. There are also scenes where Drynn was chained in a cart and a scene where Drynn was drugged. Other than that, this book is a great starter book for someone starting to read fantasy.

The end of The Queen’s Opal was intriguing. Some storylines were wrapped up. Other’s were started and other’s were left open. It made me want to read book 2 and see where everyone ends up. Also, I loved the epilogue. It was a different way to do things.

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I would give The Queen’s Opal a Young Teen rating. There is no sex (only one kiss). There is violence. There is mild language. I would recommend that no one under the age of 13 read this book.

I would reread The Queen’s Opal. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

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I would like to thank the author for allowing me to read and review The Queen’s Opal.

All opinions stated in this review of The Queen’s Opal are mine

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