The Stone Spear

I’ve had this on my mind for far too long, but with one thing and another I only read the fourth book in the Stone Spear series recently. It is a self published series of fantasy fiction, which I have really enjoyed. Jordin Everrey has created a new world in dimensions so different, that I’m struggling to get my head round some of her ideas. She has also made some changes to the Isle of Wight where she lives, but I don’t mind. I suppose that in some way it’s a little bit Harry Potter; with three children, special abilities, time travel, a really nasty adversary, and so on.

I was handed the first one, Lauren Silva & The Charmed Bracelet a few years ago, for an opinion. I liked it a lot, but could see that there were some weaknesses, which were probably due to the self publication situation. But minor niggles don’t ruin a good and exciting story. By book two, Goldenwing, it was obvious that Jordin was getting much more used to writing. I was so eager to read the third, Lauren Silva & The Ancient Quest, that Jordin let me read a very early proof, much to the disgust of Daughter, as there wasn’t time for her to read it too.

This has been another of the snatch-it-as-fast-as-you-can book series where Daughter is concerned. She went straight on to Lauren Silva & The Red Crystal, which is the last in the series to be published in book form. The fifth one, Lauren Silva & The Sunship, is already available in pdf format on www.thestonespear.co.uk. The sixth and final story is yet to be published, and it will also be available online.

Jordin (that’s a pseudonym, by the way) has done what so many dream of doing. What I find impressive is that she has kept up with a whole series, not just writing one book on its own. From what she has told me, she wrote an Iron Age novel twenty years ago which went round the publishers, with no luck. That’s why she decided to be her own boss this time, and I can’t say I blame her. A redundancy offer from a job in education allowed Jordin to realise her dreams.

Like many other writers Jordin started young by writing comics for her brothers, and it’s what she likes doing best. I know she has plans for more, but haven’t pressed her for details on that yet. It would be nice if a publisher could take an interest in her next venture.

I’m trying to work out if I can describe the series about Lauren Silva adequately. Lauren believes she is an ordinary 12-year-old girl, only to find out that her family belongs to a clan, spread over the whole world, and over other worlds as well. They grow to be very old, and they can mind-speak over long distances. They can portal all over the place, and very handily it turns out that Lauren’s best friends can be taught some of these skills as well.

There is a very evil evil character, who keeps popping up rather like Voldemort. The clan originated in a world so far away in space that I can’t even begin to visualise where it is. They have huge birds to fly on. Most of the modern day action takes place on the Isle of Wight, where there is also an ancient settlement during the Ice Age, which they visit. Which I can’t explain.

The only thing I wish Jordin would have done differently is the names. I’m assuming it’s for plot reasons that they all have very similar names, to show they belong together. I just have to work that little bit harder than I would like, to tell them apart. And the nice characters are perhaps a little too nice. But I’m addicted to nice.

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