11-year-old Fox lives in Kelp province where her father is the Indidjiny keeper of the land and sea. When the 84-year-old Oak Companion arrives to test the camp's children for talent, Fox finds herself wrenched from her family, forcibly adopted into the famous Oak clan, and thrust into the slow culture of the city of Komey. Fox's adoption should signal a life of bound motherhood, aimed at returning her talent to its rightful owners, but nothing is as it seems. The Companionaris' ability to grow plants and breed animals is failing, a murderous ambition has been sparked, and there is a stirring of old magic in the air.
The Light Heart of Stone is a wonderful, fresh epic fantasy novel for adult and young adult readers. The story is set in the world of the Stone Body, a continent on which plants and animals need human companions in order to thrive. For more than one thousand years, the Companionaris and the Indidjinies have lived side-by-side. The colonising Companionaris control the talent for growing plants and breeding animals. The colonised Indidjinies own the land. And so, it would seem, some sort of balance has been achieved. The novel opens at a time when that balance is faltering and the fragile harmony between the two peoples is fracturing. The companionship system is in crisis. Crops are failing, fishing boats are returning to villages with empty baskets, vast areas of land have become barren and there are famine refugees. The peace cannot and will not last. Both the Indidjinies and the Companionaris must find new ways and new leaders. The question is, will the path out of crisis be violent or is there another, more ancient way for this vibrant world to escape disaster? The Light Heart of Stone is a fascinating novel that will enthral readers, especially lovers of epic fantasy. Roxburgh's exceptional storytelling skills bring the customs, passions, and dramas of this rich speculative world to life in a manner reminiscent of Robin Hobb's Live Ship Traders and Lian Hearn's Tales of the Otori.
The Light Heart of Stone is a substantial 640-page read that has received very positive reviews. While the novel is the first volume in a three-volume series, the book offers a satisfying story and a cliff-hanger that leads into volume II. Volume II is scheduled for release in 2014.
Read a review of the novel by following this link: http://bookonaut.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/ebook-reviewthe-light-heart-of.html .
About the Author
Tor Roxburgh's fiction and non-fiction books have been published by William Heinemann Australia, Pan Australia, Pan UK, Australian Consolidated Press, Greenhouse Publications and The Federation Press. She is an experienced genre author, writing as Linda Hollan, Gina Walsh and KD Miller, with a track record of 12 teenage romances. She created Curious Crow Books to publish her speculative fiction. Tor lives in regional Victoria in Australia and runs a successful writing and public art business as well as a gallery where she exhibits her paintings. She was the senior writer and researcher on the National Inquiry into Youth Homelessness and wrote Taking Control, one of the first successful Australian titles about family violence.
Listen to an online interview of author Tor Roxburgh by following this link: http://galactichat.podbean.com/2012/09/18/galactic-chat-15-tor-roxburgh/ .