What could a boy
like Morgan do against that kind of power? Nothing. Not for the time being,
anyway. But one of these days, he would throw off the shackles of his bondage;
one of these days he’d wield a power greater than anything they’d ever
imagined. One of these days he’d show them all. He’d do it through alchemy.
Mercury, sulfur, salt.
Genre: Fantasy
Target Audience: Boys and Girls 14-18
Subjects: Cancer, Friendship, Loss,
Power, Faith
Summary: Cancer. The most feared, most
dreaded word is what Morgan’s mom has. Now it’s all the more important that he
continue his experiments and get a hold of the Stone of Destiny! He has to heal
his mom! But the price for the stone is high. And Morgan isn’t the only one
involved. His best friend, Eny, is having some troubles of her own. Sitting in
her favorite spot by the sea one day, she finds herself in a new world and soon
realizes she is the girl referenced in a prophecy concerning the very stone
Morgan wants so bad. Now Morgan faces a difficult decision – just how far will
he go to get his hands on this power?
Notes: The first in the Stone of
Destiny series, this book weaves together a legend starting back in the Bible
times at Bethel where Jacob laid his head on a stone and saw the ladder to
heaven. It presents the stone as almost a character, with a will of its own and
a desire to “return” to its proper land from where it was stolen. The idea is
presented that this stone does hold power, but that it will cause more pain
than healing if it is not where it belongs. It can not be held on to for one’s
own use – despite what Morgan believes. The story gets kind of complicated as
it pieces together the different worlds and people groups and time periods
telling of the history of the stone. The spiritual element is focused on faith.
Morgan’s dad was into alchemy as well before he died and passed his research on
to Morgan, believing it contained the ability to miraculously heal. Morgan’s
mom insists that our faith should be in God not alchemy, not science, not
magic, nothing but Christ. Morgan refuses to believe in it, wanting to take
control for himself rather than trust God to take care of him. In the end, his
mother is healed – miraculously by God – after Morgan has surrendered his
battle. So Morgan finally learns to put his faith in God alone. He also learns
that God does it because of His grace, not because Morgan did things right.
Morgan can’t figure out why his mom got healed despite everything he did wrong.
His mom tells him that it is because of God’s grace, not because of anything
earned. Overall, the spiritual elements are there, it is the theme running
through the story, it’s just that it gets lost in the midst of the
legend/history of the stone sometimes – it just simply gets hard to follow. But
it does have a strong message. Also of
note, the end of this book leaves a bit of the story unfinished, but a second
book is scheduled for publication.
Spiritual Content
Recommendation Scale: 4/5
Reviewer: J:-)mi
Matthew 13:15 –
For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear
with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'
Thank you to the
publisher for sending me a free review copy of this book in exchange for my
honest opinion!
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