Mark T. Barnes

Barnes presents in The Garden of Stones a well developed, fully laid out world. The reader is catapulted into the conflict head first, and although those first few chapters are confusing, chaotic scenes of fighting between factions in a war we don't understand, it all makes sense soon enough.

At first, the cast of characters seems daunting. Names, species, factions, how will you keep it all straight? While Barnes' world is fully realized, it is a departure from the familiar. New nomenclatures are nothing new to fantasy readers, which is fortunate. But beneath the strange and new, the book really only focuses on three characters and those that orbit them. Indris, the warrior scholar and principal character. Corajidin, his rival in this book and all around mostly bad guy. Mari, daughter of Corajidin, torn between loyalty to her father and burgeoning feelings for Indris and the honor of her career.

All the while, Barnes paints a promise. There will be action, there will be intrigue, there will be cliff hangers that compel us to read further. I believe Barnes delivers on that promise in this book - the Garden of Stones was well worth the read.


Thanks to Amazon and Netgalley for the review copy of this book. It was provided in exchange for an honest review.… (mais)

  The Garden of Stones (Echoes of Empire #1) (ARC) DNF
I received this copy from the publisher through Netgalley.com and that in no way has influenced my opinion in regards to this review.

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.com by express permission of this reviewer


Title: The Garden of Stones
Series: Echoes of Empire
Author: Mark Barnes
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 506


My Thoughts:
Due to the inclusion of certain subjects, I will not be finishing this book for religious and moral reasons. "… (mais)

Right up front you are bombarded with a wealth of information about the world and those that inhabit it. At times it's just too much to absorb for the average reader. If you can get through the first half of the book you'll find this is a really great read. I wasn't fond of the exotic descriptions, especially of the battle scenes. The book as a whole has a lot to offer with well fleshed out characters and a plot that is anything but simple. Overall it was an enjoyable read and I look forward to future releases by this author.





This book was provided through GoodReads FirstReads. Thank you for your generosity. This in no way influenced my review.… (mais)