Everyone must get "stoned"

On the advice of a friend, I checked out S. L. Farrell's first volume in his The Cloudmages series. Which is not a decision I regret.

We start Holder of Lightning on the Knobtop hill with Jenna and her obstinate goat. As it happens, she's in the right place at the right time to pick up Lamh Shabhala, AKA the first stone. (There are accents on the vowels, but I'm being lazy here. Given the entire book is based on Ireland, feel free to add in your own accents on every vowel.) Getting the stone is particularly fortuitous, given that the night she finds the plain stone is the night the Mage Lights start in the sky.

This causes issues, as the stone she bears is supposed to awaken the other stones of power, with Lamh Shabhala being the First and most powerful of the Cloch na thintri, which of course means several people who aren't poor goat herders from backwaters want that stone. Mind you, the kingdom/duchy of the Tuatha that Jenna lives in finds her first and leads her and her mother Maeve to Lar Bhaile, the capital of their kingdom in the company of Paidraic Mac Ard. Mac Ard is a noble, and bears a cloch mor (greater stone of power), though it hasn't awakened yet. He's also in love with Maeve by the time things get going in full gear and the stones waken.

So, let's see.... Just about everyone but Jenna wants the stone. During a quick trip to Doire Coill, we meet members of the race of man whom the Tuatha replaced. We also meet the ghost of one of the old holders, who helps Jenna to realize she can call on the spirits of every previous holder.

So, eventually, Jenna kills the queen, which is justified since Cinna was trying to use proxies to kill her. This sets off Mac Ard and Jenna's possible fiance. Jenna, left with no real choice, runs off with Ennis to the White Keep in the far Northwest of Inish Thuide. Where again, almost everyone wants the stone.

In the end, we get a war. We also get more politics than Party convention. (I'm really seriously condensing down things here, mainly because to get to far into th eplot details would spoil a heck of a lot of surprises.)

Any rate, there are at least two more books in the series, although I have no idea if they follow Jenna or not, since the blurbs in the book claim this is multi-generational, and I'm not sure if that refers to Jenna's descendants or two the ancestors in the stone.

While it does share much in common with Tolkien, it's hard to find fantasy that doesn't borrow from Middle Earth on occasion. The plot, once it gets going, is well paced, and the Machiavellian politicking is engaging. I will return here.