Matt Mikalatos’ “The Crescent Stone” is a delightfully inspiring and at times heartbreaking venture into a fantasy world full of light and dark — both literal and figurative.
Madeline Oliver is a human teen living on Earth, suffering from a terminal disease that leaves her unable to breathe. When she collapses at school, her chemistry lab partner, Jason Wu, rushes her to the hospital, where the two are visited by a mysterious man named Hanali.
The man claims to represent the Elenil people from the Sunlit Lands, a place from a different realm. If Madeline will vow to come to the Sunlit Lands and fight the Elenil’s enemies, the Scim, they will instantly and permanently cure her of her disease.
As Maddie agrees, Jason, who is overcoming his own painful past, insists he pledges loyalty to Maddie and travel along and protect her. So the two make their journey to the Sunlit Lands and enter the Elenil society.
With the help of several others, including Maddie’s human roommate Shula and Baileya, a desert-dwelling Kakri warrior whom Jason just might have a crush on, the duo must learn whom to trust and determine what the true battle is.
“The Crescent Stone” is not only a great fantasy novel of battles, magical items and powers, a Court of Far Seeing with a magical Crescent Stone, mysterious beings and shape-shifting creatures, but it also offers many life-applicable lessons, like overcoming trials and deceptions; dealing with life’s “scars” helps up remember where we came from and to face what is coming; questioning our and others motivations and decisions; dealing with deception; and reminding us that things aren’t always what they seem.
Three other major themes that run throughout the novel deal with loyalty, having the courage to face life’s battles, and facing the injustices in life — at what cost are things worth it, and should justice come through injustice?
Mikalatos does a great job developing characters, giving a glimpse into what motivates them, from the major characters like Maddie and Jason to others like Hanali, the healer Gilenyia, and the Elenil leader Thenody. And readers will fall in love with the adorable Delightful Glitter Lady, who just might be a unicorn! Mikalatos also briefly mentions the mysterious Kharobem creatures, which reference angelic beings found in the biblical book of Revelation.
He is also a very descriptive writer, drawing the reader in to his scenes with phrases like the garden was “an oasis of near-magic” and “a racking army of coughs marched across her chest.”
“The Crescent Stone” is very reminiscent of works like Tolkein’s “Lord of the Rings,” C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” and his “Space Trilogy,” L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz,” the Sofi Snow novels by Mary Weber, and Suzanne Collins’ “Gregor the Overlander series.” I even found the Elenil world slightly similar to The Capitol in the Hunger Games. So fans of any of these types of stories will enjoy “The Crescent Stone.”
The book ends with an Appendix, filled with poems and parables from the Sunlit Lands, to supplement the reader’s knowledge from the story.
I look forward to the series’ next installment, “The Heartwood Crown,” due out in Summer 2019.
Five stars out of five.
Tyndale House Publishers provided this complimentary copy for my honest, unbiased review.