The Language of Stones by Robert Carter
Tolkien and TH White parallels abound in this huge slice of mythic fiction set in 15th century England. England is about to enter an era of unimaginable divison and destruction: the Wars of the Roses. The wizard Gwydion and his young apprentice Willand must undertake a great quest to save the land from devastation by terrible warfare between rival factions for the crown. On the one side is Duke Richard of Ebor and his sons and allies; on the other the sickly King Hal and devilish wife Queen Mag and her sorcerer Maskull, Gwydion's evil counterpart. England is a still-magical land, crisscrossed by lines of power which run from one great sarsen stone to another. The lines must be paired (male and female, peaceable and warlike) to maintain the Balance - of Nature, of magic, and the equanimity of man - and so protect the land. But the purity of the lines' magic has been subverted over millennia: first by the Slavers who came and laid their own grids of stone roads, tearing up the stones from their rightful places to build their cities and temples; and now by the sinister Sightless Ones, whose joyless, ritual-bound religion has displaced the ways of the true folk of the land.
Robert Carter was born exactly five hundred years after the first battle of the Wars of the Roses. He was brought up in the Midlands and later on the shores of the Irish Sea where his forebears hail from. He was variously educated in Britain, Australia and the United States, then worked for some years in the Middle East and remote parts of Africa. He travelled widely in the East, before joining the BBC in London in 1982. His interests have included astronomy, pole-arm fighting, canals, collecting armour, steam engines, composing music and enjoying the English countryside, and he has always maintained a keen interest in history. Today he lives in a 'village' that only sounds rural -- Shepherd's Bush.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780007169238 |
| ISBN 10 | 000716923X |
| Title | The Language of Stones |
| Author | Robert Carter |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Year published | 2004-03-22 |
| Number of pages | 528 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |