There is nothing more tragic than legitimate ambition comprehensively thwarted. Kate Elliott's fantasy sequence has a bleak sadness even in its moments of triumph, simply because her heroes and heroines seem as if they are never going to get the chance to be all they could be. Alan, suddenly adopted heir to the local noble, is obliged to marry an anorexic princess whose hobby of heresy extends to fake stigmata; royal courier Liath and more than slightly deranged royal bastard Sanglant find that their love stands in the way of the King's dynastic plans; the prattish monk Ivar runs away from heresy proceedings and hides among a princeling's boon companions and catamites. And while the nobility juggle marriages and churchmen bicker about doctrine, invaders amass on the borders and the world seems booked for cataclysms both political and metaphysical. Elliott has not yet become as popular as she probably deserves--she has a real sense of what even an imaginary medieval world should be like in its pompous scholarship and simple piety, and her characters are interestingly fluid; place Ivar in a cavalry charge, and he does quite well. This third volume sustains the pace and grim tone of its predecessors in the Crown of Stars sequence. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk

From Kirkus Reviews
Third entry in the Crown of Stars series following Prince of Dogs (1998) and King's Dragon (1997). The kingdoms of Wendar and Varre are riven by sorcery and strife. Young King's Eagle Liath feels the magic potential burgeoning within her, but she's torn emotionally by her love for Sanglant, King Henry's immortal, outcast bastard son, and the child she will soon bear him. Liath's sorcery calls her to investigate a portal to the land of the Aoi, the magical country where Sanglant's mother was born, and from where she will eventually return in search of the child she abandoned. King Henry, meanwhile, wrestles with the familiar problems of the kingship, including invasions by the Quman and by the nonhuman Eika and their terrible dogs. A solid addition to this respectable series. And, at this whopping length, it should keep the most avid fans happy for a few days. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Book Description
In the third volume of this astonishing Nebula Award-nominated fantasy series, the many plot strands created in the first two novels become more tightly interwoven-as the time of the cataclysm nears when people and places long sundered by magic will once again reside in the same time and universe...

"The best thus far...I can now honestly say I am rabid for the next book."-B&N Explorations

"A complex, superbly plotted fantasy universe...run to the bookstore." -Romantic Times

Praise for the Crown of Stars series:

"Well-thought-out, well-structured, and well-crafted... There's a bone-deep reality to the world."-Fantasy & Science Fiction

"Elliott's new high fantasy... proves an entirely captivating affair...a resounding narrative revolving around three appealing characters."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Volume Three in the Nebula Award-nominated fantasy series

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Burning Stone returns us to the war-torn kingdoms of Wendar and Varre at a crucial moment in this complex tale of war, love, and magic. Offered a haven from their enemies and the chance for Liath to study the ancient lore with those who claim her as their own, Liath and Sanglant - made outcasts by their love - flee from King Henry's camp only to discover that no place can truly be safe for them. Liath, born with a dangerous power beyond her understanding or ability to control, is torn between her longing for Sanglant and the child they are about to have and the call of sorcery, which can open the way into the land of the Aoi, the Lost Ones. And even as Liath struggles with magic's seductive spell, Sanglant's Aoi mother returns to the mortal world in search of the son she abandoned as a babe. As the fates of kingdoms shift with the changing fortunes of those caught up in the dangers of both civil war and continuing attacks by the nonhuman Eika and the Quman invaders, time is running out for Liath, Sanglant, King Henry, and the people of Wendar and Varre.

FROM THE CRITICS

Locus

As usual, Elliott turns out a good read....a most satisfying installment in this complex and intriguing series.

Locus

As usual, Elliott turns out a good read....a most satisfying installment in this complex and intriguing series.

Kirkus Reviews

Third entry in the Crown of Stars series following Prince of Dogs (1998) and King's Dragon (1997). The kingdoms of Wendar and Varre are riven by sorcery and strife. Young King's Eagle Liath feels the magic potential burgeoning within her, but she's torn emotionally by her love for Sanglant, King Henry's immortal, outcast bastard son, and the child she will soon bear him. Liath's sorcery calls her to investigate a portal to the land of the Aoi, the magical country where Sanglant's mother was born, and from where she will eventually return in search of the child she abandoned. King Henry, meanwhile, wrestles with the familiar problems of the kingship, including invasions by the Quman and by the nonhuman Eika and their terrible dogs. A solid addition to this respectable series. And, at this whopping length, it should keep the most avid fans happy for a few days. .