Stones (One True Child Series Book 5)

Well made characters, some action, mystery, magic and romance. Still a little disappointing since I thought the true one would be more but was a good story and ended like the others leaving room for more.

L C Conn is proving something of a revelation in the Fantasy genre these days, and even though Stones isn’t my favorite book in the series it’s still one not to be missed. It would probably be described as Young Adult fiction, but there’s nothing childish about the characters, plot, or expansive universe they inhabit. Claire is a fantastic lead, introduced earlier in the series, but I’m pretty sure you could pick up and read from this book if you have missed out on the others. Having said that you could miss out on some of the back-story, so I would recommend reading them all.

One of my favorite modern-day literary series.

I read the second part of this book series last year and I fell in love with the character of Carling who has the gift of foresight that she uses to her advantage in a positive way. This book is the fifth part of this series which is called the One True Child and again I was satisfied with it by its last page on my kindle. Carling in this part is now Claire and she is married to a man who also has her talent by the name of Matt and together they have a daughter named Bree. This book features a loaded cast of characters who all are relatives of either Claire’s or that of Matt’s. The antagonist in this book is Marcus Ryder who goes out of his way to seize Claire and her daughter with the intention of marrying Claire for his evil purposes. The primary people in this book all communicate with each other at one point through their minds. Claire’s family are connected to the Scottish guardians called the Coimheadair who are similar to the druids of ancient Celtic and Scottish cultures and there are a particular group of stones near their Scottish home where they summon these guardians whenever they are in danger or are in need of guidance in their everyday lives. The apocalyptic ending will have you at the edge of your seat (or bed) because it will seem like the whole earth has stilled while the wicked one tries to implant the protagonist with some part of him while there is a storm raging on and the guardians (the Coimheadair) are near waiting for an prophecy to be fulfilled or not.

This book catered to my interest with anything magical or psychic because I grew up in a culture whose mythology included such elements. I also found the story of the Coimheadair and Claire’s homeland and family to mirror the Arthurian legend that was introduced to me via movies like Hallmark Company’s Merlin movie and the BBC TV Series of the same name that I grew up on during the late 2000s early 20210s. And finally, my interest in this book was furthered by the setting it takes place in… why, the land of New Zealand which is just another fascinating component of this book because I know some things about New Zealand’s culture and history and terms which I will agree is the perfect setting for this story to take place at.

If there is anyone out there I think will find this book beneficial and amazing, I will have to say it is the YA-readers. I found this book to be void of anything that would make it seem too mature and the inclusion of Claire’s youthful nieces and nephews and daughter will somehow attract I presume those readers to it. There is nothing that I found inappropriate about this book, everything flowed greatly and I couldn’t help feeling deeply immersed in it because there are things about the whole psychic talent of foresight that I seem to relate with (you can call me crazy there, haha). All in all, I think you should get all of the books in this series to fully understand the background and history of how Claire came to be so sought after and why she is full of hatred for this man called Marcus Ryder.

Even though I’ve come to this series at book 5 I still picked up the gist of the back story easily enough and really enjoyed the book. Conn’s writing is tight and moves the plot along quickly while proving to be exciting and compelling.

The scene-setting of Scotland and New Zealand is stunning in it’s description in a way you can easily visualise each scene and feel immersed in the story. There are interesting concepts and a strong protagonist with Claire. I really enjoyed it.

Conn tells a narrative of the battle of good versus evil in one of the most scintillating tales ever. The fact that she sets the mysterious place in the book in New Zealand and the highlands of Scotland gives the fictional story a real presence to which it is easy to relate. Conn constructs her characters carefully within a family setting to give that close, lifelike feeling to the characters in an enchanting story.

Conn’s writing is drawn from both the inspiration of a dream and her real-life experience having lived in a small town in New Zealand before moving to Australia. Therefore, the way she tells the story of having to face the worst fear of a parent is quite thrilling and chilling, especially for a new parent. I could draw inspiration to face my fears from the way the main character fights through her life challenges while drawing from the love of her family to survive.

New Zealand born Australian author L.C. Conn has discovered that cosmic glow that allows her reader to make sense of the order of the universe, all in the format of a coming of age story. L.C. is a mother who is battling breast cancer and has transformed her life situation into a significant epic – the One True Child Series – which proves to be not only a sensitive examination of the coming of age time of each of our lives, but takes that discovery/recognition sequence into the realm of philosophy, a survey of good versus evil/chaos versus order and the permutations those poles have on each of us. And she manages to tie this all together in the form of young lass Carling.

After grasping our attention with Books 1, 2, 3, AND 4 of THE ONE TRUE CHILD series L.C continues to make fine use of artistic covers that draw us into the epic. Stepping into Book 5 we again appreciate the polished quality of her prose: ‘The house was deathly quiet, and it suited the moment as Claire Drummond hung up the phone with a frown. She had always known that this time would come, but it still made her heart feel heavy. He was the last of his generation, and now her Uncle Geoff was seriously ill and in decline. The last four years had felt like one long funeral, as her grandparents had passed away one by one. But Lynnette, Grace, and Malcolm had all been there for the two most important moments in her life since meeting them when she was seventeen: her wedding to her wonderful husband, Matt, and the birth of their daughter Breena a year after. No matter how much she had come to love her grandparents, Geoff held a special place in her heart. It was her uncle who had taken her in and cared for her since she was ten years old after her parents had been murdered. He had been her strength and support when at seventeen she had learnt about her past, her Talents, and the truth of where she had come from. Then again with her ordeal both in Scotland and back home, until Matt ad found her again – even though she had not appreciated it at the time.’

We follow the path of this portion of the story as follows: ‘Deep within the New Zealand bush, lies a plateau with a clearing, covered in the many years of fallen leaves, it is damp and dark. Hidden just under the surface are the stones, green and still polished, placed by the Guardians of this land. There is power in them still and they are about to bear witness to a great battle between light and darkness. Claire Drummond is in danger, her very life depends on the actions and help of her husband and family. Also, the man she thought had left her life for good, Tony Benning. Caught up once more in the heavy turmoil of good vs evil, Claire has much more to fight for than just a set of stones in the highlands of Scotland. This time it’s personal. This time he has her daughter.’

And we remain committed to following this exceptional world that seduces our imagination and provides sensitivity to that state of awakening. A very fine series.