Seven Stones

Title: Seven Stones

Author: James Rozoff

Genre: Fantasy

Source: Kindle Ebook

Rating: 3 out of 5

Doug is a young magician who is determined to become greater than the great Houdini.  When an older magician named Ashavan offers to share his secrets in exchange for Doug's help, he jumps at the opportunity.  Little does Doug know that each item he must hind has deep dark secrets to them.  Now things have grown bigger than either Doug or Ashavan can handle, but it is too late to turn back.  Doug must finish what he started and race against time to find all seven stones.  Will Doug succeed in finding all the stones? Or will he give up and abandon his search?

There are a lot of things happening in this novel it's a book about treasure hunting adventure, a metaphysical journey, magic, historical fiction, mystery, but oddly enough it works well for the story.  One aspect of the tale does not overshadow the other. It starts off very compelling with an older magician dangling new and exciting tricks in front of a younger magician.  In order to get what he craves, the younger enters a world of séances, real magic, even death and zombies.  What zombies? Really?  It's not what you think, the way Rozoff presents these creatures of lore is very interesting and unique rather than the traditional zombie we see in other stories.

There are small hints of inconsistency throughout the novel, such as the main character Doug sometimes being referred to as Dave.  It took a moment or two to realize these were not two separate people.  The story is interesting enough of being a treasure hunt for seven mystical stones, but it tries to be so much more and includes a lot of different politics and things which ends up making the story slow moving.  Once Doug leaves Mississippi (or is it Louisiana), the story slows down dramatically, and it's hard to get back into the story after this.  I liked the idea of the seven stones being related to Pangaea, but it was hard to follow the idea that Rozoff was going with it and the stones because the explanation is broken up throughout the story.


Overall it was a decently written story, that had it's interesting moments.  It wasn't the thrill ride I was hoping it would be when I started reading it, but it was interesting enough to finish.  It was difficult to continue to feel connected to the story.  The multiple things happening throughout the novel made for a large feel of disconnection for the reader.  It takes too long to get to the good parts, we are pulled in with Doug finding three of the stones and dealing with their effects quickly, but then there are chapter after chapter of nothingness, which honestly felt like a let down. 


Will I read this book again?  Probably not.  Will I recommend it? eh I'm on the fence because I always feel like there is an audience for a book even if it wasn't my cup of tea.  I will recommend it for those who like books with mystical or philosophical aspects too them, or with a hint of history interspersed.  It just happens that I felt like the characters wondered around like lost puppies after a while.