I read the book The Shattered Stone by Robert Newman
The Shattered Stone is about 2 people named Neva and Ivo. They have lived in an enchanted forest for their whole lives, where they can talk to animals and get special trianing by the 2 other humans in the forest, Jartan and Mistress Silvia. One day, a fox named Ronno is outside the barrier protecting the forest, and gets chased by some hunters. Ivo goes out of the forest for the first time and saves Ronno, but also meets Liall, the prince of a country called Andor. Ivo allows Liall to come into the forest, and Liall tells both Neva and Ivo about a war between Andor and another country called Brunn. Neva and Ivo want to help, so they ask Jartan for a way to stop the war. Jartan tells them about a mountain named Tarec that has the answer. So all 3 of them journey through a desert and climb to the top of Tarec. But through this time, Neva, Ivo, and Liall can't remember anything about the forest, but they know that the quest they're on is very important. At the top of Tarec there is a black stone with a different language written on in. Neva knows the language and figures out that it says "Andor and Brunn shall again be one when Ima something marries something." 2 pieces of the stone were missing, so they couldn't understand the whole saying. They look around the mountain for the other pieces. Ivo finds 1, but a big gore-crow grabs it from his hands and flys off with is. Since they haven't finished the quest, Liall suggests they go to Andor. At Andor, the king's advisor named Zothar had a piece of the stone that the gore-crow gave him. It said "daughter" making the saying "Andor and Brunn shall again be one when Ima's daughter marries something." Zothar also tells them that Ima was the founder of Brunn. After this, they hear about the other piece of the stone being in Brunn. They then venture off to Brunn where there is a competition called the trial-at-arms going on. Ivo wins the competition maling him the Queen of Brunn's guard. Neva becomes the princess's lady-in-waiting, and liall also gets accepted as a member of the Queen's guard. One day, the princess takes the 3 of them on s trip into town where thay visit a temple that has the last peice of the stone in it. The last words were "Kennar's son." Kennar was the founder of Andor. Once they read this they figure that Liall, since he is a descendent of Kennar, must marry the princess of Brunn. because she is a descendent of Ima. Instead of this, Neva comes up with a plan.
*****END HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GIVE AWAY THE ENDING - it's a better place to end too*****
They send Liall away back to Andor, then hear about a battle that will soon happen. When they reach the area of where the battle will take place, Ivo suggests that before the battle begins, that he meet a champion of Andor in a single combat. They are signaled to start the combat, but instead of fighting, Ivo and Liall, the other rider, embrace to show that there should be peace. Everyone is astonished and they start talking about the treachery that started the war. The queen of Brunn's daughter was to be exchanged with the king of Andor's son to try to make better terms between the 2 countries. Instead, every1 thought that the 2 children were killed. Jartan then comes out and explains that they weren't actually killed, but that Neva and Ivo were the 2 children. Once they hear this, it is agreed that Neva and Ivo should marry to bring peace between Andor and Brunn.
Main Conflict - the war between Andor and Brunn
Character Descriptions - Neva: Lived in the forset her whole life, has red hair and is very beautiful. Is good at healing and can talk to animals with her mind.
Ivo: Lived in the forest his whole life, very handsome, is an expert at swordmanship.
Liall: Prince of Andor, very brave and handsome.
My Opinion - I thought that The Shattered Stone was a pretty good book. It kept me wondering what was going to happen, and I couldn't put it down until I finished reading it. My favorite part was at the end when you learned that Neva and Ivo were of royalty. The book however, did move quickly and there were a lot of names that made some parts a little confusing. Overall, it was a good book and I would recommend it.