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William L Stuart is a 10 year veteran of the US Navy submarine force who is married to Lana, his lovely and adorable bride of over 30 years. He is the father to his amazing daughter Laura, and grandfather to Aidan and Maggie. All of the above inspired characters in The Gemstone Chronicles.
When William isn't working ensuring global supply of animal health products, he enjoys writing, playing softball, gold prospecting and gemstone hunting in the North Georgia Mountains, traveling, woodworking, and playing golf (badly).
Reviewed by Heather Osborne for Readers' Favorite
The Carnelian is the first book in The Gemstone Chronicles by William L. Stuart. Maggie and Aiden come to stay with Nana and Beebop, their grandparents, for spring break. Their time is usually spent jet skiing, rock hounding, and four-wheeling. On one of the rock hounding expeditions with Beebop, Maggie finds an oddly-shaped rock in the form of a cross. That night, a mysterious human-like shape appears in her room, beseeching them to free him from his prison. Beebop determines they must return the stone to the woods, but Maggie and Aiden have other ideas. They break the rock, freeing a Light Elf by the name of Findecano. He was imprisoned by evil forces of the Drow, a mysterious evil power of his world. The four humans are drawn into an adventure to seek out the missing stones of the Elven bow and put a stop to the evil spreading throughout his world. Will they manage to make it through the first quest alive?
Mr. Stuart is a very clever storyteller. I liked all the factoids about gemstones and their various protective elements. His twist on Elven mythology was also unique. I found the characters entertaining, especially Maggie. She had to be my favorite out of the group, especially with her ferret, Lucy. I felt that the book could use a second editor’s eye to tighten up some of the sentences and remove excess word usage. Other than that, I found The Gemstone Chronicles, Book One: The Carnelian compelling and I am looking forward to reading the continued adventures of the group!
