There may be something to this young adult fiction thing. The Seeing Stone, by Kevin Crossley-Holland, is intended for (and written from the perspective of) a young teenager, and it's fantastic. It's the story of Arthur- well, two Arthurs. The "modern" one lives on the England/Wales border in 1199. He's gifted a seeing stone, through which he sees scenes from the life of the other Arthur- the famous King from the late 500s. "Modern" Arthur is grappling with who he is, and will be, so in many ways, this is a coming-of-age tale. There's clearly a link between the Arthurs which isn't defined fully in this volume. The first of a trilogy, its ending clearly leaves you wanting more- good thing I already bought the other books.
It's 277 pages are divided into 100 chapters which fly by- I haven't read this voraciously since Harry Potter. Crossley-Holland does a good job moving the story along and making you care about the "modern" Arthur. He can portray dark topics (sex/violence) in a suitably subtle way (a lesson many authors of adult novels need to learn), and there's the occasional profound wisdom that is quite satisfying. As a final benefit, it gives a little insight into medieval English life, as the author tries to be true to the time period (and succeeds, as far as I can gather). A worthy effort, indeed.
Rating: A
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