The Greenstone Grail

by Amanda Hemingway

Book Overview

A desperate mother spirits away her infant son, seemingly drawn (chased, perhaps?) to the small English village of Thornyhill. She ends up on the doorstep of old Bartlemy, a curious man who has lived on the forested land for as long as anyone can remember-and who comes to believe that the child is destined for great things. . . .

While growing up under Bartlemy's protective eye, Nathan Ward senses something else watching...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345460790
• ISBN13: 9780345460790
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Great Story about the Grail with Amazing Execution to Overused Ideas!

Amanda Hemingway is fast on her way to becoming a favorite author, a position hardly easy to achieve as Neil Gaiman has happily held that position for years. For now however, Amanda Hemingway-otherwise known as Jan Seigel for her untitled Atlantis and Fern Capel trilogy- has a way of touching upon and writing the stories and bringing forth the ideas that one all knows and loves without making a cliche of them or treating them with thinly veiled contempt. Simply because they are a requirement of story progression. _The Greenstone Grail_ is the first novel in the Sangreal Trilogy, following the exploits of Nathan Ward in his quest to recover the scattered items that may or may not save a cluster of worlds on the edges of the universe. The story starts out with Nathan's Mother Annie, making her way with an infant Nathan in tow to a town where she may potentially have a job. Pursued by an invisible force that she can neither name or explain, she manages to stumble right into the path of one Bartleby Goodman and his far to intelligent dog "Hoover". Bartleby, one of "The Gifted" (a term used in her last trilogy, written under the penname Jan Siegel) sees Annie's plight and lets her into his home. From there we traverse across thirteen years to modern day where Nathan's adventures start as he grew up to be a smart, popular and good hearted young man and perhaps what one would considered an old fashioned hero. Intelligent, athletic and irrevociably drawn towards goodness that leaves the reader with a warm glow of satisfaction. Nathan is an all around good guy that is rarely seen now a days both in fiction and in reality. While his Mother Annie is a good woman and a decent Mother and a likeable narrator, neither bogged down by Hemingway's other herione-Fern's-unexplainable and constantly strong denial and almost rut in the mud attitude towards life. Indeed when strange happenings begin, Annie accepts them without comment or betraying action and goes on to handle her life as best she can whilst supernatural things happen all around her. All focusing on finding an item of far off and familiar mythology while the unknown or possibly known antagonist (Hemingway handles the mystery of the villain in the story expertly, keeping them a constant precense without revealing to much of them early) of the story looms threateningly. Nathan is accompanied by his good friend Hazel, his faithful dog Hoover, with help of Bartleby and even a rescued traveler from another world. Even while Nathan dreams himself into other worlds in his sleep, becoming more and more substantial as he travels... Hemingway's close to the edge of purple prose is subdued in this novel, still there with great descriptions and realistic dialogue and steady and good pacing it's also toned down enough for the young adult market. One almost wishes that Hemingway would use such language and writing style in all her future volumes. For this novel, perhaps it having something to do with being marketed

Advanced mystery readers will like this book

A world is dying. Its only chance for survival lies with a Great Spell that nobody knows how to perform. What they do know is that they need three objects of power- a cup, a sword, and a crown. Strange things are happening in Eade, a peaceful English town that is home to a boy called Nathan. Nathan has dreams of a world that is contaminated by magic. He gradually realizes that he is dreaming of a real world, a world completely different from his own. The Grimthorn Grail is a cup that once belonged to the Thorn family that is said to have strange powers. The only remaining Thorn descendant wants the cup back and is trying desperately to prove that the original sale was illegal. As Nathan's dreams become more and more real and he learns about this other world, he realizes the fatal problems that it is facing. The cup comes from the other world, he is sure of it, but he also thinks that it was sent to his world for safekeeping until a need to use its powers arose. Where does the cup truly belong? Can the world be saved? "The Greenstone Grail," is the first novel in a trilogy, each focusing on in turn on one of the three powerful objects, each full of unanswered questions. Vivid descriptions bring the story to life as Nathan, his mother, and his best friend discover knew dangers and complications in their quest to set things right. Amanda Hemmingway weaves the story of a world that has an unbelievable problem and a young boy who just might have the power to set things right. Advanced mystery readers will enjoy the many unanswered questions of the book as each different character encounters fears and problems of their own. Reviewed by a student reviewer for Flamingnet Book Reviews www.flamingnet.com Preteen, teen, adn young adult book reviews and recommendations

A fun and captivating read!

While waiting for the final Harry Potter book to come out, which could be years, I went on a quest to find a new series to start. Being picky because I still have Harry Potter on my mind, it was very tough to find a book that I'd be interested in. When I saw the Greenstone Grail at my local library, I decided, "What the heck?" and gave it a chance. It has been wonderful! It drew me in from the very beginning and made me want to read more and more. At the start, it reminded me a lot of Harry Potter - the pre-teen boy who thinks he's otherwise normal but then finds out he has super special powers and is "the chosen one" to help save a dying world. Then as I read along more - it started reminding me of The Neverending Story. However, this book is a good cross between Harry Potter and The Neverending Story. The author makes it her own story and you aren't often reminded of other storylines while reading it. Her style of writing is different, and she gives you bits and parts of the storyline all throughout the book so that you're not kept waiting for something exciting to happen. I'm glad I started this series, and am now waiting yet again for another book to come out. Oh well - March of 2006 is a lot better then some unknown date years down the road for Harry Potter book 7!

A Writer To Watch

Amanda Hemingway is a writer to watch. This book "The Greenstone Grail" is a terrific book, and I like it a lot better than the books she wrote as Jan Siegel, although those were not bad, but seemed unfocused to me. This "Grail" had been in the care of the Thorns of Thornyhill, but had been stolen prior to World War Two, and thought to be in the hands of the Nazis, until it surfaces at Sotheby's to be auctioned to the highest bidder. But in actuality it is one of three objects of power, along with a sword and a crown. It is also from either a different universe, or from the end of time. The story starts with Annie Ward and her infant son Nathan being chased through the dark English countryside by somethings, harrowing her until she attains safety at the home of an elderly albino named Bartlemy Goodman (who turns out to be 1500 years old, with a talent for magic, and really good cooking). Other reviews have called this book an "Arthurian fantasy" which doesn't make a lot of sense to me, as I find the only thing vaguely Arthurian is the quest for the Grimthorn Grail (aka the Greenstone Grail of the title.) Nathan, a 12 year-old of uncertain parentage (we know who his mother is, but who is his father, really??) has been having dreams of a strange world called Eos (which oddly enough means "Dawn") which is at the end of time, or perhaps just the end of ITS time. Whilst exploring the tangled English forest close to his home, he stumbles across the buried ruins of an ancient redoubt, and an altar, upon which he sees a vision of a large cup, the grail, filled with blood. Nathan's nightly dream visions become more and more real, he can hear and understand the people in his dreams, and finally he disappears from his own time and space and appears in the world of Eos, where he saves a man from drowning by drawing him into our world. Obvious comparisons are to Lloyd Alexander's Prydain books and Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence, but Nathan is no Old One like Will Stanton, nor is he Taran. One of the other things that make this book stand out from other similar books is the fine delineation of Annie Ward, a strong female character, Bartlemy, the gentle man who has lived on the outskirts of Thornyhill for as long as anyone can remember, and his dog called Hoover "because he vacuums up the crumbs". Of course his NAME isn't Hoover. That's just what he's called. And he too has been around for a long time. There are a lot of things happening in this book, and because it is Book One of a trilogy, there are a number of things that go off on a tangent and aren't properly dealt with. We'll find out more in Book Two, The Traitor's Sword. This is an excellent beginning and well worth looking for.

Great Beginning To What Seems Like A Stellar Series

The Greenstone Grail is book one of The Sangreal Trilogy. The trilogy is set up right away by the tale of Nathan Ward. He is a smart lad who has strange dreams of another world: Eos. Eos is in big trouble. Years of magic use have contaminated the world. In a dream he pulls into our world, Eric. He is a very comical character. Nathan also has dreams of a cup. A cup that has mysteriously returned to England. The Grimthorn Grail as it is called in our world is shrouded in mystery and legends say it is the Holy Grail. But it's power is not this world and belongs to Eos. It along with a sword and a crown are the three items that can save that other world from destruction. Throw in an underlining plot of a murderess water spirit and a bumbling police investigator and you have the makings of a great English fantasy trilogy. There is also magic in the form of a witch and a old man named Bartlemy. He takes Annie, Nathan's mother in when she is running away from unseen enemies in the prologue. These enemies are discribed in detail later in the novel. All and all this book is a building on a fantasy genre that has instances of Arthurian legends. And I can't wait untill The Traitor's Sword (Book Two) is released in the U.S.