Sean Williams

The Books of the Change — (2001-2002) Young adult. Publisher: The Stone Mages rule the huge deserts of red sand. The vast coastlines are ruled by Sky Wardens. Magic is everywhere but not all have the power to control and direct it. Any child found to have magical ability is sent to the Haunted City to be trained in the Change. On the coast of the Strand, Sal and his father arrive in the small, apparently normal town of Fundelry, where the locals are suspicious of newcomers and of anyone who stands out or appears different. Sal and his father are on the run from an unnamed someone... or something. When a local bully attacks Sal, he is rescued by Shilly and her teacher, Lodo. Lodo is marked with mysterious tattoos and seems to know a lot more about Sal than Sal knows about himself. Sal's father wants to stay but the Sky Wardens will be coming. Sal needs to learn what connection Lodo had with his mother and what fate seems to have been chosen for him before he was even born.

The Stone Mage & The Sea

Sal and his father have been on the run from something for as long as Sal can remember. Now they’ve come to the seaside town of Fundelry and it seems like Sal’s father may finally be giving up. Sal doesn’t know what they’ve been running from, or what happened to his mother, who left them when he was young. Most of the townsfolk are suspicious of the newcomers, but Lodo the hermit and his young apprentice Shilly take an interest in Sal. Under their tutelage, Sal learns that he has some blossoming magical powers, which might be what his father has been trying to keep concealed. He must learn to control these powers before the Sky Wardens can find him.

The Stone Mage & The Sea is the first novel in Sean Williams’ young adult series called THE CHANGE. Despite the familiar young-boy-discovers-he’s-got-a-destiny type of YA epic fantasy elements, The Stone Mage & The Sea has some unique qualities to praise. The setting, for one. Rather than the familiar European medieval setting, the world of THE CHANGE appears to be influenced by Sean Williams’ native Australia. Red inland deserts, where the Stone Mages practice their craft, give way to sandy dunes as we approach the sea where Sky Wardens use seagull spies to hunt for youngsters with burgeoning talent. The technological status of this society is intriguingly unclear. Sal’s father has a motorized dunebuggy, but it’s the only one we see, and it seems to be the highest form of technology available in this world.

Williams’ plot and characters are engaging and his writing is solid, though it lacks even a trace of humor. It will appeal most to its target YA audience. Adults will wonder why Sal, at 12 years old, knows so little of his own history. What happened to his mother? What are they running from? Why, when the children of Fundelry are hoping to be chosen by the Sky Wardens, does Sal’s father think they’re so evil? It would have saved them both a lot of trouble if his father had just explained things to Sal. We get the impression that Sal has just now started questioning his father in earnest. Of course, the reader understands that the tale is being unfolded for us as it unfolds for Sal, but I found it hard to admire a 12 year old who’s had no idea what’s going on around him for this long.

The Stone Mage & The Sea is definitely a set-up book. By the end, Sal is just beginning to get a glimpse of his destiny and the book stops as tragedy strikes and things really get going. Most teen readers will be eager to move on to book two, The Sky Warden and the Sun. This is an intriguing world with a unique magic system that we’re only beginning to understand. There are lots of interesting questions left unanswered.

Eric Michael Summerer narrates Audible Frontiers’ version of The Stone Mage & The Sea. He gives a good reading and I can confidently recommend this version of The Stone Mage & The Sea. Audio readers will be pleased. —Kat Hooper