- David Zindell

The Ea Cycle - The Lightstone: The Ninth Kingdom: Part One (The Ea Cycle, Book 1)

By David Zindell

From the author of Neverness comes a powerful new epic fantasy series. The Ea Cycle is as rich as Tolkien and as magical as the Arthurian myths.

The world of Ea is an ancient world settled in eons past by the Star People. However, their ancestors floundered, in their purpose to create a great stellar civilisation on the new planet: they fell into moral decay.
Now a champion has been born who will lead them back to greatness, by means of a spiritual – and adventurous – quest for Ea’s Grail: the Lightstone.
His name is Valashu Elahad, and he is destined to become King. Blessed (or cursed?) with an empathy for all living things, he will lead his people into the lands of Morjin, into the heart of darkness, wielding a magical sword called Alkadadur, there to recover the mythical Lightstone and return in triumph with his prize.

But Morjin is not to be vanquished so easily…

Author: David Zindell
Format: Paperback (A Format)
Release Date: 16 Sep 2011
Pages: 688
ISBN: 978-0-00-648620-6
After studying philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, and physics, David Zindell moved to the Rocky Mountains to devote himself to skiing, rock climbing, and writing. Writing won out and became the passion of his life. His story ‘Shanidar’ won the Writers of the Future contest, and he was nominated for a Hugo award for best new writer of the year. His internationally bestselling novel Neverness was shortlisted for the Arthur C Clark Award. His successive works include the Requiem For Homo Sapiens trilogy and epic Grail quest, The Ea Cycle. His most recent novels were The Idiot Gods, which tells of the orca Arjuna’s quest to speak to the human race about the future of life on earth, and The Remembrancer\'s Tale, a return to the Neverness universe.

”'Remarkable for its scale, ambition and a capacity to evoke a sinister beauty … an impressive start to an interesting cycle” - AMAZON

”'Every so often a novel comes along that threatens to redefine its sub-genre. The Lightstone is such a novel … Zindell re-imagines the epic on a grand scale. Each of his characters is meticulously created … The Lightstone shines brightly within the world of fantasy.” - DREAMWATCH

‘David Zindell has imbued The Lightstone with a descriptive richness. His words are like magic, which manage to capture the tiniest nuances of his landscapes and characters and bring them to life … If you want something that will make you think, that touches on elements of spirituality and philosophy and the fine lines between good and evil then The Lightstone is a winner‘ WHSMITH.CO.UK -