I listened to the audiobook for this today, a quick 3 hour audiobook, so I knew right away this wasn’t going to be a long fully stuffed tale.

I do however think for the short length it is, it had just enough world building to be intriguing. I was pulled in and listened for the 3 hours uninterrupted.

I instantly gravitated to Runnel, he is the 9th son in a long line of kids, and was ostracized by his own family. I felt for the boy, and when he decided to just climb some rocks one day and keep going and never look back, I couldn’t blame the kid. If I read that while I was 12 I would have looked up to that.

I thought the storytelling between the water mages and stone mages was fascinating, was it super filled out, no, but I felt just enough was given to make it interesting (and yes I realize this is part of a much bigger world).

I will say that climax of the story towards the end did feel rushed but not enough to warrant any major dislike from me.

Overall I enjoyed it and I thought the last line between Runnel and Lark (I might have misspelled that, audiobook problems haha) was sweet and made me go “aww so cute” ( )

Runnel grows up in a secluded mountain town on the edge of the Mitherhome serving the water god. His family treats him poorly, so he decides to make his way to the city. He is hired as a servant to the only rock mage allowed to practice in the town and discovers his affinity for stone. In a rather abrupt climax, Runnel challenges the water mages who run the town.
I enjoyed Runnel's journey to the city as well as his growth as he learned about city customs such as money and the hierarchy of the household. When it came to his discovery of his power and the eventual standoff, I felt that the transition from naive and ignorant servant to (don't want to write spoilers) was extremely quick and unbelievable. At least a little training montage might have been beneficial. ( )

Eh. I wasn't taken with this...goes in the category of DNF (did not finish). Must not be my genre. Characters are uninteresting and unfold in the first half of the book, along with the environment. Plot is predictable. It's a fantasy world that does not succeed in my world--I won't be going there again.

Runnel isn’t appreciated by his family or his little village. His father abuses him, his siblings taunt him, and even his mother doesn’t seem overly fond. So one day he walks to the edge of his village and just keeps going. He’s never been outside of his village before, so everything is new. Eventually he comes to a city whose walls and bridges are crumbling. He’s told that this is the city of the water mages, the magicians who cast out the stone mages that built the beautiful city. After the mage war, the victorious water mages will only allow one stone mage in the town. He lives in a grand house and is treated with respect, but he is spied upon and mistrusted because if he ever brings his colleagues back into the city, the water mages fear that they’ll lose their ruling positions.

After meeting a friendly girl at the city’s well, Runnel follows her home and finds employment in the home... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/stonefather/ ( )

This is a very short book/novella that, evidently, sets up Card's next series. In some areas, the book is a little slow, as the characters are explaining some of the information we would need about this particular universe.

Here, there are mages which control different elements (water, stone, animals, etc.) and they're known as mithermages. This book deals with some political issues surrounding a city that once belonged to Stone mages but was taken over by water mages. Into their midst comes a boy who is (unknowingly) a stone-mage. This story feels more about the universe he inhabits than what really goes on, but if it is a set up, it's a pretty decent one.

I don't know if I'll continue in the series, but for someone reading the series, this book is probably pretty good. ( )