This was unbelievable. Molly felt light-headed and her stomach tightened as she tried to comprehend what was happening. Reality, everything she had learned in her life, seemed to be slipping away. This cannot be true, but there it was, right before her eyes. The statue was moving.
Stonechild by Kevin Albin combines a fiendishly imaginative fantasy plot with the modern age dilemmas like conservation and preservation of the planet resources.
It is an ordinary day at the Members' Lobby which features the statues of former Prime Ministers. People are milling around, chatting and gossiping, and touching the foot of the statue of Winston Churchill for good luck.
All of a sudden, the statue actually pulls his foot back. Churchill begins to move. He also smokes, drinks his favourite tipple and pontificates,
"When you erected this statue of me, I became aware of what was here and what was going on around me. I could see and hear things, understand things. I have been doing so, ever since."
After the initial shock, the Prime Minister seems to be listening attentively to what the statue of the great politician has to say.
"We have been amongst you for centuries," said Churchill. "Not in a physical sense, call us spirits, or an energy source, but something happens to the human soul when it is embodied as a statue or sculpture. It is as though it creates a connection, a link between two worlds. A higher, more informative and advanced world, and here. That link also opens up a telepathic communication...
"You're going to ask why I am here? There will be others like me. Other statues will come to life this morning, to help give you a message.
"The World is coming to an end," he said. "The balance of the natural world, of all things living, has tipped."
"You're going to ask why I am here? There will be others like me. Other statues will come to life this morning, to help give you a message.
"The World is coming to an end," he said. "The balance of the natural world, of all things living, has tipped."
Winston's statue is the first one to send the grim message to the citizens of London. Soon, the other London statues come to life. The unprecedented phenomenon sends shock waves across the world.
Molly Hargreaves lives in London with her parents and elder brother.
She had opted to stay behind with her brother; while Mum and Dad go off to South America as part of their work as conservationists.
Molly Hargreaves lives in London with her parents and elder brother.
She had opted to stay behind with her brother; while Mum and Dad go off to South America as part of their work as conservationists.
Molly is sceptical about the message the statues try to convey, she believes they have a hidden agenda. Why are the statues coming to life? And how to prove that things are not as they seem.
With her parents abroad and her rather irresponsible brother Charlie mostly absent, Molly turns to her parents' old friend.
"Gee-Gee, a long time friend, historian, traveller and an authority on all things weird. He got involved with some people, a sort of society who had some strange beliefs. In the end it cost him his job, his reputation..."
"Gee-Gee, a long time friend, historian, traveller and an authority on all things weird. He got involved with some people, a sort of society who had some strange beliefs. In the end it cost him his job, his reputation..."
Eccentric Gee-Gee wants to help Molly, but can she truly rely on him? He believes in conspiracy theories and secret societies, "Molly, think of all the books and films you've watched, where there's a secret society working behind the scenes. You might become part of it because it seems interesting, bu they want you to do certain things that you might disagree with. Whenever you try to get away from them, they always catch up with you. Whatever you do, whenever you go, the secret society is always one step behind".
Home-schooled Molly is smart but also precocious. Rather than stay away from the latest scary developments, she jumps into the very middle of things, believing in her abilities to find the clues to the mystery and, eventually, a solution. She is being chased, threatened, captured, imprisoned, and yet, she doesn't give up.
"And why was her life in danger? She was now certain of two things: the statues were up to no good, and she needed help to prove it"
The past has come to life to change the status quo between all living things, explains the statue of Mr Atlee.
Rather ominously, Churchill's statue shows his true side.
Rather ominously, Churchill's statue shows his true side.
"Do you think we have been dead since our deaths?" said Churchill. "We have been here amongst you for a very long time. We have accrued all your knowledge, developed it further and shared it with our collective thought".
"We do not want anyone to come to harm but we have to take control. We could do this forcefully, there are thousands of us in London alone. You cannot harm us. You cannot fight us. We shall not fail or falter".
"This planet wants to survive and we are serious about surviving with it. It's our time now, Prime Minister. The statues are taking over"
Even the statues of people who used to be saving lives during their own lifetime, have acquired sinister traits as the reawakened monuments.
Molly talks to the statue of Edith Cavell who explains,
"We have collective thought and experiences, and with all the centuries of knowledge, learning, understanding, we can achieve more"
"We have evolved and we can add to our numbers simply by building more statues... I am something new. We are the new species".
Among the statues, Molly finds an unexpected ally - Sherlock Holmes. "Of all the statues that had come to life, he was the odd one out. He had never lived. He was fictional, a creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. So how did that sit with the reincarnation everyone was talking about?"
Will Molly be able to warn people that things weren't right and prove it? Will everyone have to surrender to the statues? Is there a solution to save London?
Stonechild is a creative vigorous rollercoaster of a read. It is a totally absorbing tale.
Statues coming to life made me think of Night at the Museum, especially the third film in the series, where they go to the British Museum to see the amazing collection waking up from their thousands-years' old slumber. When my younger son and I visited the Ashmolean the last time, we walked around the Greek and Roman halls and imagined all the statues stirring from their pedestals.
Purchase Link:
A word puzzle for the readers of Stonechild and with a prize to be drawn on the 10th December, which is Human Rights Day.
Here is the link with all the details:
Author Bio – I served 25 years with the police in the UK, eight years of which were with a tactical firearms team. In 2002, I took a career change, and retrained as an International Mountain Leader working across the globe guiding on mountaineering trips and expeditions.
I have led many trips to the jungles of Borneo, my favourite destination, an enchanting place that has sadly seen much deforestation. My trips were based on education and conservation.
In 2011, I won the Bronze in the Wanderlust Magazine World Guide Awards for my work..
It was whilst working on a corporate training day in London, when I pictured a statue coming to life to give my clients the answer to the clue they were working on. The rest grew from there.
My hope is that my writing will continue to spread the word on conservation and protection of all species.
I live in France.
Social Media Links –
Facebook https://bit.ly/32TSbnL
Twitter https://twitter.com/KevAlbin
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sukahutan/
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-albin-628673182/
Website https://kevin-albin.com/kevin-albin/
This book review is part of the blog tour for Stonechild.
Many thanks to Kevin Albin and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!
No comments:
Post a Comment