Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Blood Stone by Jamila Gavin

The blood stone is a diamond that becomes part of a fabulous jewel. “The whole effect must be white …he surrounded the diamond with white stones : white jade, white sapphire, crystal, moonstones and pearls interspersed, to emphasise its whiteness with contrasting tiny rubies, amber and emeralds, as if remnants of rainbows were trapped within the white water of the diamond.”

The maker of this marvelous pendant is Geronimo. He is the father of Flippo but in an odd twist of fate this father and son have not met. Flippo was born eight months and thirteen days after his father left for Hindustan. So now you should be able to guess this will be a story involving a quest.

Elisabetta, Carlo, Giuseppe, Sofia and Gabriella along with their mother Teodora are now living under the tyrannical rule of Bernado Pagliarin. Greed and power are his motivations so when he discovers Teodora has this fabulous jewel called The Ocean of the Moon his true nature rises and he will stop at nothing to own it. Pagliarin is, however, not the only man who wants to posses this exquisite diamond and so the chase is on. Flippo journeys from Venice to India and Afghanistan. He is taking The Ocean of the Moon to pay a ransom so his father will be freed from prison but carrying a jewel of such value is far to dangerous so Carlo arranges to have it sewn into his skull!

If you want to read another book with a similar flavour look for The Thief Lord by Zizou Corder. 

I am reading books by the authors who will speak at the IBBY Congress in London. I have already talked about one other book by Jamila Gavin but I must say The Blood Stone is even better. I think I almost held my breath through the whole book feeling so anxious for Flippo and all the danger he faces. Jamila Gavin gives you such rich insights in to the smells, scenes and tastes of all the exotic places we journey to in this book.  The words on the front cover are so true this is "a fabulous epic novel".  I recommend you grab this one quickly you will not be disappointed.

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