Silver Tongue, by Charlie Fletcher

July 2009, Hodder Children's Books (Division of Hachette Children's Books)
400 pages. Paperback
Review copy

Children's, 9+, fantasy

Cushions: 5/5
Daggers: 2/5
Tissues: 4/5
Smiles: 3/5
Yunaleska's recommended rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

I do my best not to mention the rivals of books, films. However, Night at the Museum (2007) and Read or Die the TV series (anime possibly 2005 (version I've got) were the reason I was able to slot into the final installment of the Stoneheart trilogy. Without it, I may have been thinking 'statues coming to life? Interesting concept..' Thanks to those and a few other books, I didn't blink at the idea that statues (called spits) are alive, the concept was fun from the first sentence. That there are no humans in unLondon (like our world, but not). That the streets in unLondon are crawling with spits.

The map at the beginning was great for seeing where all the main statues were located in the story. Only I was too engrossed in the story to ever refer back to it :)

Charlie Fletcher, thankfully, provided a preliminary chapter titled 'The Story So Far'. It summarises books 1 and 2 up, meaning that I could jump in and understand what was going on straight away. I gathered from a lot of incidents I have missed out a lot of character growth in Charlie and Edie, the main protragonists, but I could sense their achievements and failures as they happened.

In Silvertongue, George needs to fight a third battle to get out of the contract he took up The Dark Knight. If he doesn't fight that battle, the stone which started off as a small lump on his arm will grow until it reaches his heart and kills him. Much of the book, when following George, involves the uphill struggle of locating the mysterious opponent. He has clues - but Sphinxes aren't known for giving straight forward answers.

It's also a little tricky to concentrate in the final moments when battle wages around him, when he loses Edie and has to almost sacrifice her life to save the world. For, unless he does something, time will never be returned to normal and (if I've got this right, I'm writing this at the end of the day) the normal world won't resume. George is a maker, a useful talent of creating something from metal or stone. It has served him well in the previous books, and he uses the skill in the many fights of this third book.

Edie is fully aware of the greater battle which she and George are journeying towards. However, as a glint (a female who can see past images from stones), she wishes to find her mother. Because her heartstone - without spoiling details a very precious item - shows her mother is alive. Otherwise the light wouldn't be bright. She experiences dreams, and somehow gains the companionship of a very special raven. She doesn't particularly believe Boadicea (the warrior queen and a spit) when she explains who the raven is. Edie is definitely stubborn minded! I loved her near stand-down with Boadicea.

So off Edie goes to find her mother. She travels through mirrors with the raven back to the past. It's a past where the Walker, the root of all evil in this story, was present in her mother's life. Edie believed her mother abandoned her. Thanks to the raven, she discovers that wasn't true.

My heart twisted over at the revelations Edie goes through about her family and background. Watching the past unravel, being unable to do anything to influence it sounds horrid. But she has a strong heart and makes it through to the end in tact. And discovers a new talent, something that hadn't been possible before. The emotional turmoil Edie and George go through is an accurate reflection of what most us face in life.

I was surprised that both Edie and George made it to the end of the book without dying. So many times I thought it was the end for them, my fingers nearly trembled as I turned over the page. I enjoyed the end because it wasn't perfect. Edie and George have a connection which could prove problematic in the future, should their tiny relationship grow any more. Although they both resolved major issues through the story, they still have personal issues they'll need to address. George will never be whole again. Edie can't have what her heart desired. But they are content with what they have.

There is a lot to take in in this book, lots of terms and concepts. Hopefully most readers will read the previous two books, Stone Heart and Iron Hand, which will solve the issue of trying to figure out who is who, what all the skills are etc. The summary helped a lot, but understandably I spent a good while trying to grasp everything. This book is packed with storylines - not just Edie's and George's.

Occasionally in the text I got a little confused because the point of view would switch from focusing on George/Edie and pan out to include another's thoughts. This is a personal preference though - I like having the information, I just prefer to follow one character at a time.

Aside from this, I adored this book. A world full of living statues is scary - especially when they are large dragons that breathe fire which can kill. The world Charlie Fletcher has created comes from a brilliant imagination (as do all good books).

I'll end with my favourite quote from the end (page 388)

• Just because the world likes balance doesn't mean the weights and counterweights are always good ones.

9780340911679
Buy from Amazon.uk and Amazon.com
Buy from Borders.uk and Borders.com