The Stone and the Maiden

David E. Kemp, a former drama professor at Queen’s University, is the
author of The Pleasures and Treasures of the United Kingdom.

Dennis Jones makes an auspicious debut with a book that has all the
elements of epic fantasy. It is a tale of two lovers—Mandine Dascaris,
heiress to the throne of the Ascendancy, and the young soldier Key
MecBrander, an outlander from the lands of Elthame—who must overcome
seemingly insurmountable odds to unlock the secret of the Signata and
defeat the greatest threat this world has ever known.

The Signata is an enigma—it is the place that contains all place, the
moment that contains all moments. The ancient and merciless evil the
princess and the soldier must vanquish is Erkai, master of the Black
Craft, who believes he has found a way to revive the force known as Deep
Magic. With little more than their love for each other to sustain them,
the young lovers desperately search for the Signata in the hope that it
can save the lands of the Ascendancy from unspeakable evil.

The Stone and the Maiden is a splendid and stirring read, one that pits
good against relentless evil and makes no guarantees that the former
will ultimately triumph.