Starship in the Stone

Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table they become part of so much fantasy literature. Starship in the Stone is a 10 book series that takes the story of Arthur and revamps it.  There is much about the series that I liked and some things that occasionally irked me.  But since I finished the entire series there was more that I liked than not! If you like science fiction and adventure, where good guys do all they can to defeat the bad guys, this is the story for you! 

The Basic Details for The Starship in the Stone

Series Title: The Starship in the Stone

1. Starship in the Stone
2. Here Be Dragons
3. Dread Reckoning
4. The Wastes
5. Dragon Rising
6. Primal Fate
7. Dark Wizard
8. The Price of Honor
9. Mad Queen
10. Dragon King

Author: M.R. Forbes
Publisher: Independently published
Pages: averaging 350 pages
Intended Audience: high-school, young adult, adult, 
Genre: science fiction, space opera, space fleet, space marine,  
Available formats: Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover, Audio
Read: Kindle

About the author and Series

M. R. Forbes has written a fair number of science fiction books.  He loves to read sci-fi books and has a love for the genre in every format he can find.  His goal is to entertain and surprise his audience.  You can learn more about his works at his website. 

The Starship in the Stone takes an unlikely hero, a bike messenger trying to escape a messy situation and lands him in a world unheard of.  It’s an twist on the Legend of Arthur.  You’ll find Merlin, a version of the Round Table.  Enemies that were once friends. Enemies that become friends, and heroes in unlikely spaces. In many ways it’s a coming of age tale. 

So What Did I think?

I enjoyed this series.  Normally science fiction books aren’t my thing, but the story drew me in.  An unlikely hero, a determined advisor, and an emergency situation, led to growth unimagined.   

There was a struggle with Merlin always calling Thomas “my boy”.  Like use his name!  Seriously.  His name is Thomas, call him that!  He’s a man, not a child.   And yes, Merlin is like an ancient being and in some ways I can conceive of him using the “my boy” moniker but it got a bit tiresome.  

I did like how not everything turned out perfectly.  People died, loved and cared for people. Ones that  I wanted to see make it to the end of the story.  Not all of them made it, which made the tale much more realistic and moving.

not always plausible

There were parts that seemed not quite plausible.  Would it really be possible for one starship to take on massive amounts of other starships and miraculously being able to avoid weapons fire? But that’s the nature of a story right?  Especially a story about a long-dead leader, embodied in a stone, with a high tech ship. Add to the mix an immortalized wizard transferred into technology (a computer) and you are bound to have things that seem a bit far-fetched.  All that said, I read through all the books eagerly!  🙂 

I wanted to know how Thomas was going to win the fight.  I wanted to know if Lancelot could be saved and if Morgana could be stopped.  Would Thomas and his lady friend become more than just friends? Could the round table be completed? 

Did I get the answers to all my questions?  NOPE.  But I did get many of them answered, and mostly to the good. Bad things happen, good things happen, and in the end… good prevails.   It’s just the way a good adventure story is supposed to! 

Starship in the Stone, an excellent space marine opera worth reading!