Product Description

The third book in the Ea Cycle, BLACK JADE is as rich as Tolkien and as magical as the Arthurian myths Valashu Elahad rescued the Lightstone from the dark hell of the enemy's own city, only to have his triumph overturned. Once more the Lord of Lies has the sacred gem in his possession and its power is invincible. Val burns with shame. Treachery surrounds him. His only hope is the Black Jade that lies buried in the heart of a cursed and blighted forest, forgotten since the War of the Stone. Through this, the greatest black gelstei ever created, Val will seek to understand the darkness inside himself so that he can use evil to fight evil. If he does not, the world will fall into final corruption as the Dark Universe of the Lord of Lies. In either case, evil prevails. But Val must risk everything, even his soul. The stakes are too high for anything less. Val is the Guardian of the Lightstone until a new master is made known, that person who will rightfully wield its power. Should Val find the sacred gem and take it for himself, he will become a new Red Dragon, only mightier and more terrible than the Lord of Lies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #355807 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 800 pages

Review
'Every so often a novel comes along that threatens to redefine its genre. The Lightstone is such a novel ! Zindell re-imagines the epic on a grand scale ! The Lightstone shines brightly ' DREAMWATCH 'David Zindell's words are like magic, which manage to capture the tiniest nuances of his landscapes and characters and bring them to life ! If you want something that will make you think, that touches on elements of spirituality and philosophy and the fine lines between good and evil then The Lightstone is a winner' WHSMITH.CO.UK Praise for Neverness: 'Zindell makes you think' New Scientist 'Philip K. Dick would have been proud to conjure up such philiosophies' Manchester Evening News 'A thick, lush, vivid, panoramic view of evolved humans in an evolving universe far in the future' Twilight Zone 'Neverness streaked across the firmament as one of the great romantic epics of modern sf! in The Broken God Zindell's combination of adventure, metaphysics, and intellectual debate works marvellously, leaving you ready for more.' Locus 'The ideas are hard sf with philosophical undertones, and the story is compelling. Zindell makes you think' New Scientist on The Wild

About the Author
David Zindell's short story Shanidar was a prize-winning entry in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest. He was nominated for the 'best new writer' Hugo Award in 1986. Gene Wolfe declared Zindell as 'one of the finest talents to appear since Kim Stanley Robinson and William Gibson -- perhaps the finest.' His first novel, Neverness, was published to great acclaim.

Customer Reviews

Epic "fat" fantasy with depth and passion
No other science fiction/fantasy writer reaches the heights of Zindell; he is, at times--and often--sublime, poetic, visionary, passionate, contemplative, ecstatic, humorous, sorrowful, offering the entire gamut of human experience (which is rare, as most fiction writers stay firmly entrenched within the realm of personal emotion and thought...Zindell offers us the trans-personal).

A common viewpoint among his long-time fans is that his science fiction work (beginning with Neverness and continuing with the Requiem for Homo Sapiens trilogy) was better than the three-book and counting Ea Cycle (The Lightstone, Lord of Lies, and the current book). I tend to agree, but it may be because it was our first journey with Zindell and most of us were simply blown away. Perhaps now we expect too much of him. But it may also be something else: there is a stronger sense of immediacy within his earlier works, as if the author himself was going through the same process of transformation that his protagonists were, he sharing his own journey, yet in the mythic-symbolic form of Story. Perhaps in the Ea Cycle, he is telling a tale from a mountain cave, a journey that he once took, yet now sits comfortably within his Sacred Space, ushering forth and weaving tales of power and passion from the Primal Void, yet at the same time as he embraces and loves his characters and their world, he is also somewhat detached, as if he is more at peace with the currents of the River, yet willing to embrace them as appearances of himSelf.

I read through Black Jade quickly. Zindell is at his best when he is explicating his exquisitely archetypal cosmology or utilizing his deep understanding of psycho-spirituality to guide his characters through their inner and outer trials. Occasionally I did get the sense that he was filling pages, drawing scenes out too long, perhaps mimicking the new tradition of fat fantasies; yet I do not think that he will succumb to "Jordanitis"--his stories will always take us deeper, even if he fills them out with what the market asks of him.

There are equal or better stylists and humanists out there, and writers whose pure fantastical ideas are on par with Zindell's, yet in terms of his depth of awareness and understanding of reality, there is no other sci-fi/fantasy writer out there that compares. Zindell is pointing to That which is beyond what we know, yet also ever-present within everything, that gives life to our very breath and blood and minds and hearts. In other words, what is perhaps most poignant about Zindell's work is the author himself, and the sensitivity of being that infuses every word.

I cannot recommend him enough.

Is Elahad A Black-Hearted Villian?
The author of the fabled " Neverness " has returned once again with a compelling fantasy epic. A sacred gem named The Lightstone, is salvaged by the lead character Valashu Elahad, from the evil hands of his sworn enemy, the Lord Of The Lies, only that his celebration begins to wane. Elahad has the hallowed gem viciously wrenched from his grasp by the Lord. Elahad then feels humiliated, but believes dishonesty will pave the way for the discovery of the Black Jade. Overflowed with emotion, he takes through an astonishing high-risk voyage, while gradually delevoping an unholy persona. But with his path strewn with barriers, he is sent plummeting into the dank and dark world of demons, hoping to be the saviour who prevents the world being lured into extremism. Should he fail, or even find the sacred gem for himself, the world will almost certainly be veered into a world of corruption.

Black Jade
Whew! What a relief. Just when I thought that he was running out of ideas after 'Lord Of Lies', Zindell comes out with the second 'middle' book of the series. And it's a ripper!
Without delving into the plot, Zindell has reinvigorated this great series with 'Black Jade' and instead of it drying up after LOL, he's brought enough new and wonderful story to make the next installment (Concluding volume?) a whopping big finish.
His writing style and characterization is the best I've read so far from Zindell. He really gets into the story and you can tell that he's having a damn good time writing it. And it's big too. Over 700 pages HC, not 448 that Amazon have stated.
I was a little bit chagrined with the length of LOL, and was ready to call it quits when it seemed like 'Black Jade' was going to be even shorter. But, not so. Not as big as 'The Lightstone' but still nice and chunky.
If you've been biting your finger nails in anticipation with this book, I guarantee you wont be disappointed. But don't hold me to that.
Enjoy