Table of Stone Swords of Charlemagne Book 4
Gaslamp Romance/Historical/Fantasy
Independently Published
September 21, 2021
287
Months have passed since Mystere left England in search of Joyeuse, leaving Douglas and Margaret behind, safe in behind ancient shields in a manor house in Sussex. Then Douglas is called away for an emergency, and disappears without a trace. A letter arrives, assuring Margaret that Douglas will be safe.
A letter from Caedda, one embedded with spells meant to kill.
Fearing for her husband, Margaret risks her own life and that of her child in a desperate attempt to summon Mystere, setting into motion a journey that will take them from Sussex to Aachen to the mountains of Austria, and to the long-hidden sword, Joyeuse.
With all four swords once more in the world, the secrets they’ve been hiding will finally be revealed.
Reviewed By Sherry Perkins
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
“The icy winds of late January screamed outside the shuttered windows, sounding very much the way that Charles imagined the lost souls of the damned must sound. He also imagined that he’d be finding out if he was right very soon.”—Table of Stone
I like Elizabeth Schechter’s books. They’re solid stories that can be read as standalones but are better appreciated as a series. The Schechter series I’d read first was the “Heir to the Firstborn” ones—novels filled with world building, its mythos, and the occasional bit of moral ambiguity.
The Swords of Charlemagne series, of which I’ve read volume 3 (“Ashes and Light”) and 4 (“Table of Stone”) are filled with more than the occasional bit of moral ambiguity but the world is a more familiar one and the mythos is as well—these are stories about the fallen ones, often called the Nephilim. But more than that, these are also enduring love stories.
To be honest, I read the books out of order, reading “Table of Stone” before “Ashes and Light.” It was fortunate though since I understood what was happening but was engrossed enough that I wanted to go back and read the preceding stories so I might fully understand the relationship between main characters, Margaret, and Douglas.
Suffice it to say, there is literally and figuratively a mystery of biblical proportions. There are magical swords, watchers, wardens, fallen angels and avenging ones. But the best part for me was realizing the very future of mankind is at stake, how that happened and whether Margaret and Douglas can defeat an old, formidable enemy.
It could be a confusing narrative at times—not because I’d read them out of order but because, without giving anything away, memories of things long forgotten by the characters was intrusive in book four and caused me to have to backtrack to figure out who was who and how the memory would, therefore, be crucial in the story. However, this wasn’t burdensome and it lended to figuring out the mystery.
A four-star rating about the fall from Grace, the quest for the swords of angels, and a love that transcends time.