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Reiffen's Choice | 
 enlarge | Author: S. C. Butler
Publisher: Tor Books
Category: EBooks
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $6.99
You Save: $7.01 (50%)
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 31845
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
ASIN: B0015UB10M
Publication Date: March 11, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Not until he came out of the trees did Reiffen realize this wasn-t a pasture like the ones back home. Halfway up the slope a circle of tall white stones rose ominously from the lush green of the grass, like the tips of some great and terrible claw buried deep beneath the meadow....
Reiffen, only twelve years old, is the true heir to the thrones of both Wayland and Banking. He and his friends Avender and Ferris live in a magical world of talking animals, dwarves, and shape-shifting bears but-he lives with the shame of knowing that no one will ever let him rule these kingdoms, that their crowns will bring him nothing but betrayal and sorrow-and that he is powerless. Reiffen will have only a short life of child-s innocence, a brief respite from the trial of impossible adult responsibility, the trial of attempting to finish a task he can never complete.
As he stepped between the slabs, he forced himself to look at the circle-.The stones were tall and white and unlike an
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Flat and cliched plot and characters August 16, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Reiffen's Choice by S.C. Butler is the first novel in The Stoneways Trilogy. It also marks Mr. Butler's first published novel. Admittedly I had never heard of Mr. Butler, nor this novel, until I was perusing the shelves of a bargain book store and found it. That is one of the great things about bargain bookstores; they give you the opportunity to take a chance on authors, and books, that you have never heard of before. Here are my thoughts on this novel.
The plot of this novel is riddled with cliches and overused plot devices. What seems like an interesting concept quickly deteriorates into plot lines that I have read in countless other novels. Things such as a boy being the `true' heir to the throne are just heaped in unimaginative plots in this book. It almost seems as though the author picked plot points from a variety of different fantasy books and combined them into a book. If the book was not so repetitive of other books it may have been a decent read, however, as it stands it fails to capture my imagination or hold my interest. Other plot points include talking animals that can shape change and seem to have the one answer that will solve every situation, to the loss of a friend only to find out that friend is still alive and well. One or two of these minor subplots being cliched and overused may have been okay, but this book just seems steeped in them.
The characters of this book are a mix of kids and adults with a few `exotic" characters mixed in. Characters such as Reiffen, Avender, Ferris, and Redburr are slightly interesting, but again the drawback of all the characters is that they are so predictable. I don't recall being surprised by any characters actions in this book. In fact I would even go so far as to say fans of the fantasy genre may be able to read the first one hundred pages or so of this book and know what will transpire for the characters throughout the book. The dialogue seems stiff and unimaginative. The characters say just enough to move the plot ahead without really focusing on character development. To me, the characters seemed flat and rather one-dimensional and mere card board cut outs of more interesting characters in other novels I have read.
Some criticisms about this novel:
1 - Too much description. There are several times throughout the book where Mr. Butler over describes things to the extent that the actual story becomes bogged down and sputters through the descriptiveness. While the adage of show don't tell holds true, sometimes show too much takes away from the story.
2 - The length of this novel. It is marketed as a young adult novel. However, at well over 400 pages and needless description it doesn't come across as such.
3 - The cliches and unimaginative plots and characters. When I read a book I am looking for something new and interesting. I got neither with this novel.
A positive about this novel:
1 - Mr. Butler's prose, with a little more honing, is good. It just seemed like he didn't trust his imagination instead using others as a crutch. Word choice, flow, and narrative were, for the most part solid. For a new author I was pleased with what I found.
In the end I simply was not satisfied with this novel. I wanted to like it, but the inconstancies, cliches, and repeated plot elements severely affects the novel. After finishing the book I was left with the feeling that Mr. Butler is a talented author and just needs to trust his own imagination instead of using plots from other author's novels. Maybe, fans who are just starting to get into the fantasy genre will appreciate this novel. However, when reading the cover blurb and seeing that it is being compared to Raymond Feist's Magician my expectations are naturally raised. This novel is no where nears Feist's work and it's a shame the publisher tried to place it up there. A may check in on Mr. Butler's later works, but my expectations will be much lower next time.
 A New Mythos December 18, 2007
Reiffen's Choice by S.C. Butler is the first book of the new young adult fantasy series, The Stoneways Trilogy.
In a world filled with so much wonder that the presence of talking animals, dwarves, and shape shifters seems mundane, twelve-year-olds Reiffen, Avender, and Ferris desire the good-natured fun of young people everywhere--sneaking extra candy, visiting friends, and complaining about school--all the while enjoying a safe home among adults who love them so that mortal dangers remain the stuff of myth.
When Reiffen, the heir to a great throne, is kidnapped, Avender and Ferris must put away the comfort and security of home in order to rescue him. But they are running out of time. Will Reiffen succumb to the temptation of wielding the power of magic--a power so great that his soul and self will be forfeit and death and destruction will follow in his wake?
Mr. Butler wields the power of words like a delicate knife. I was entranced by the first paragraph of his book.
One warm spring day in Valing, a large, fat bear sunned himself on the gray stone of the Neck. His russet coat gleamed, sleek as a nokken's: the long mountain winter didn't seem to have bothered him at all. Half-asleep or half-awake, he lay comfortably between the orchard and the top of the cliff, where the scent of the apple blossoms was almost as lovely as the hum of the bees. Behind him the lake glistened a deep and sparkling blue. Except for a long plume of spray from the falls to the west, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
Valing? The Neck? Nokkens? Three unknown things in the first paragraph and I didn't care--the charm of the description carried me along.
Mr. Butler has written an innovative creation mythos to anchor his story, much the way J.R.R. Tolkein created a founding mythos to secure his world in The Lord of the Rings. While I could find logical nitpicks because of my technical background (training that I rue at times), in general, I found his mythos enchanting.
Though the character development of Reiffen, Avender, and Ferris fell flat at times because of a wandering viewpoint, Mr. Butler told their stories with an empathy and affection that drew me throughout the book, and, at the end, I knew that I would purchase (and have done so) the sequel--Queen Ferris.
Great start with a twist at the end = 4.5 Stars November 22, 2007
Reiffen is the heir to both the thrones of Banking and Wayland, but b/c his parents' marriage was not officially recognized his uncle is king. Living in exile Reiffen is treated much like the other children living in the isolated community of Valing. Life is good at the Manor with this mother and his friends Avender and Ferris, until Reiffen is kidnapped by three evil Wizards who want to use him in their plans to spread chaos among the kingdoms of the world. Reiffen is thrust into a world where nothing is as it seems and choices are not what they seem. Meanwhile, his friends, with the help of Redburr the Shaper and Nolo the Dwarf, won't stand by to let him rot in the Wizards' dungeon.
Reiffen's choice is the rare bit of young adult fiction that not only spins a great yarn, but also takes us into fantastic situations that make us think about what happens when our deepest held convictions are tested to their limits. It is well written, fast paced, with memorable characters, and a twist you won't see coming. Very enjoyable for all ages.
 renewed my sense of wonder June 2, 2007
As a fantasy writer myself, I often have trouble really getting engaged with someone else's work. It's hard to turn off the internal editor and just discover a new world, but this book did it for me.
It begins right away in a well-realized world, full of believable characters. The plot turns are startling and delightful to follow. For me, it's the voyage through the Stoneways that made the book take flight. Butler let me see things I'd never imagined. It reminded me of reading Tolkein for the first time, because my eyes were opened, my senses alert to the fascinating world around me.
My only complaint, in fact, is that Butler's Brydden are so intriguing as a people, and so different from the stereo-typical "dwarf" of fantasy, that I wish he had used his own terminology exclusively, in the way that he invented other perfect words for the things they made. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book.
HAVE IMAGINATION?...GET THIS BOOK! February 15, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Fantasy fiction is not my usual choice in a novel. However, my daughter encouraged me (actually she challenged me) to read at least a bit of Reiffen's Choice, which she insisted was an outstanding example of this genre. What a great read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am delighted that there will be two more. Is the book targeted to 'young' readers? Perhaps. But as an 'old' reader I'm convinced that anyone, of any age, who has a modicum of imagination will be fascinated by the world and the characters the author has created.
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