The Memory of Stone
4/5
()
About this ebook
Novella of 21k words.
The Guild of Makers has long been the most powerful guild in the Empire. Gilafas ADelios, the man who rules it, is therefore one of the most powerful men in the land.
But he has never been confident in his ability as an Artisan, and he is unprepared for the newest entrant into the Guild of Makers — a young girl from the Free Towns whose is so profoundly talented she may rival the legendary ability of the guild’s founder.
On the eve of the failure of the two great artifacts given the Kings centuries past, the fate of the Empire rests on the shoulders of an uncertain man and a girl who can hear the voice of the stone in the tower of Artisans—if they survive.
This story takes place in Averalaan, in the Empire of Essalieyan, the universe of Michelle West’s novels.
Read more from Michelle West
The Black Ospreys Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Echoes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warlord Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Weapon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Huntbrother Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flight Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Law of Man Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Turn of the Card Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Choice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Memory of Stone
Related ebooks
Echoes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Weapon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flight Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Black Ospreys Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gifted Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Huntbrother Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Choice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWarlord Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadow of the Winter King: World of Ruin, #1 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Guardians of the Keep Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Peaks of Autumn: Book of Never #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCast In Deception Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rise of the Alliance III: The Hunters and the Hunted Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Soul Weaver Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Daughter of Ancients Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTime of Daughters II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSartor Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rise of the Alliance IV: Nightside of the Sun Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSapphire's Flight: Legacy of the Lost Mage, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElsewhere Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Turn of the Card Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Realms of Light Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ossard Series (Books 1-3): The Ossard Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From Every Storm: Adventures in the Liaden Universe®, #35 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFreedom, Spiced and Drunk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Terec and the Wall: Terec of Lund, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChildren of Jade Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Swan's Braid: And Other Tales of Terizan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadow of a Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Straits of Galahesh: The Lays of Anuskaya, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Fantasy For You
This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tress of the Emerald Sea: Secret Projects, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray (The Original 1890 Uncensored Edition + The Expanded and Revised 1891 Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Pirate Lord: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Talisman: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Immortal Longings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Desert: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don Quixote: [Complete & Illustrated] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Empire: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Underworld: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Empire of the Vampire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes of the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Magic: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dandelion Wine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wizard's First Rule Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Memory of Stone
3 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Memory of Stone - Michelle West
The Memory of Stone
by Michelle West
Rosdan Press, 2011
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
SMASHWORDS EDITION: 978-1-927094-11-2
Copyright 2011 by Michelle Sagara
All rights reserved
Cover design by Anneli West.
Four Corners Communication
The Memory of Stone
Copyright May 2002 by Michelle Sagara, first appeared in The 30th Anniversary DAW Fantasy Anthology ed. Elizabeth R. Wollheim and Sheila E. Glibert.
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
Novels by Michelle West
The Sacred Hunt
Hunter's Oath
Hunter's Death
The Sun Sword
The Broken Crown
The Uncrowned King
The Shining Court
The Sea of Sorrows
The Riven Shield
The Sun Sword
The House War
The Hidden City
City of Night
House Name
Skirmish*
War*
*Forthcoming in 2012 and 2013
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Memory of Stone
Other Stories by the Author
Introduction
I am very fond of this story.
I am often fond of certain stories. I have never, however, been any capable judge of how those stories will work for readers. The stories I’ve often loved best work the least well, although this isn’t always the case. I learned early on not to second guess my readers; instead, I focus on the story and the characters and hope that when the story is finished, it will speak to others as strongly as it spoke to me.
Sometimes it does. This one seemed to. But if you asked me why this one worked better than any of the others I’ve written, I honestly couldn’t tell you.
This was written for a 30th anniversary celebration—in this case, my publisher’s. DAW put out one fantasy anthology and one SF anthology; I was invited to write for the fantasy book because that’s what I write for DAW. When I received the invitation, I called my editor and said, "Do you really mean six thousand words maximum?"
Yes. We’ve got a lot of authors.
Oh. Ummm. If you want a story that isn’t connected to my novels, I can probably write one that length.
This is, by the way, completely unfounded optimism on my part. Luckily, I have an editor who understands my writing very, very well. But if you want a story connected to the novels, I don’t have a hope in hell of writing one that comes in at less than ten thousand words because I’ve never managed to do it before.
She preferred a story that had some connection to the published novels, and it seemed more fitting to me that I write one connected to that universe, so we agreed on ten thousand words. Which, as it turned out, was also unfortunately unfounded optimism.
But I thought I would have a chance of writing something that length if I chose to write about characters who never appeared directly in the novels, with small cameos by characters who did—and I had always wanted to write a story about the Guild of Makers, and in particular, the Artisans—the half-mad makers who weave magic into all of their work the way painters in this one use color.
So I started the story.
But it had two viewpoints. At about fourteen thousand words—with a story that wasn’t finished—I phoned Kate Elliott. I asked her how long her story was, because both she and I tend to think structurally, and not in terms of length, and hers was shorter than mine. Being the only person to muff the given length limits so badly didn’t have a lot of appeal. Oddly enough, my pleas for Kate Elliott to write a longer piece fell on deaf, if amused, ears, and I continued to write. I decided that I would cut it to pieces once I’d finished, because at that point I would know the shape of the story, and I could more easily pick out the unnecessary elements.
At length (no pun intended), I decided that the only way to bring the story in at its agreed on length was to cut one of two viewpoints. So I sent it to my editor. She read it and liked it a lot, and I told her that I couldn’t bring it in at ten thousand words unless I lost one of the two viewpoints; she said, but it would be half the story in every possible way.
And I said, That’s what I thought, too.
So she generously let it stand.
The Memory of Stone
THE GUILDMASTER commonly acknowledged by The Ten Houses to be the most powerful man in Averalaan stood in front of the long window by which he might survey the eastern half of Averalaan Aramarelas. He had no throne, no place in the Hall of Wise Counsel, no direct route to the ears of the Kings, the two men who ruled the breadth of the Empire of Essalieyan. But money counted for much in the Empire; what The Ten owned in the political realm, he rivalled by the simple expedient of wealth.
He was not a young man, nor a particularly tall one, and his hair, on those days when he had no onerous public duties, fell in a white plume down the back of his head.
On this particular day, it was a solid braid.
He glanced out of the window, his eyes skimming the surface of the ocean beyond the seawall. Light sparkled there, in a pattern the makers of the east tower were doubtless attempting to capture. It reached his eyes, but no more; he looked away.
The ocean’s voice was strong. The strongest of the voices that he heard.
Master Gilafas.
Certainly the most welcome.
Gilafas was an Artisan. But in truth, he was only barely that; the weakest, the most insignificant of the Artisans the guild had produced in centuries. It galled him when he thought on it, and he was a maker: he could dwell upon any fact, without pause to eat or drink—or sleep, for that matter—for a full three days.
The man who had spoken knew it.
But he was called The Lord