Rating: 
Summary: Action, Intrigue, Romance...what more could a girl want?
Review: A beautifully evocative tale of the evolution of one man's maturity, power and love.Filled to bursting with strong characters (I even found myself *liking* the antagonists, or at least respecting them), this novel paints a portrait of a young man who learns to love in spite of the cold unfeeling treatment given to him by his mother. Oh, and along the way there are battles, blood, gore and a bit of hot monkey sex, but I digress... No, this is not your grandmother's fantasy/romance novel (there be male/male love in this here book), but for some of us, it is just *perfect*. Kudos, Ms. Patton.
Rating: 
Summary: Promising.... but fell short
Review: After reading reviews on this board I bought this book with high hopes. But after the first initial chapters I became very disappointed. The Stone Prince borrows a bit too much from history for my tastes. I know that this is standard in fantasy writing. The story is far too simplistic and predictable. But it seemed that all the author did was lift directly from British History, change a few names, add some dragons and some magic and presto that's her story! Furthermore there are way too many characters and they are not finely developed frankly after the first few chapters you just don't care. As for the egalitarian society first I was really disappointed first there is the gay relationship. I was looking for a more committed relationship between the two men. Instead what I got was the companion being the stereotypical gay male who can't keep it in his pants and has to get intimate with everything that breaths, he constantly cheats on his lover. Infidelity is not love! If she wanted to show them as loving she should have made them faithful to each other. Demnor relationship with his companion seemed to be lifted directly out of Edward II. She also does not help her purpose when two female characters say to a gay character "If you were even half a man I would bed you". Still adhering to the insult that gay men are not real men. At first I thought that Patton was aiming for showing gays or gay relationships as just as equal and valid as heterosexual ones. But after awhile I came to the conclusion that this was just a heterosexual woman writing out her "two men together" fantasy. And like one reviewer said she spends most of her time focusing on the gay romance. Instead of building up other rich characters who are in the story. The strong women were great, it was nice to see them in a leadership role. Unfortunately the author did not spend much time developing the female characters, something I felt she should have done since many had much potential. This book is a pale in comparison to George Martin's "A Game of Thrones" (which believe it or not blew my mind). My suggestions to readers if you've read Martin's "A Game of Thrones or you're looking for a fast paced intricate plot skip the Stone Prince. If on the other hand if you are looking for a gay romance set in a medieval/fantasy setting you'll enjoy the Stone Prince.
Rating: 
Summary: Great twist on classic fantasy characters
Review: Although the exclusion of gender specific titles can be a bit confusing at first, this is a book worth sticking with. Open your mind, buy this book, read it, and love it
Rating:
Summary: The Fantasy Version of Henry IV Play
Review: As I read this book something kept nagging at my brain, why was this story SO familiar? Not until a few days later it hit me! This story is nothing but a re-telling of the Henry V story! With Prince Demaron being Henry. His lover being a combination of Falstaff and Muron. Mellessandra, Demaron's mother, being the female version of Henry IV who despises her son for his weakness;in favour of the second child. Just like Henry IV did. There's a mix of the usual fantasy stuff (magic, monsters). But the story is undeniably the story of King Hal or Henry V of England. If you aren't familiar with the history or the Shakesperean play (Henry IV) you might enjoy this book. But if you have you may be sorely put off by the authors total un-originality. If you are looking for a good book on the life of Henry V. Pick up "Good King Harry".
Rating:
Summary: Excellent story. Well written, with engaging characters.
Review: Extremely well written, with engaging characters and a rich and complex society, although the setting is clearly based on England. The addition of magic running in the royal blood is reminscent of Kathryn Kurtz' Dernyi books. There is also a tantalizing hint of alternate reality wishfulness in the ultimate disposition of Heathland. I am extremely eager to read her next book and highly recommend this one to anyone, and especially to those who like Kathryn Kurtz or George R.R. Martin's latest book, _Game of Thrones_.
Rating:
Summary: 3.5
Review: Grueling in names. Boring in details. Like Robert Jordan, only where Robert Jordan's details serve to add texture and taste to his books, Patton's Stone Prince's details are there just because. Harsh, but I've read this book, I own it, and I sold it to get rid of the thing. I don't suggest buying it. Read chunks of it first, before trying to buy--you might just change your mind. The cover's beatiful, yes, but the book itself isn't really that great. Try Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series if you want something with half a plot. If you're up for fast pace high-action, slight sarcasm, try the first few books of Anita Blake by Laurell K. Hamilton. The last few books are kinda so-so. Anita Blake is current times. If you're still trying to find "back then"-ish, stick with Jordan, or try Luck in the Shadows book one. Warning though, books two and three of that series contains weird situations. Homosexuality, to be specific. The first book's good. The rest are good if you're broad-minded. If you feel queasy around that, though, I don't recommend the second or third books in the Luck in the Shadows (Nightrunner series) group.
Rating: 
Summary: One person's opinion: YUCK.
Review: I found the book overwhelmed by forced creativity, political correctness and author intrusion. At best her characters bored me and at worst they offended me. Ms. Patton appears to be a competent enough writer but her tale is clearly intended for a different audience other than me. My recommendation is if you're tempted to pick up this book read LeGuinn's The Left Hand of Darkness instead.
Rating:
Summary: Weak story line
Review: I like ALL fantasy books, I've read tens of them, but this one...I haven't finished it. At a certain point I realized that the story did not appeal to me anymore, and I was not curious to know how it would end. So I put the book down (a year ago) and I haven't yet taken it up. Well, I think that the story's weakness is the most serious fault in a fantasy book.
David Eddings' characters are one-dimensional and stereotyped, but at least his story has a grip on you. Better if you choose something else by Lynn Flewelling, Robert Jordan, George Martin, Ann Bishop, C.S. Friedman, Terry Brooks...
Rating: 
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: I should have stopped in the middle really. Maybe I was hoping too much that Patton's characters would start making an impression on me eventually but they didn't. In this world, all men and women are created equal. Women are fighters, earls, and princes' and can do anything that a man can. In this world, every royal person gets a Companion, who are trained to be assassins, bedmates, spies and are used to keep track of politics within the castle walls. The story introduces his companion, Kelahnus, a very pretty, fair and smart man, and you'd think that it'd be a simple love story, but it's not. I liked Kelahnus at first because he seemed to be the only person in the book with a personality. But towards the middle of the book, I began to get seriously disappointed because Kelahnus fails as a Companion (in my opinion anyhow). He's trained as an assassin, yet he gets queasy and squeamish during a fight. He hides behind a statue as a woman kicks the bad guy's ass. Hell, he only gets a chance to fight twice in the book and he flakes in both of them. He hides in one battle, and gets his ass kicked by a girl in the other. Just how the heck did he graduate the top of his class in the Companion's Guild? Surely he learned more than just to warm Demnor's bed at night. I read the book all the way to the end hoping that Patton would give Kelahnus a chance to redeem himself as a man, but he doesn't... I couldn't believe myself as I read the book and thought, "Forget this Kelahnus guy, Demnor. Just go with the finacee 'cause at least SHE can fight and protect you back in a battle." Which is really sad because the only reason why I picked this book was because it had a gay theme in it ^^;; The writing style is very simplistic, that is, I've seen fiction written online that was better than this. The writing style is very... cheesy. You can see every romantic cliche in this one and it's so predicatable. A lot of sections seemed very uncessecary. I actually skipped paragraphs while reading because it was so dull. The writer switches around from Denmor's place to the enemy's place to write about them plotting, and then you get to read about the Companion's Guild talking and plotting as well, and you're just all over the place with this book and I personally don't like switching points of views because I would rather have just concentrated on Demnor or Kelahnus. It was really hard for me to find things I liked about this book except for a few scenes between Demnor and Kelahnus.
Rating:
Summary: A waste of time
Review: If you like brainless and uninspired fantasy fiction, then this is the book for you. Fiona Patton obviously spent more time thinking up pretty names and lengthy titles for the characters in her story than she did working on interesting narrative and characterization. I found myself stopping every few paragraphs to laugh at the predicatable devices and cheesy, purple language she constantly uses in her writing. If she could work more on creating interesting dialogue instead of filling space with endless descriptions of every characters' hair color, eye color, and every stupid thing they happen to be wearing she might get a clue. I have no problems with the potrayal of homosexual relationships in literature or any other media, in fact I was looking for stories with same-sex relationships figured prominently when I bought this. But The Stone Prince beats you over the head with its "liberal, open-mindedness". "Homosexuality is good. Homophobia is bad. Women and men should be equals." Its not a story, its a lesson in political correctness. And I haven't even gotten to the abominable Mary Sue. Excuse me, make that a double Mary Sue. The characters Isolde and her Companion Tania really make me wonder if the "Tanya" Ms. Patton has dedicated the book to is her girlfriend. Astonishingly beautiful, strong and wise these two made me want to puke, as did so many other characters. Why was I not surprised when each of the two characters has some kind of intimate relationship with the two lead male characters? It was like a flashback to my early fanfic days when I didn't know just how cliched that plot is. And the ending. Gag! What a hokey, sappy piece of self-satisfying garbage that was. Reminded me of some four dollar romance novels I read back in the seventh grade. My advice, skip it. Then again, an amazing number of people think this sort of thing is really good.
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