STONE: Rhone and Stone Series, Book One by Strider S.R. Klusman – Y/A Steampunk, Science Fiction First Contact, Y/A Western

Award-winning author, Strider S. R. Klusman’s Stone: Rhone and Stone Series, Book One is set in the high desert outside of the dusty town of Skragmoore.

With all the trappings of a western, he draws us into the Badlands and takes us on a merry and hair rising journey through lake strewn caves and the dusty little town of Skragmoore. This YA adventure will have readers riveted in place to find out what happens next.

Rhone has survived alone in the wilderness since his mother’s death, but he has learned to thrive and spends more and more time out of doors under the open sky than at home in his old, dilapidated house. So, when he hears a voice, and no one else is there, he is confused to say the least. Where is the voice coming from and why won’t it shut up?

Rhone has been carrying the stone in his pouch for several years.

The most beautiful stone he’s ever seen, it is his prized possession and now it’s talking? Yet, somehow he is calmed by the voice and develops a sense of well being as it speaks. Soon Rhone is talking back and finds the stone’s intelligent conversation philosophical and instructive. His new friend educates him about how a lump of mineral can communicate with a human and where it came from.

As part of a meteor that struck earth in the distant past, Stone’s story unfolds with the skill wielded only by Klusman’s master storytelling. Stone’s mission is to find more of his kind, the “We,” and Rhone pledges his services to help and his undying friendship.

Meanwhile in the dusty town of Skragmoore, we meet Commissioner Dodge.

A heavy-handed boss who drives his men with a clenched fist ready to strike. Dodge is planning his escape from the dying town, and when news reaches him of a beautiful stone that flashes blinding light, he knows it must be an artifact, and his dream of escape grows closer than he imagined. Thus begins the misadventure, and Rhone soon loses stone to Dodge’s men.

Rhone will never give up on Stone, though.

The bond they forged in the short time they were together is too strong for him to ignore, and Rhone won’t let his friend suffer at the hands of Dodge, who only wants to use Stone for his own gain. Rhone understands fully the Dodge will treat Stone as an object, not the sensitive, sentient being he is. Rhone uses the lessons that Stone instilled in him to memorize a route out of the maze of the badlands and rescue Stone.

The Counsel has Dodge on their radar as a person of interest for poorly overseeing his commission, and they have also been informed of Stone. Agents Aundrea and Bran arrive in the Badlands in search of this stone and the boy who found it.

Klusman’s fast-paced novel keeps readers turning pages to learn the fate of Rhone and Stone.

Rhone becomes the unlikely hero who will do anything to help his friend and unwittingly exposes Dodge whose ruthless and cold-hearted nature lose him any friend he ever had. Part fantasy, part western, part YA, part adventure/thriller, Klusman’s novel melds genres seamlessly to give us a riveting and rollicking story of friendship, trust, and adventure. This five-star read will keep readers entertained and wanting more! And they are in luck because Book II in the Rhone and Stone series carries on the adventure.