Product Description

A magical menace is on the loose . . . forcing Alexa to take to the seas and save a secret community located in a strange land known as the Five Stone Pillars.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67846 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

About the Author
Patrick Carman makes his home in the wilderness of eastern Washington and insists that it is a rather ordinary home and is not, in fact, surrounded by stone walls. He divides his time between writing, public speaking, spending time with his wife and two daughters, reading, fly fishing, para-gliding, and snowboarding. Before writing his first novel, Carman helped to create board games, websites, a mentoring program, and a radio music show.

Customer Reviews

One if by land, two if by sea
"Suspended under a twilight canopy
We'll search the clouds for a star to guide us"
(The Fifth Dimension - Up, Up and Away")

NOW we're talking!

The fifth book in the Land of Elyon series is by far the best with regards to plot, adventure and characterization. It's also steeped in religious imagery, as the young heroine receives inspiration and guidance from Elyon (Good) while being taunted and hunted by Abaddon (Evil). From this point of view, "Stargazer" reminds me of the last book of the Narnia series, The Last Battle.

In The Dark Hills Divide, young Alexa Daley's adventurous spirit refuses to allow her to remain within the confines of her walled village, and she sneaks out into the wild and magical world outside the walls.

In Beyond The Valley Of Thorns, her adventures take her away from home and into the Land of Elyon, where she makes friends with a giant, and battles an evil villain and an army of ogres.

Tenth City ends the first trilogy and reveals major secrets about Alexa's heritage. It also contains an epic battle, where (naturally) good triumphs over evil, but Abaddon lives to fight another day in another place and time.

The fourth book Into The Mist is a bridge leading from the trilogy to this book. It fills in some gaps and sets the stage for "Stargazer", but more or less is just the author treading water and catching his breath.

This brings us to book five, where Alexa and her companions continue their journey across the Lonely Sea and arrive at the hidden realm of the Five Stone Pillars. Unfortunately, they are not alone, as an evil monster has trailed them all the way, and now Alexa meets some new friends who must help her to defeat the evil Abaddon in a majorly exciting throw down grudge match.

There's no need to read the previous four books to enjoy "Stargazer", which is set in a different place and has mostly new characters, but I'm glad I read them all and experienced the whole adventure. The author also quite helpfully includes a recap of the previous books in his introductory chapter.

From the ending, it seems that this may be the last in the series, but the author craftily leaves himself an opening for a possible continuation. A short, well written story that is highly recommended for young readers from around nine or ten.


"I walked, I ran, I jumped, I flew
Right off the ground to float to you
There's no gravity to hold me down for real"
(Jordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown - "No Air")



Amanda Richards, August 20, 2008

Wonderful Addition to a great series
I have been waiting for this book ever since I finished into the mist, and was hoping that it would be as great as the previous book. It was. I loved the writing and the story line, along with the great characters. I was hoping that it would be similar to Into the Mist, with more narration from Roland about the boyhood of the Warvold brothers since I really like learning about their past, but it turned back to the story of Alexa. Still though, it lived up to expectation.

It is about a girl named Alexa who along with her companions finally arrive to the five stone pillars. Tragedy strikes at once in the first 20 pages when there is an encounter with the sea monster, Abaddon, and a beloved character's life is taken by him. Alexa then starts working with the other surviver and new friends, Matilda who is also very small like Yipes and Marco, a strong boy a year older then Alexa, to work towards defeating the monster Abaddon and saving the great world of the five stone pillars. With the help from some people Alexa has heard about, but never met, Alexa comes up with a plan. Will it work, or will something unexpected or tragic occur? I really adored this book and really hope that there will be a next book coming out soon. It won't disapoint Land of Elyon fans!

Excellent Story
This is book four in the Land of Elyon trilogy. At the end of Into The Mist we leave Yipes, Roland and Alexa heading towards the five pillars community hidden out in the sea. Yet a great evil, defeated once, has followed them and desires to make this place its new home and its dominion. Abaddon is this great evil, and is full of a vehement hatred because of his defeat and the new form he has been forced to take. Abaddon has taken a form much like a great octopus, with scales of iron and enough spite to want to destroy the whole world. Stargazer begins right where Into the Mist leaves off. The book opens with the destruction of the Warwick Beacon, with Captain Roland Warvold going down with the ship.

Alexa must face a world without the guidance and protection previously provided by the Brothers Warvold. She is in a strange place, where the rules and customs are unknown to her. Yet it is also a place of great adventure. Five stone pillars rise up out of the sea; the community living there resides on the first three. The first and shortest is for crops, the second has a freshwater lake on most of the surface, and the third is concave and has the most homes. The fourth is convex and is uninhabited, and finally, the fifth towers into the sky and the top is not known or visible to the inhabitants of the islands. They make their way from pillar to pillar by a series of rope bridges and slide down natural vines like zip-lines. And as much as Alexa would like to just explore this new place, Abaddon has informed her that he plans to destroy it, or make it his own. He is slowly eroding the fourth tower by tearing chucks from the stone, as it is the narrowest. They fear that it will topple into the third and cause a cascade effect.

Alexa is once again thrust into the middle of a great adventure, but an adventure filled with the unknown and with mystery. She must find a way to save this new place she has just discovered. For the first time, she must do great things with only the help of Yipes, her friend small in stature but great in heart and will. But the lord of Elyon has even more in store for her than she can imagine. As she proceeds to try to discover a way out of this situation, she begins to see her own life path and purpose.

Patrick Carman has been nominated for numerous book awards for this series, including winning the 2007 Lamplighter Award and the Cochecho Readers Award 2005-2006. This book lives up to that heritage or even exceeds it. So give the book a try - it is strong enough to read alone, but is also part of a great series.