Three Stones, three young girls.
One will discover the Gift.
One will recognize the King.
One will convince the two others to die.
Of three Stones only one fate will remain.
One will discover the Gift.
One will recognize the King.
One will convince the two others to die.
Of three Stones only one fate will remain.
In Paris, a 14-year-old girl named Joa is succumbing to illness in a hospital. She is kept alive only by a "dream" of a fantasy world, where three girls—Jade, Opal, and Amber—are chosen by a prophecy to restore goodness to the world. The girls have nothing in common. Jade is the spoiled daughter of a Duke; Opal is a quiet, seemingly emotionless strange girl; Amber is an impoverished but kindhearted peasant. Strangers at first and forced to go on a quest together because of the prophecy, they ultimately become true companions after their shared ordeals.
Each of them is given a precious stone corresponding to their names and they attempt to unravel the meaning behind the stones and the prophecy. Their quest leads them to participate in a rebellion against the evil Council of Twelve, travel through the pristine, magical realm of Fairy Tale, and visit the Anthropomorphic Personification of Death. They discover from an oracle that they must defeat the Council of Twelve for good in order to fulfill the prophecy and free the land. In order to do this, they must find "The Chosen One" who will lead the Army of Light in the final battle.
This was written by French teen Flavia Bujor who wrote the novel over 6 months while she was 13 years old.
This work provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Jade can kick some ass with a sword.
- Actually, I Am Him: While looking for the wise and powerful sorceress Oonagh, the protagonists meet a quirky little girl who's constantly giggling and singing songs. The girl offers to show them where Oonagh lives, and it turns out that she is Oonagh.
- All Just a Dream: Or Was It a Dream?. It's not very clear how Joa's dream relates to the plot with Jade, Opal, and Amber, if it's actually all just a dream or a prophecy of some kind.
- Barefoot Sage: Oonagh, emphasizing a combination of wisdom and childlike innocence.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: The three heroines are described as exceptionally beautiful (even Opal), both on the inside and on the outside.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Janelle, who also happens to be The Corrupter: a seemingly nice and friendly girl who is actually a dark entity that has the power to turn people against each other; she pretends to befriend the three girls in order to sow discord among them.
- Black-and-White Morality: The main conflict is basically Good vs. Evil; the Army of Light doesn't have any dark side, and the Army of Darkness and the Council of Twelve lack any redeeming qualities.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Opal, Jade, and Amber respectively play this trope straight. However, the brunette (Jade) has the personality of the Fiery Redhead, the redhead (Amber) might as well have Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold based on her role and personality, and the blonde (Opal) is The Stoic (who turns out to be a
Stoic Woobie).
- Cassandra Truth: Neophilus is not believed when he foretells the Council of Twelve's takeover.
- Casting a Shadow: The Army of Darkness and its associated Sorcerers of Darkness have darkness-based powers, which we get to see when they "seal a town in darkness".
- Chromatic Arrangement: Corresponds with the titular stones. Jade is green, Amber is yellow and Opal is blue.
- The Chosen One:
- Four in total: the three girls and Elyador; an ancient prophecy says that they will save the world. Lampshaded with Elyador who is explicitly referred to as "The Chosen One".
- The Ghibduls, the Proud Warrior Race Guys who hate all humans, have passed down a belief since the dawn of time that a man would come into their forest and lead them into a new era of harmony with other species.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Fairytale is protected by a "magnetic field" that only allows those who believe in freedom, individuality, and imagination to pass.
- The Corrupter: The girls encounter a girl who manages to bring out the worst in everyone else by displacing her hatred into them.
- Creator Provincialism: The City of Thaar, described as the last remnant of the past, is actually Paris.
- Cruel Mercy: The reason why the Sorcerer of Darkness let the Nameless One go is live with their shame. Except Death was on strike at the time so it was a farce.
- Curtains Match the Window: Amber - brownish-reddish hair, brownish-reddish eyes.
- Daddy's Girl: Jade, who is devastated when it's revealed that the Duke is not her real father.
- Dangerous 16th Birthday: The girls are sent on their quest when they turn fourteen.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Elyador, who was a soldier in the Army of Darkness, but eventually repented.
- Dark Is Evil: The Army of Darkness opposing the heroines.
- Deadpan Snarker: Elfohrys and the Nameless One have a few humorous exchanges while they are taken prisoner by the Ghibduls.
- Death by Adaptation: Joa, who lives in French and German variants, but dies in english one.
- Death Takes a Holiday: She's busy having a moping fit about how nobody's ever happy to see her, and she thinks she looks fat.
- Don't Fear the Reaper: Death is very nice.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Joa. The twist is that the fantasy world in her dream is the future, and Thaar used to be Paris.
- Eccentric Mentor: The wise sorceress Oonagh is actually a small mischievous girl.
- Emotion Eater: The birds of prey who guard Oonagh's cave. Why such a nice lady keeps them there or chooses to live in a cave surrounded by them, I have no idea.
- Evil Counterpart: The Army of Darkness to the Army of Light, and the Sorcerers of Darkness to the Sorcerers of Light.
- Evil Feels Good: Invoked in Janelle's Motive Rant. She does evil stuff because she enjoys being evil.
- Fallen Hero: Elyador was described as a noble man who was seduced by the Army of Darkness, but eventually he realized the error of his ways and deserted. He also got his memories erased.
- Fate Worse than Death: Amnhor claims this happens to people who try to walk through the Seal of Darkness without magic.
- Freudian Trio: Played with. Amber is clearly The McCoy and Opal is a distinct Spock. Jade, however, is not a typical Kirk. She follows her Id (like a McCoy) but is hardly idealistic or compassionate. Moreover, she is always the last one to balance out conflict among the three, a traditional Kirk role, which Opal usually takes.
- Hellish Horse: An Army of Darkness commander rides an "enchanted black stallion that breathed flames from its nostrils". Really.
- He Who Fights Monsters: The original Council of Twelve simply wanted to spread peace, but over time they were corrupted by power.
- Identity Amnesia: The Nameless One/ Elyador has no idea who he is, thus his name.
- I Do Not Drink Wine: Elphorys munches his "sticky purple mass" while Elyador eats his rather mundane bread and turkey.
- Just Between You and Me: The Thirteenth Councilor plays this straight at the end. It gives the girls just enough time to figure out how to defeat him.
- Kid Hero: Jade, Opal and Amber trio first meet on their 14th birthdays when they go on their quest.
- Knight Errant: There is an entire class warriors wandering about called hovalyns. The Nameless One is one of them.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Opal is Emotionless Girl played straight initially, but she warms up. Adrien might have something to do with it.
- La Résistance: Led by Adrien against the Knights of the Council of Twelve to free the city of Nathrynn.
- Light Is Good: The Army of Light sides with the heroines.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Opal; her family is relatively well-to-do, but she has no friends, and is generally introverted.
- Loners Are Freaks: Opal sometimes got this treatment in her hometown; she was often given sideways glances due to being an introvert who didn't seem interested in making friendships. She didn't care.
- Magic Land: Fairy Tale, which is explicitly described as a refuge for the magical creatures, and only people who believe in magic can enter it.
- Master Swordsman: Jade is described as being able to best the most experienced of the Knights of the Council.
- Meaningful Name: Jade, Amber, and Opal's upbringing's and personalities seem to reflect on the history, composition, and folklore of the stones for which they're named:
- Jade has been noted to be valued in many cultures throughout history and was (and to this day still is) quite expensive, and people once believed that wearing jade would increase their bodily strength and longevity. The character Jade was raised by a wealthy family and more than capable of defending herself with swordplay.
- Amber is not technically a stone, but rather fossilized tree resin that has been attributed to love, healing and protection. The character Amber grew up on a farm so she loves being outside and she's the kindest of the three girls.
- Opals are reputed for being fragile and not rated very high on the Mohs Scale of Hardness, and during medieval times it was believed that wearing opal jewelry would keep naturally blonde hair from darkening. The character Opal is emotionally fragile and she's also naturally blonde.
- Joa later points out that her name is the initials of Jade, Opal, and Amber. Also, her ex-boyfriend is named Eli Ador.
- Meanwhile, in the Future…: The book's fantasy storyline actually takes place in the distant future.
- Most Writers Are Adults: This book's existence is an aversion; it was written by a 14-year old author.
- No Name Given: The Nameless One, hence his name. He's Elyador.
- The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: The Council of Twelve led by The Thirteenth Councilor: a mysterious group whose members' identities are never made clear (and aren't actually important to the story), and who are the main antagonists of the novel.
- Parental Abandonment: Joa is an orphan. Also, Jade, Opal and Amber end up dealing with issues relating to their true parents abandoning them.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: The Ghibduls "believed that to die at their hands was a privilege and a blessing for inferior beasts".
- Psychic Link: The girls are empathetically linked to their stones, which sometimes let them form Psychic Links with each other.
- Quest for Identity: The Nameless One when he first appears is currently on one. He is, after all, nameless.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: It's never shown on-screen, but the Army of Darkness does a lot of nasty stuff to the people.
- Really 700 Years Old: Oonagh, who looks like a little girl, but is much older.
- Red Shirt Army: If there's a battle, expect the vast majority of unnamed good guys to die.
- Shout-Out: The part where the Nameless One gets a Plot Coupon from a magical lady in a lake sounds awfully similar to what happened to this other guy...
- Talking the Monster to Death: Opal tries to do this, but gets stabbed in the heart for her trouble. Adrien picks up where she left off and pulls a more successful one.
- Theme Naming: Jade, Opal, and Amber are named after their stones.
- The War to End All Wars: The book leads up to this but the ending reminds us that evil cannot be permanently defeated.
