The prophecy of the stones
Encyclopedia
The Prophecy of The Stones (published in the UK as The Prophecy of the Gems) is a children's novel
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

 written by the French author Flavia Bujor
Flavia Bujor
Flavia Bujor and is a French novelist of Romanian origin. Her father is a sculptor, her mother is a psychoanalyst who works with young adults and teenagers....

. Written in the course of six months while its author was thirteen years old, it was translated from French to English and into 30 other languages.

Plot summary

The book begins with a chapter introducing Joa, a 14-year-old girl fighting an illness against death in hospital in present-day Paris, and is held only by a dream in life...
Joa's name begins with the first letters of Jade, Opal, and Amber's name

In a kingdom that is ruled by the Council of Twelve, which aims to deprive the people the freedom to live, three girls named Jade, Opal and Amber celebrate their 14th birthdays. Unknown to them, their names fit their birthstones. On their birthday, each is sent away from their home to meet the other two. Together, they should make their way to revive the good in the world, as it is written in a prophecy. This prophecy was many centuries ago by a Clohryun called Néophileus who could see into the future.

Jade, Opal, and Amber decided to explore together the secret of their stones, and they take it as simultaneously in the hand. When they do, the stones show a strange symbol in front of their eyes. To learn the meaning of this symbol, they travel to Nathyrnn, a city that is beneficial to the Council of the Twelve as a prison for all advocates of freedom. There they meet Jean Losserand, who can interpret the symbol. It stands for Oonagh, an oracle that lives in a land called Fairytale.

In Fairytale, people live peacefully with magical beings, because it is the only country that remains the Council of the Twelve spared. It is surrounded by a magnetic field that can be traversed only with the belief in the impossible. With the help of Adrien de Rivebel, Jade, Opal, and Amber liberate the inhabitants of the city and get to the border of Thaar, where they must fight against the Knights of the Council. They defeat them, but Opal is stabbed by a knight. The people of Nathyrrn refuge in Fairytale, and Adrien, who is in love with Opal, carries her corpse through the magnetic field.

They stay a few days at Owen d'Yrdahl's house, from which they will learn that Death is on a strike, and that Opal will survive if her wound is treated. The Army of Light is organized to fight against the Army of Darkness.

When Opal is well again, they ride toward the mountains, where Oonagh lives. Along the way, they help the residents of a city sealed by darkness, and the residents thank them by giving a potion that will save them from the birds of prey they will meet when they reach Oonagh's home. By underground passages, they eventually reach Oonagh in the form a small, lively girl, and the oracle sings them a part of the prophecy.

Oonagh tells them that on the day of the summer solstice, there will be a battle between the Army of Darkness and the Army of Light, and that they need to persuade Death to end her strike. Jade, Opal, and Amber decide to go into the realm of Death, which can only be reached by crossing the Lake of the Past. They overcome their illusions of the past and go as the first mortals to the realm of death. They manage to convince Death that she is loved, and so Death ends her strike. As the prophecy predicted, Amber recognizes the Chosen One when she sees him (and falls in love with him), who previously served the Army of Darkness, and Opals realizes what the Gift is: Hope.

They travel to Thaar and enter a tower in which they meet the Thirteenth Councillor of the Council of Twelve. He is not a man, but the spirit of all the other twelve councillors. He shows the girls a window overlooking Fairytale, and they see the assembled armies on the battlefield. The Chosen One at the head of the Army of Light, but the Army of Darkness seems to be winning. The Thirteenth Councillor tries to make them understand that the battle is already hopelessly lost, because Hope is in the girls' stones, and Hope cannot be freed unless the girls die.

Jade finally understands the meaning of the prophecy, and although her friends do not want to die, she persuades them to jump out the window in order to defeat evil and to help the Army of Light to win. They leap out of the window, and their stones dissolve. Golden rain pours over Fairytale, and gives everyone hope. Before Jade, Opal, and Amber hit the ground, they are caught by the birds of prey and carried to the battlefield. There they encounter Oonagh, Adrien, the Chosen One, the defeated Army of Darkness and the victorious Army of Light. A golden nugget falls from the sky, Oonagh tells Adrien to bury in the ground. He does so, and a tree with a golden trunk and silver leaves grows from it. Oonagh tells them that as long as the tree lives, good will reign in the world.

The next chapter switches back to present-day Paris. In the hospital, Joa wakes up and demands that the nurse gives her a phone. She contacts a friend of hers, a young man named Eli Ador, and leaves a strange message for him. When he arrives at the hospital, Joa tells him her dream, and the book ends with her dying words: "My dreams gave life back to me. Now I must give dreams back to life."

Reception

The Prophecy of the Stones was a bestseller in over twenty countries around the world. However, many people attributed the novel's fame to Bujor's age and not her talent at writing. It has also been widely acclaimed that the three main protagonists show Mary Sue
Mary Sue
A Mary Sue , in literary criticism and particularly in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for the author or reader...

qualities. None are given any flaws so to speak, and critics claim that they are unrealistic and show no character development or interesting traits.
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