Keepers of the Stone

Series · 5 books · 1911-2022

By Andrew Anzur Clement, Henryk Sienkiewicz

Books in series

In Desert and Wilderness

1911

In the tradition of Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island comes a Sienkiewicz novel for readers of all ages! This thrilling adventure saga and coming-of-age tale sets two young children, Stas Tarkowski, fourteen, and Nelly Rawlison, eight, within the reaches of Africa's desert storms, the ravages of hunger, and threatening jungles filled with vicious animals and warring tribes. Everything for the pair seemed comfortable and safe in Egypt. But when the children are separated from their fathers during a vacation along the Nile, they become pawns in a treacherous plot and are abducted by the vengeful followers of the Mahdi. Joined in their trek by two African children, Kali and Mea, and together with the aid of a faithful dog, Saba, and a mighty elephant, King, the unlikely troop makes its way through deep Africa while facing perilous situations that would render helpless even grown men and women. Throughout this enthralling novel, author Sienkiewicz paints the vivid scenery of what was then known as "the dark continent," a land filled with unknown peoples, primordial landscapes, tall and deep jungles, uncharted rivers and mountains. Political instability, then as now, could make entire regions impassable. In the 1880s one such crisis, a rebellion led by "the Mahdi," threatened to turn a large part of the continent into a hell of destruction and carnage. It is in such a background that Henryk Sienkiewicz, the master storyteller and winner of the 1905 Nobel Prize for literature, placed two European children - the heroes of this engaging tale. For Henryk Sienkiewicz, In Desert and Wilderness represented a final triumph; this was the last novel he would complete. Sienkiewicz, who had visited Africa in 1891, successfully recreates in the book the beauty he encountered amid the continent's entrancing landscape. Written over eighty years ago for a younger audience, but appealing to all ages, In Desert and Wilderness remains a literary treasure in Poland. Now the fine Max

Outcast

2017

A trained killer. A demonic Order. A jewel that could change the course of history. Malka and Stas have found have already found themselves unwilling allies once, protecting a fantastical stone from the designs of the Urumi’s demonic Order. Little did they know that was only the beginning…. The last in a Sect of fanatical thieves, Malka has sacrificed everything to protect the object she carries. Having become its unwitting guardian, she is forced to flee British India for the American West. Her immediate goal? Keep the dark Order off her trail and avoid being taken into the ranks of its enslaved members. But – even with her supernatural powers and the aid of a mysterious shapeshifter – doing so will prove tougher than she could’ve possibly imagined. Stas is about to go on a journey of his own. The adventurous son of a refugee learns he is being sent home to a continent he has never visited. Stas dreads the move, but begins adapting to his new, seemingly mundane, environment. Unknown to him, the Urumi have their own plans for Stas and his best friend, Nell. He is about to embark on his most dangerous adventure yet…. Trapped in unfamiliar parts the globe and thrust into a fantasy world they do not understand, Stas and Malka struggle to find allies. Battle the Urumi. And uncover their path to the stone’s cataclysmic final purpose. Whether they know it or not, their most epic quest has just begun….

Exile

2017

Stranded on the American frontier, Malka must stop at nothing to safeguard the all-powerful stone. She has come under the protection of a snarky felinoid – a shape-shifting girl who traces her lineage back to the court of Vlad Dracula. They must rescue Henry, the American orphan whose thirst for knowledge could help decipher the clues to the next leg of their journey – if the Urumi don’t kill them first. Alone in yet another strange land, Stas is mourning the unthinkable loss of his friend, Nell. Cryptic messages offer new hope. But the Dark Order has devised another strategy to outwit the band of misfits. Plans are betrayed and alliances are formed as history points to the final objective of their quest

Homecoming

2017

Stas and his companions have made their way to Poland, the partitioned homeland he has never visited. He dares to hope that Nell may be alive. The doomed princess Bozhena vows revenge on the Shadow Warriors, who have enlisted Malka's most bitter enemy in their latest plot to control the powerful stone. With the help of a streetwise gypsy girl, the unlikely travelers must outwit the Urumi and deliver the stone to its final destination. All they have to do is put aside the differences that threaten to tear them apart. The secrets of the past hold the key to the history of the future.

Kali's Trial

A Time-Travel Journey though the Life of an African Slave King

2022

1885: A young prince, kidnapped into slavery, returns to his tribal homeland in one of the most remote parts of Africa. Kali has regained his freedom with the help of his fellow captives, Staś and Nell. The adventures he shared with the Polish boy and British girl have made a strong impression on the young African. As he takes his rightful place as king, he is determined to rule a civilization based on peace, liberty and progress. He embarks on a program of sweeping modernization. Decades later, with his people being stripped of their land and erased from the history books, an elderly Kali prepares to meet death on a dirt road, alone except for the last few of his inner circle. A moment before he dies, Kali is visited by a Mzimu – a divine spirit—and a mysterious shapeshifting cheetah, who have the ability to control time. They announce that they are putting him on trial for the actions he took as the Bwana Kubwa of Wa-himaland. Together, the three of them bear witness to events from Kali’s life as he tries to build a progressive but isolationist society—with the tacit blessing of his British colonial overlords. As colonial ultimatums grow more and more outrageous, Kali must navigate a series of demands and betrayals from his fellow Africans that could spell certain disaster for his grand experiment—and perhaps show that his dream of an African utopia could never have worked in the first place. As Kali journeys through his life, he begins to question the well-intentioned actions he took as the leader of his nation. Is he really guilty of collaborating with the enemy? And has he condemned his people to an even crueler fate at the hands of rival tribes and colonial masters? The time-travelers must reach a verdict. Knowing that his life is at an end, the slave who became a king must bow to their judgment on his legacy.

Authors

Andrew Anzur Clement

Author · 9 books

Polish. Slovenian. American. #1 Amazon bestselling author. Lives in Slovenia. Citizen of the world. Get a historical fantasy novella, a Russian thriller novella and a historical fiction novella for FREE at https://andrewanzurclement.wordpress.com

Henryk Sienkiewicz

Author · 31 books

Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz (also known as "Litwos"; May 5, 1846–November 15, 1916) was a Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist. He was one of the most popular Polish writers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 for his "outstanding merits as an epic writer." Born into an impoverished gentry family in the Podlasie village of Wola Okrzejska, in Russian-ruled Poland, Sienkiewicz wrote historical novels set during the Rzeczpospolita (Polish Republic, or Commonwealth). His works were noted for their negative portrayal of the Teutonic Order in The Teutonic Knights (Krzyżacy), which was remarkable as a significant portion of his readership lived under German rule. Many of his novels were first serialized in newspapers, and even today are still in print. In Poland, he is best known for his historical novels "With Fire and Sword", "The Deluge", and "Fire in the Steppe" (The Trilogy) set during the 17th-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, while internationally he is best known for Quo Vadis, set in Nero's Rome. Quo Vadis has been filmed several times, most notably the 1951 version. Sienkiewicz was meticulous in attempting to recreate the authenticity of historical language. In his Trilogy, for instance, he had his characters use the Polish language as he imagined it was spoken in the seventeenth century (in reality it was far more similar to 19th-century Polish than he imagined). In The Teutonic Knights, which relates to the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, he even had his characters speak a variety of medieval Polish which he recreated in part from archaic expressions then still common among the highlanders of Podhale. In 1881, Sienkiewicz married Maria Szetkiewicz (1854-1885). They had two children, Henryk Józef (1882-1959) and Jadwiga Maria (1883–1969).