The Black Star of Kingston

"My place beside you, my blood for yours. Til the Green Ember rises or the end of the world!"After reading The Green Ember, I added every other book written in the same world to my TBR list. This was the first one I have read since The Green Ember, and it is just as good.Set a century before the events of The Greem Ember, we are introduced to new characters who belong to a community that has been displaced, and are struggling to find their place to thrive. With resources running low, King Winston authorizes Fleck to head up a crew and sail across the lake to find coal to mine and perhaps protect them from whatever might be in the mountains.Though a shorter story, Smith did a wonderful job with the writing. I was immediately drawn into the story and cheering for every rabbit. From a somewhat benign storyline - go and find a mine - Smith has built a legend, and this is definitely a story that I will return to. While part of me wishes the story had been longer, if only to stay with the characters and the world for longer, at no point did the story feel rushed - well, okay, maybe during the action sequences, but they're supposed to be rushed - or as if parts were being skipped.I definitely look forward to reading or listening to more of Smith's books in The Green Ember world, whether it's in that series or this one. As with The Green Ember, I listened to the audiobook. This one was narrated by Eric Fritzius, who did a wonderful job. His soft voice had the tenor of both a father reading a story to his kids at bedtime and a bard who has gathered the young townsfolk around to recite the tale of the town hero, and I definitely enjoyed it. When I return to this book, I will definitely listen to it, and I hope I have the opportunity to listen to the other Tales of Old Natalia as I continue to explore the world created by Smith.

I enjoyed this book! It is a shorter novella. Another great addition to the Green Ember Series. I have fallen in love with this series. Can't wait for the next one. Geared towards 8-14 year old boys. But girls will enjoy it too. And I wouldn't put an age limit on it either. All sorts of ages will enjoy them. My 8-year-old nephew, his dad and myself love them! Highly recommend the series! Read in publication order :) It seems hard to find good books boys will enjoy, so I'm grateful for this series! Beautiful stories about courage and bravery.Clean!Language/profanity: noneSex/innuendo: noneGore/Violence: Several fight scenes, but not graphic in description, very mild. Blood and wounds mentioned, but mild.Dark/Creepy: none

So after I read The Green Ember and loved it to pieces, I began to try to stretch my Amazon money to buy a paperback copy of its prequel. The author, S.D. Smith, had done such an amazing job with his other story that I wanted more, more, more. ; ) And why not buy paperback while I was at it? While I was still in the stretching process, The Blackstar of Kingston became free on Kindle. Oh the temptation to pick it up! Then I found out Mom had picked it up. Oh the temptation to read it! Don’t ever look at the cover, table of contents, prologue, and first chapter of a book if you intend to wait on reading it. Confession: I read it in a day and a half.The Setting:Again set in the fantasy world of Natalia, this book has a lot of the same feel as its sequel but a whole new dimension of its own. Instead of a broken kingdom with a lost king, this time it is the beginning of a kingdom being carved out in a new land. And again, it’s so awesome that the characters are rabbits because it makes action and danger so different. This time it’s not just rabbits with swords—some of them have bows too which is good because they are being attacked from above! (And the rabbits look really cute with them in the pictures, but that’s beside the point.)The Story:This book was a lot shorter than The Green Ember which naturally made it more fast-paced. While it lacked the fabulous mystery of its sequel, it made up for that in brilliant action and inspiring moments. (I underlined so much in some places because I seriously couldn’t read a page without finding some gem!) ; ) The main lessons of the book were probably loyalty and hoping for the future. I loved reading about Heather and Picket’s heroes of old, finding out the significance of the green ember, and having something more to read about Natalia. ; )The Characters:I loved Fleck Blackstar. He was loyal, passionate, cautious, and heroic. Definitely one of the best rabbits ever. (He invented that really cool pledge!) Humble King Whitson Mariner, Massie, Burnley, and Gavin were also huge favorites of mine. And little Prince Lander is pretty cute. ; )The Concerns:Parents should have caution in considering this book for younger readers because of some intense un-graphic action. (Seriously, birds of prey with blades strapped to their feet and torches to set your ships on fire is really scary when you are a rabbit!) Other concerns include a young child/rabbit in danger, a destroyed town, and a rabbit who is so scared he is going crazy.So, that’s the prequel I was longing to read. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to decide which book is better because this one is an action-packed story of their inspiring history and the sequel is a complicated, surprising mystery full of hope for the future. To make this decision even worse, the author is coming out with another book this spring. (I seriously cannot wait to see what happens to my most favorite rabbits ever!) Sigh.

I've read all of the books set in the mythical world of Natalia and I can safely say they're all great. I understand these stories have proven very popular with families from all parts of the world and it's easy to see why. There's everything a child could ask for including daring heroes and action packed scenes. Beneath that there is a great story teller sharing a great story about good over coming evil. We have the good guys taking on the bad. The plots are never too complicated that the kids will get left behind but on the other hand they never feel what you'd call 'too young' either. It's a difficult line walked with ease it seems by the author.As a father of three I can't recommend these stories highly enough for a bit of family reading. This story is set in the past from the Green Ember series and gives us a bit more history of our favourite rabbit heroes. I won't spoil the story but it felt like a much longer tale that it actually is as so much happens. Great stuff for kids and grown ups alike.

Great book about the first rabbits,and how they found the lords of prey!I really liked it (had to read twice and I 'm going to read it again!)Thanks S.D.Smith, your writing is AMAZING!!! Can't wait to read ember ends and find out what happens with Smalls and Heather (apparently they in pit and have both been run through😐

Another rabbity adventure, this time by sea! Don't miss the Old Natalia stories, which my children love alongside The Green Ember series!

I love this book it's totally awesome it's the best book I've read s.d. Smiths other green ember books are really good to.

Good holiday read