Devotees of local author get their wish
After years of requests from readers, Jack Whyte writes prequel to 1st book in popular ‘Dream of Eagles’ series
The latest book by a world-renowned Kelowna author tells the story behind one of his most famous tales. Jack Whyte’s 17th book, “The Burning Stone,” is a prequel to “The Skystone,” the first in the popular “Dream of Eagles” series, which began in 1992.
“‘The Skystone’ is a story about how a Roman officer inherits a knife made by his grandfather, and according to his grandfather’s notes, the old man smelted the stone for the dagger from a piece of rock that fell out of the sky,” said Whyte.
“Ever since the first book came out, my readers have been going crazy. They’ve been writing to me and saying ‘tell us how his grandfather found the original stone,’ and that’s what this new book is about. It took me 26 years to get around to writing it.”
“The Burning Stone” takes place further back in time than any of his previous books.
“I had to go back further than I’ve ever gone before, and I had to look at what was happening in Roman Britain and the Roman Empire during the late third and early fourth centuries,” said Whyte. “Everything takes place against the background of the persecution of the emperor Diocletian.”
Whyte said “The Burning Stone” is an exciting adventure love story.
“You don’t have to have read anything else,” he said. “It’s a completely stand-alone novel set in Roman Britain in the fourth century.”
Whyte said he has always loved historical fiction, and he has a compulsion to write about it.
“It’s just something I seem to have been put here to do,” he said.
“I’ve gone looking for legends and tried to strip away all the accumulated crap of the centuries and uncover what it was originally that made this story and these people so great.”
Whyte is a former Daily Courier columnist, whose health problems caused him to stop writing a year ago.
“I put everything on hold to try and get my health back, which I did, thank God, and now I’m back,” he said. “When you find yourself trapped in a situation where you cannot even concentrate enough to string words together, there is nothing worse for a writer.”
Whyte is already thinking about which book he’ll write next.
“Too many ideas, not enough time,” he said.