This is a very engaging young adult novel, probably one of the best, if not the best, that I have read, and I think the reason for that is that the language is never in any way childish. This book will appeal to teenagers and adults alike. The Stone Crown tells the story of Emlyn and Maxine, two young people who are new to the Borders area of Scotland and are, in effect, outsiders. They just don't fit in with everybody else at school. One day, Emlyn witnesses Maxine in the woods in a place called Sleeper's Spinney, having an argument with Hugh McCrossan, a local youth and not one of Emlyn's favourite people. When Hugh leaves Maxine alone in the woods, she kicks down part of a wall and this lets loose a power from Arthurian times, together with a horseman that only Emlyn can see. When they then find a group of carved horsemen which contain the trapped spirits of Arthur and his men, they end up removing one accidentally and the Keepers of the carvings, who happen to be the McCrossan family, will stop at nothing to get it back and to protect the legend that they have been looking after for 1500 years. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's a very easy book to read, and it kept me absorbed from start to finish. Malcolm Walker's writing is excellent and the story is well put together and fast moving. Interspersed into the modern day story are chapters told by one of Arthur's men, and this explains how the carvings came to be made and how the spirits of the men became trapped inside them. The story is full of myths and magic, together with family history and secrets, and is the sort of book where you want to keep on turning the pages (nice, short chapters help in this!). I look forward to Malcolm Walker's second book, and recommend reading this one in the meantime!