Miri is torn between these two boys just as she is torn between her love of her mountain home and her desire to see and change the world. But Timon, who is kind, educated, well-traveled, and wants to make the world a better place, is equally appealing. She always thought she’d marry Peder, the sweet solid boy who just wants to learn to be a master carver and go back home to live on the mountain. There’s a touch of romance in Palace of Stone, too, including a love triangle for Miri. If Miri speaks up, she endangers herself, the princess, many friends, and her community back home in Mount Eskel. The problem is that this is not just an academic exercise. Fortunately, Miri is studying history and ethics at her new school and her position as a student and a friend to both the princess and the rebels will give her the perfect chance to practice what she is learning. Miri is torn because the princess is her dear friend, yet she sees that the King and his nobles have been unjust as they lord it over the commoners and demand taxes and tributes that leave the people destitute. Soon she meets a boy named Timon who is eager to enlist Miri in the rebels’ cause. When she arrives, she not only experiences culture shock, but she discovers right away that the city is in a state of unrest and there are rumors of revolution. As Miri travels to the city, she realizes that she is ignorant and rustic, and she’s worried about how she’ll represent her community. Peder, the boy she hopes to marry, will also be going to the capital to begin an apprenticeship with a master stone carver. In Palace of Stone, Miri is invited by her friend Britta (the girl who was chosen to be princess) to come to the capital city and attend school at the Queen’s Castle. She used her knowledge to help her village negotiate better trading terms for their linder, and Mount Eskel has prospered. However, she did learn to read and write, to do math, and she learned a lot about commerce. I hope those of you who haven’t read it yet are gone!) Miri was one of the candidates for princess, but she wasn’t chosen by Prince Steffan. (Here’s where spoilers for Princes Academy start.
To get the girls up to snuff, a “Princess Academy” was formed and all eligible Mount Eskel girls were enrolled. Their culture was changed when it was determined by lowlander priests that the next princess should come from Mount Eskel. (Then come back, please.) In Princess Academy, we met the poor hard-working uneducated families of Mount Eskel who survive by mining and carving linder, a valuable type of stone that they export to lowlanders.
So, if you haven’t read Princess Academy yet, go away and read it now. You’ll definitely want to read Princess Academy first, and to avoid spoilers, you should read it before you read this review. Palace of Stone is a sequel to Shannon Hale’s excellent Newbery Honor-winning Middle Grade novel Princess Academy.
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