The Oasis Stone by Jack Davidson

The Oasis Stone

Jack Davidson

Teirmond Publishing (2025)

‎979-8998534010

Reviewed by Jordan Waterwash for Reader Views (11/2025)

https://readerviews.com/reviews/the-oasis-stone-davidson/

5/5

Proper fantasy stories with deep lore, three-dimensional characters, and strong conflicts are hard to come by. The Oasis Stone by Jack Davidson, however, had all those things and more. We follow Imayva (Mayve), a plucky and complicated young woman who has an innate ability to climb nearly anything, as her entire world gets flipped upside down overnight. She and her mother have never been rich, so Mayve often found herself committing petty crimes to keep them afloat. However, Mayve goes a step too far after the raptors offer her a chance to earn enough gold to allow her and her mother to escape their little village. Though she succeeds in her mission—stealing an artifact from the Oaken Legion—chaos strikes, and she loses her mother. Fueled by grief and revenge, Mayve promises to avenge the death of her mother by any means necessary.

The story also follows a cave tauninagan (Srrith), a soldier of the Oaken Legion (Raudius Fenmor), and an Ul’Varin-Zul (Eiklo). Each of their stories becomes intertwined with Mayve’s as she learns the importance of the artifact she now carries—the Oasis Stone. One of the most intriguing parts of the narrative lies in the presentation of each character. While Mayve is clearly the main character, Srrith, Raudius, and Eiklo all have complex, layered internal lives. It’s hard to fit character growth into so many characters, but each felt like they were given a proper story arc and resolution. Their interactions with Mayve felt motivated and genuine; they were not there simply to prop up Mayve’s story. They all had goals, desires, and personalities.

Mayve herself also felt incredibly three-dimensional. While her choices often left me feeling exasperated, they came from a genuine place. She stuck to her motivations even when the “better” choice was to go against her first instinct. I love characters who are headstrong to a fault, and Mayve definitely fits that description. Still, I found myself really rooting for her. Her grief and need for revenge propelled her forward, but as the story continued, she really grew away from her more selfish tendencies.

Additionally, the writing itself set the mood for an action-packed adventure. Smooth and clear, my eyes glided over the prose with ease. Tensions were high when they needed to be, and when the scene called for something more grounded, the prose responded in kind. The story was very well written; it was clear that a lot of planning went into weaving the narratives together.

The Oasis Stone by Jack Davidson is likely going to be the first of many wonderful stories to come. I look forward to the next installment!