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Cephrael's Hand

A Pattern of Shadow & Light, Book 1

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Cephrael's Hand

By: Melissa McPhail
Narrated by: Nick Podehl
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About this listen

"All things are composed of patterns...." And within the pattern of the realm of Alorin, three strands must cross.

In Alorin...300 years after the genocidal Adept Wars, the realm is dying, and the blessed Adept race dies with it. One man holds the secret to reverting this decline: Bjorn van Gelderan, a dangerous and enigmatic man whose shocking betrayal three centuries past earned him a traitor's brand. It is the Adept Vestal Raine D'Lacourte's mission to learn what Bjorn knows in the hope of salvaging his race. But first he'll have to find him....

In the kingdom of Dannym...the young Prince Ean val Lorian faces a tenuous future as the last living heir to the coveted Eagle Throne. When his blood brother is slain during a failed assassination, Ean embarks on a desperate hunt for the man responsible. Yet his advisors have their own agendas, and his quest for vengeance leads him ever deeper into a sinuous plot masterminded by a mysterious and powerful man, the one they call First Lord.

In the Nadori desert...tormented by the missing pieces of his life, a soldier named Trell heads off to uncover the truth of his shadowed past. But when disaster places him in the debt of Wildlings sworn to the First Lord, Trell begins to suspect a deadlier, darker secret motivating them.

©2016 Melissa McPhail (P)2016 Podium Audio Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Military Science Fiction Royalty Thought-Provoking

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All stars
Most relevant
It was good to keep me entertained purely through having such a long story line, but I wasn't all that impressed. Just rather underwhelming.

Alright, but not enthralling.

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Nearly gave up on this book as I found it very slow to start, the list of characters and information is vast and difficult to get a hold of initially. However, it has turned out to be a gem. World and character building are intense, although I found Alyneri to be really annoying.

The realm of Alorin is dying as are the Adept race. Two brothers, Princes of Dannym, Ean and Trell, separated as children through treachery; Sebastian, the eldest brother is thought to be dead, also through treachery. Trell has no recollection of who he is after his ship was wrecked and was adopted by Zafir bin Safwan al’Abdul-Basir, Emir of Akkad, whilst Ean was taken far way by his mother. Both will be drawn onto the game board and pawns will have to become players if they wish to survive and, more importantly, if they wish their race to survive.

POSSIBLE SPOILER: I have a sense we have not heard the last of Sebastian (Eshot?). Indeed I feel he may be alive and has been imprisoned, suffering from amnesia and under compulsion by .... to forget who he is! Perhaps in a later book all will become clearer?

Enduring

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

not at all, just cannot get into the story it just seems to drone on and get nowhere.

Do you think Cephrael's Hand needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Having not managed to finish the first book i have no wish to hear the others and have removed them from my wishlist.

just not doing it for me

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What did you like most about Cephrael's Hand?

It was a decent story with more or less alright writing. The narration was great.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Cephrael's Hand?

Most probably the ones with the pirate. That's all you're getting, no spoilers.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

There were quite a few, yet, some of the fight scenes were pretty neat.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Movie 1 of 10 in an epic saga of family, friendship and clumsy attempts at love.

Any additional comments?

Be warned... For all it's good points, the writing is lacking in a few key aspects. Among other faults is the authors habit of repeating words. There is a limit to how many times in one sentence I want to hear the phrase "tawny eyes". That limit is once. Once per sentence.
Other than that, it's good.

Worth it

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The problem with this book is that it has the very thinnest of overarching plots and is composed of a series of mini-adventures which do not add to or advance the plot in any meaningful way. It feels like it was written as the screenplay of a tv series and is very much the worse for it. I cannot fault the narration but the dialogue is often mangled by the flowery use of language which again adds nothing.

Serious readers of fantasy fiction will tire of this as realisation dawns.

decent screenplay for TV but a poor book

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