Shards of History Rebecca Roland 9780615773438 Books
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"Fast-paced, high-stakes drama in a fresh fantasy world!" — James Maxey, author of the Dragon Age trilogy. Feared and reviled, the fierce, winged creatures known as Jeguduns live in the cliffs surrounding the Taakwa valley. When Malia discovers an injured Jegudun in the pine forest of the valley, she risks everything—exile from the village, loss of her status as clan mother in training, even her life—to befriend and save the surprisingly intelligent creature. But all of that pales when she learns the truth the threat to her people is bigger and more malicious than the Jeguduns. Lurking on the edge of the valley is an Outsider army seeking to plunder and destroy her people. It's only a matter of time before the Outsiders find a way through the magic that protects the valley—a magic that can only be created by Taakwa and Jeguduns working together.
Shards of History Rebecca Roland 9780615773438 Books
I was actually pleasantly surprised by the book. Sometimes I pick stuff up more or less at random, and this was one of those. I tried the sample first, and it definitely had enough to at least pique my interest, especially since the full Kindle ebook was only $2.99. So my recommendation is to read the sample first, and if it interests you at least a little bit, for only $2.99, go ahead and pick up the full book.I really enjoyed that this book had, in my opinion, a genuinely strong female character. I also enjoyed the small hints of romance, but it didn't overpower the main story. It had interesting fantasy elements, but still felt believable in the novel's world. I would've liked a little more background and lore on the world, so hopefully that will maybe be in the sequel. The only other negatives I had were that a couple of times I felt like sentences were repetitive, but I only noticed this a few times. Also, at times I felt a little lost on descriptions, I think they could have been elaborated more. Many times I felt like I didn't really understand exactly where a character was, or how they were positioned (sitting, standing, laying down, etc), or what they looked like. Other than that, I really enjoyed this more than I thought I would!
For Kindle readers, give the same a try, and if you like it even a little bit, buy it! It gets more interesting after the first few chapters!
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Tags : Shards of History [Rebecca Roland] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Fast-paced, high-stakes drama in a fresh fantasy world! — James Maxey, author of the Dragon Age trilogy.</i> Feared and reviled,Rebecca Roland,Shards of History,World Weaver Press,0615773435,FICTION Fantasy Epic,Fantasy,Fantasy - Epic,Fiction - Fantasy,FICTION Fantasy General
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Shards of History Rebecca Roland 9780615773438 Books Reviews
This is a terrific beginning to the series. Although it does end with some loose threads, it can still be enjoyed as a complete story. The main plot of the book resolves by the conclusion.
The world-building here is excellent. While there are some longer descriptive passages, they pertain mostly to providing us a visual of the countryside, home life for Malia and her people, and the encampment of the Maddion. Nothing feels like too much or as though it’s there only for exposition. For the most part, everything is woven into the plot seamlessly. I enjoyed the vivid picture the author paints of the different cultures and people.
Malia is a wonderful hero. She isn’t without flaws, particularly her stubborn streak and her reluctance to ask for help. However, she is also brave, kind, and honest, and both her strengths and her weaknesses end up serving her well.
There’s a lot of death, but I love how it’s handled here. It doesn’t feel careless or for the sake of demonstrating violence. Instead, the characters are allowed their human moments of grief, even when the deceased is an enemy. In fact, that’s one of the things I particularly liked. The Maddion are a brutal, patriarchal society, and yet even within that the characters are not flat villains. Through the eyes of Kushtrim, we see both his desire to help his people and the brutality of the methods he’s chosen to do so.
The one thing which surprised me is that there are so few women characters, and they don’t interact much with each other. Malia’s people are matriarchal and revere their women, but I didn’t get a strong sense of this in the first installment. It doesn’t necessarily bother me, and it won’t reduce my rating. I was merely surprised.
Aside from that, this is an absolutely outstanding novel. It hit all my buttons just right, between the historical/fantasy setting, the deep character development, and the gorgeous style.
For beautiful writing, a thoroughly engaging plot, and characters who drew me in, this gets 5 stars.
Great story! I read almost the whole story in one sitting. I just didn't want to stop. I'm not qualified to critique style or depth of character, or those things I see in professional reviews, I just know when a story pulls me in, and this one definitely did!
Malia's story is really captivating. From beginning to end I was spellbound by the author's grace in narrating the cultures of the Taakwa, Maddion, and Jeguduns, and how their lives intertwine; each fighting for what they believed was right. Loved it so much that I've read it twice.
In terms of world building, Rebecca has done it beautifully in Shards of History. She eschews the traditional Medieval Europe angle of most fantasy novels for a decidedly American Indian one. Malia is a strong heroine who must make extremely dangerous choices, that fly in the face of generations of history, in order to save her people. In Malia's world, gender roles are somewhat reversed. I say “somewhat” because the men are still the hunters and warriors, but the women are the leaders and the men must show them full respect and deference. Malia's mother is the clan mother and Malia is training to take her place.
In order to save her people, Malia must overcome countless obstacles, the biggest being her own people’s prejudice and fear of the very creatures who are protecting them from grave danger. The Taakwa are so fearful of the Jegudun that anyone caught sympathizing with the winged creatures is exiled out of the villages. The twist on why the Taakwa fear the Jeguden is brilliant and creates an incredible nuanced layer to the story that Rebecca weaves magnificently. Malia must navigate generations of fear, a deranged husband, forest fires, potential exile and her own sometimes faltering self confidence to save her people. In the end, she trusts her instinct and her heart and neither leads her astray.
One interesting facet to the novel is that we hear not only Malia’s perspective, but also Kushtrim’s, the leader of the Maddions (those are the bad guys), as well has Rasmus’s, an exile who aids Malia. Kushtrim almost becomes a sympathetic character. We rarely get to see both points of view in a struggle of opposing sides like this. When we do, the tactic is often used to paint the bad guy as even worse than we could learn just from the hero or heroine’s perspective, but Kushtrim’s troubles are painted with an empathetic brush. While I won’t say you’ll wind up rooting for him, you definitely will find sympathy in your heart for his plight.
As with all fantasy, the author is free to add in magic, mystery and unusual beings to create their world. Shards of History has quite a few new and different twists that will delight and surprise many fantasy readers. However, Malia's tenacity and struggles are very real and approachable even for the non-fantasy reader. And for thrill seekers, be prepared to not put the book down by about two-thirds of the way through because once the climactic action starts, it does not let up. It will keep you reading just a little more, just a little more, just a little more - don't start it after midnight if you have an early day the next morning. There is some language and some graphic depictions of violence. There are a few minor sexual references and the “bad guys”, the Maddions, are not respectful of women at all. If you need an age reference I would let my fantasy-loving 12 year read this book. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy and to anyone who enjoys a strong heroine.
I purchased this book with real money. I do know the author (she is the wife of a dear friend and has become a good friend as well) but my opinions are my own and based on my generally positive view of the fantasy genre. This one hits it out of the park.
I was actually pleasantly surprised by the book. Sometimes I pick stuff up more or less at random, and this was one of those. I tried the sample first, and it definitely had enough to at least pique my interest, especially since the full ebook was only $2.99. So my recommendation is to read the sample first, and if it interests you at least a little bit, for only $2.99, go ahead and pick up the full book.
I really enjoyed that this book had, in my opinion, a genuinely strong female character. I also enjoyed the small hints of romance, but it didn't overpower the main story. It had interesting fantasy elements, but still felt believable in the novel's world. I would've liked a little more background and lore on the world, so hopefully that will maybe be in the sequel. The only other negatives I had were that a couple of times I felt like sentences were repetitive, but I only noticed this a few times. Also, at times I felt a little lost on descriptions, I think they could have been elaborated more. Many times I felt like I didn't really understand exactly where a character was, or how they were positioned (sitting, standing, laying down, etc), or what they looked like. Other than that, I really enjoyed this more than I thought I would!
For readers, give the same a try, and if you like it even a little bit, buy it! It gets more interesting after the first few chapters!
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