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Heart of Stone #0.5
Shards: A Story of The Realm
They call the Malar Dorah unbreakable. Five centuries it has stood unconquered until foul trickery cracked its gates. Now, it is the final bastion of a retreating northern army, and the culmination of a long-raging war. The warlord Belerod stands at the Dorah's doorstep with a horde at his back, set on testing the meaning of unbreakable with his golems.
Fourteen of his creations waded into the Diamond Wars, and now only eight remain. Their second-youngest, Task, has seen every blood-washed battle; every crippling defeat and valiant push. And now, at the end, the soldiers whisper of a wizard hiding behind the Dorah's vast walls.
For the first and last time in this war, it seems magic will fight magic.
Set several centuries before the events of Ben Galley's standalone novel The Heart of Stone, Shards is a prequel tale of Task's beginnings in the Diamond Wars.
Fourteen of his creations waded into the Diamond Wars, and now only eight remain. Their second-youngest, Task, has seen every blood-washed battle; every crippling defeat and valiant push. And now, at the end, the soldiers whisper of a wizard hiding behind the Dorah's vast walls.
For the first and last time in this war, it seems magic will fight magic.
Set several centuries before the events of Ben Galley's standalone novel The Heart of Stone, Shards is a prequel tale of Task's beginnings in the Diamond Wars.
- GenresFantasy
47 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 25, 2017
4 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
Ben Galley
53 books853 followersBen Galley is a British author of dark and epic fantasy books who currently hails from Vancouver, Canada. Since publishing his debut Emaneska Series, Ben has released the award-winning weird western Scarlet Star Trilogy and standalone The Heart of Stone, the critically-acclaimed Chasing Graves Trilogy, and the new Scalussen Chronicles.
When he isn’t conjuring up strange new stories or arguing the finer points of magic systems and dragon anatomy, Ben explores the Canadian wilds, sips Scotch single malts, and snowboards very, very badly. One day he hopes to haunt an epic treehouse in the mountains.
Find all of Ben’s books or join his Discord and Patreon at: www.linktr.ee/bengalley
When he isn’t conjuring up strange new stories or arguing the finer points of magic systems and dragon anatomy, Ben explores the Canadian wilds, sips Scotch single malts, and snowboards very, very badly. One day he hopes to haunt an epic treehouse in the mountains.
Find all of Ben’s books or join his Discord and Patreon at: www.linktr.ee/bengalley
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 30, 2018
Full review is here, on my blog.
Oh Task. I missed you, you giant stony pile of fun!
This is a story that takes place in Task’s early life, while he is still with his creator and his brothers and sisters. They are more or less chasing an army into a fortress that is rather famous for never having been forcefully taken, but the army retreating there has a magic user to break in.
Well, the army chasing them has a bunch of golems to throw at it, so there!
This story is short enough that I read it in about an hour and a half, which is more novella-length for me, but that said, I still managed to highlight 4 passages in it, one of which was like the first line of it, reminding me that I really do love Ben Galley’s writing.
And also… I’m not going to say that I liked this one better than The Heart of Stone, because that’s not precisely true, but this one was short and sweet, didn’t spare the f-bombs (yes, I noticed! :D), and was quite immersive and hard to put down.
Seeing Task in his early life, and seeing that he was always… a bit different than other golems. Seeing how he is compared to his siblings, and just getting a look at what other golems made by Belerod are like was interesting as well.
There’s also a bit of a sequence where we go back to the timeframe in which The Heart of Stone takes place, and that was a neat little segue into the conclusion.
All told, I really, really liked it. There’s also a line that, to me, seems to indicate that The Heart of Stone and the Emaneska series take place in the same world… and that’s interesting. I did not know that. Either way, I’m definitely hoping to get on that sooner than later.
Oh Task. I missed you, you giant stony pile of fun!
This is a story that takes place in Task’s early life, while he is still with his creator and his brothers and sisters. They are more or less chasing an army into a fortress that is rather famous for never having been forcefully taken, but the army retreating there has a magic user to break in.
Well, the army chasing them has a bunch of golems to throw at it, so there!
This story is short enough that I read it in about an hour and a half, which is more novella-length for me, but that said, I still managed to highlight 4 passages in it, one of which was like the first line of it, reminding me that I really do love Ben Galley’s writing.
And also… I’m not going to say that I liked this one better than The Heart of Stone, because that’s not precisely true, but this one was short and sweet, didn’t spare the f-bombs (yes, I noticed! :D), and was quite immersive and hard to put down.
Seeing Task in his early life, and seeing that he was always… a bit different than other golems. Seeing how he is compared to his siblings, and just getting a look at what other golems made by Belerod are like was interesting as well.
There’s also a bit of a sequence where we go back to the timeframe in which The Heart of Stone takes place, and that was a neat little segue into the conclusion.
All told, I really, really liked it. There’s also a line that, to me, seems to indicate that The Heart of Stone and the Emaneska series take place in the same world… and that’s interesting. I did not know that. Either way, I’m definitely hoping to get on that sooner than later.
June 26, 2018
Lovely short story prequel. I wouldn't recommend reading it first, but it's a great companion piece to Heart of Stone. Quality audiobook too.
August 7, 2017
If you needed an introduction to the author that is Ben Galley, look no further than this prequel to his standalone novel, The Heart of Stone.
I first came across Galley in the 'Long Wolf Anthology', put out by Undaunted Publishing earlier this year. His short story, The Iron Keys, captured me and I put him on my list of soon-to-be household names. Shards continued that sentiment and pushed THoS up quite a bit on my TBR. Obviously not having read THoS, I'm glad Galley gave me an introduction to his main character, Task, and his beginnings during the Diamond Wars.
Shards is short (around 48 pages) but has enough action and intrigue to keep you invested for a quick read on a Saturday afternoon. It feels more like a conclusion than a beginning, as Task is reliving (via dream) the story, but nonetheless, I'm a sucker for novellas like this. To be honest, one wouldn't think golems have intellectual depth, but Galley has instilled great character into Task and has actually created an emotional bond between reader and golem. The only thing I wished for was more: More war, more bloodshed, and more golems. But alas, that is why THoS was written.
All in all, this novella is $0.99, easy to pick up, and worthwhile if you plan on reading THoS. I suggest you give Galley a chance.
I first came across Galley in the 'Long Wolf Anthology', put out by Undaunted Publishing earlier this year. His short story, The Iron Keys, captured me and I put him on my list of soon-to-be household names. Shards continued that sentiment and pushed THoS up quite a bit on my TBR. Obviously not having read THoS, I'm glad Galley gave me an introduction to his main character, Task, and his beginnings during the Diamond Wars.
Shards is short (around 48 pages) but has enough action and intrigue to keep you invested for a quick read on a Saturday afternoon. It feels more like a conclusion than a beginning, as Task is reliving (via dream) the story, but nonetheless, I'm a sucker for novellas like this. To be honest, one wouldn't think golems have intellectual depth, but Galley has instilled great character into Task and has actually created an emotional bond between reader and golem. The only thing I wished for was more: More war, more bloodshed, and more golems. But alas, that is why THoS was written.
All in all, this novella is $0.99, easy to pick up, and worthwhile if you plan on reading THoS. I suggest you give Galley a chance.
July 23, 2018
True must read for fans of Task, the wind-cut, stone golem featured in Ben Galley’s 'The Heart of Stone.' In Heart, Task shares hints of his participation in wars of old, but never really explains to what extent and at what costs in his formation as a fighting machine. Shards, a short story fills in a gap in Task’s life providing readers a unique view of life with his brothers and sister as well as some great battle scenes and the storming of an impregnable fortress. The evil wizard, Casimo is in the fortress and opposes the troops following Belerod, Task’s creator. The battle scenes are riveting, as expected. As I said to start with, this is a must read.
May 13, 2018
This was a short story begging to be told. In The Heart of Stone, Ben Galley introduces us to Task, a Wind-cut golem. He’s been fighting in the wars of mankind for over 400 years. In Shards, the author takes us back centuries to the Diamond Wars, when Task was “young” and his brethren were many. Excellent!
August 23, 2017
I really enjoyed this one. Ben Galley seems to have the ability to bring characters to life with very little effort, and that allows them to take over the story to where I didn't really feel like I was reading it at times but watching the scenes play out in my head of their own accord.
Task is our main character here, a golem constructed by a sorcerer to lead his army in an ongoing war. Task has many siblings, all very different (rock material, size, shape), and all clearly described and fun to learn about.
And the fights, the fights are gruesomely imagined and really stuck in my head -- at one point Task uses a man as a weapon to mow down other enemies until said man tears apart to the point of uselessness, and then there's lots of head-rolling and body-rending...ahhh I loved it!
The only slightly negative thing I can say is there's a handful of areas that were missed during editing, just like duplicate words and the like, nothing that gets in the way of enjoyment. I still give it a solid 5/5.
Task is our main character here, a golem constructed by a sorcerer to lead his army in an ongoing war. Task has many siblings, all very different (rock material, size, shape), and all clearly described and fun to learn about.
And the fights, the fights are gruesomely imagined and really stuck in my head -- at one point Task uses a man as a weapon to mow down other enemies until said man tears apart to the point of uselessness, and then there's lots of head-rolling and body-rending...ahhh I loved it!
The only slightly negative thing I can say is there's a handful of areas that were missed during editing, just like duplicate words and the like, nothing that gets in the way of enjoyment. I still give it a solid 5/5.
March 28, 2018
A fun short story in the same world as Heart of Stone. We learn more about Task’s past and get to see him interacting with other golems as they storm a fortress and chase down a wizard. Task remains an intriguing character and one I’m anxious to read more of.
March 8, 2021
A prequel to the author's awesome "Heart of Stone" that's not quite an origin tale, but more of a set up for a potential book two (please!!!). The story tells of Task's development from an almost mindless killing machine to the one we know today. Nice little twist at the end too.
May 10, 2023
3.5/5. Fun little short story
August 29, 2017
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
This review is spoiler free.
Story Summary
Shards follows the main character of the Heart of Stone novel, Task. Task is a golem. That alone caught my interest. Sure, I’ve read about golems, but I’ve never read a book with a golem as the main character. I will start by saying that I have not yet read the Heart of Stone novel, so my first introduction to Task is here in the short story.
It’s a relatively common story thread. Group attacks fortress and seeks out the guy in charge. The twist is that the army is led by a man named Belerod who happens to create golems. The man they are after is a wizard named Casimo.
The Characters
There’s a lot of characters in this story. Almost too many. Besides the three I already mentioned, there are at least 6-7 more named golems. I can’t remember them all, but here’s the ones I do remember, Thunderkill, Quartz, Rise, and Paragon. And on top of that there’s at least two other human characters whose names evade me.
The golem names were all interesting. I especially like Rise. He is the first golem, and I can just imagine Belerod, very Frankenstine-like, saying “Rise, my creation!” and hence the name. I don’t know if that was Ben Galley’s intention, but that’s what I took from it.
The problem with so many names, as you can see, is that it was just difficult for me to remember them all. It’s harder yet to attribute personality to so many and get attached to them.
The World
The world of Shards is probably called The Realm. I don’t know for sure as it’s not directly mentioned in the short story, but I’m going off the title. The world building is pretty intricate and Galley has created a wonderful world for the setting of these two stories. Belerod is considered a windcutter and the golems technical names are the “Wind-Cut.”
The details behind how the golems were created as well as what kills them is rather interesting. They are made of stone, correct? And we see in the story how things hit them and they just rebuild like you’d expect a golem. Except when attacked by starsteel, a special material that chisels away the stone preventing it from coming back.
I did have a bit of issue here, though. On top of the many characters are a multitude of countries and places. My impression from the amount of name drops is that a reader should already be familiar with these places had they read the original novel. Seeing as I have not, it just seemed like too much and little of it was relevant to the story or their current location.
The Plot
There’s a pleasant reveal toward the end of the third act that I should have seen coming, but didn’t. The story starts kind of slow, but picks up towards the end of the first act with a pretty riveting battle scene. It’s not your typical battle scene, though. Sure, there’s plenty of decapitations, but not from a sword, plenty of crushed bones, but not from a hammer. I loved the fight scenes in this story.
The themes throughout the book are a setup for the main novel and it’s very plain and easy to understand even if you haven’t read the novel.
Additional Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed Shards and would recommend reading it. I did have a few issues with it that I mentioned above, but the main reason I only gave this story 3.5 stars is the ending.
It was a bit of let down for me. Every story needs a denouement. It helps the readers tie up loose ends. Shards’ resolution accomplished this, but the way it was carried out bothered me. Without sharing spoilers, it’s an ending style that authors are cautioned against. Granted it was not quite as grievous as it could have been, yet it still had the same effect on me.
Despite that, the plot is solid and storytelling is fantastic. I would recommend grabbing a copy on Amazon and judging for yourself.
This review is spoiler free.
Story Summary
Shards follows the main character of the Heart of Stone novel, Task. Task is a golem. That alone caught my interest. Sure, I’ve read about golems, but I’ve never read a book with a golem as the main character. I will start by saying that I have not yet read the Heart of Stone novel, so my first introduction to Task is here in the short story.
It’s a relatively common story thread. Group attacks fortress and seeks out the guy in charge. The twist is that the army is led by a man named Belerod who happens to create golems. The man they are after is a wizard named Casimo.
The Characters
There’s a lot of characters in this story. Almost too many. Besides the three I already mentioned, there are at least 6-7 more named golems. I can’t remember them all, but here’s the ones I do remember, Thunderkill, Quartz, Rise, and Paragon. And on top of that there’s at least two other human characters whose names evade me.
The golem names were all interesting. I especially like Rise. He is the first golem, and I can just imagine Belerod, very Frankenstine-like, saying “Rise, my creation!” and hence the name. I don’t know if that was Ben Galley’s intention, but that’s what I took from it.
The problem with so many names, as you can see, is that it was just difficult for me to remember them all. It’s harder yet to attribute personality to so many and get attached to them.
The World
The world of Shards is probably called The Realm. I don’t know for sure as it’s not directly mentioned in the short story, but I’m going off the title. The world building is pretty intricate and Galley has created a wonderful world for the setting of these two stories. Belerod is considered a windcutter and the golems technical names are the “Wind-Cut.”
The details behind how the golems were created as well as what kills them is rather interesting. They are made of stone, correct? And we see in the story how things hit them and they just rebuild like you’d expect a golem. Except when attacked by starsteel, a special material that chisels away the stone preventing it from coming back.
I did have a bit of issue here, though. On top of the many characters are a multitude of countries and places. My impression from the amount of name drops is that a reader should already be familiar with these places had they read the original novel. Seeing as I have not, it just seemed like too much and little of it was relevant to the story or their current location.
The Plot
There’s a pleasant reveal toward the end of the third act that I should have seen coming, but didn’t. The story starts kind of slow, but picks up towards the end of the first act with a pretty riveting battle scene. It’s not your typical battle scene, though. Sure, there’s plenty of decapitations, but not from a sword, plenty of crushed bones, but not from a hammer. I loved the fight scenes in this story.
The themes throughout the book are a setup for the main novel and it’s very plain and easy to understand even if you haven’t read the novel.
Additional Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed Shards and would recommend reading it. I did have a few issues with it that I mentioned above, but the main reason I only gave this story 3.5 stars is the ending.
It was a bit of let down for me. Every story needs a denouement. It helps the readers tie up loose ends. Shards’ resolution accomplished this, but the way it was carried out bothered me. Without sharing spoilers, it’s an ending style that authors are cautioned against. Granted it was not quite as grievous as it could have been, yet it still had the same effect on me.
Despite that, the plot is solid and storytelling is fantastic. I would recommend grabbing a copy on Amazon and judging for yourself.
February 28, 2018
A short story from the memories of Task- it's a book that you can't possibly understand without reading The Heart of Stone first. I loved it, while we knew of the golems role in the history, it was nice to read more of times when there were more Windcuts. Instant 5 star for anyone that liked the main story of Task.
January 22, 2019
I hope there are more books featuring Task - I have got quite fond of him! Shards is a short tale about Task set in the time prior to Heart of Stone. I really would like more of this....Sometimes you come across a book that hits all the right places for you and then are disappointed when further books by the same author aren't working for you. Well I'm lucky enough to have found another great author to go on my 'Must Read ' authors list. Task is a golem, something I had to look up in a dictionary - an animated anthropomorphic being that is magically created entirely from inanimate matter. Created by warlord Belarod, Task, as you might guess from the title of the book which Shards is a prequel to, has a heart, which makes him different to his siblings. I'm not going to say any more as I hate knowing much about a book before I read it. This is a short book with a lot of action and whilst a quick read I found it totally satisfying. If you haven't read anything by Ben Galley and you like fantasy this will give you a taste of his talent. Well worth the read
July 25, 2022
My Favourite Golem.
A bloody fantastic little read by Ben Galley, continuing the Golem Task's grisly tale of pulping and smashing skinbags. Shards is a short story set several centuries before his standalone novel The Heart of Stone and takes us back to Task's beginnings in the Diamond Wars were he's surrounded in battle by his stone brothers and sisters. At the start of the Diamond Wars they numbered fifteen, war and magic has taken its toll, now they number eight. The warlord Belerod their master and creator is on the cusp of taking Malar Dorah the Realm’s mightiest fortress that has stood unconquered for centuries. A powerful wizard Casimo and his Northmen stand in their way. Can Task and his brethren create with magic and stone fight back against stone and magic. Check it out, fabulous worldbuilding and setting, if you love dark fantasy with fierce, action-packed bloody themes and a character that just pulls on your heart strings, then I highly recommend this little beauty...😁🖤💥🔥
A bloody fantastic little read by Ben Galley, continuing the Golem Task's grisly tale of pulping and smashing skinbags. Shards is a short story set several centuries before his standalone novel The Heart of Stone and takes us back to Task's beginnings in the Diamond Wars were he's surrounded in battle by his stone brothers and sisters. At the start of the Diamond Wars they numbered fifteen, war and magic has taken its toll, now they number eight. The warlord Belerod their master and creator is on the cusp of taking Malar Dorah the Realm’s mightiest fortress that has stood unconquered for centuries. A powerful wizard Casimo and his Northmen stand in their way. Can Task and his brethren create with magic and stone fight back against stone and magic. Check it out, fabulous worldbuilding and setting, if you love dark fantasy with fierce, action-packed bloody themes and a character that just pulls on your heart strings, then I highly recommend this little beauty...😁🖤💥🔥
December 21, 2022
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For more reviews, go to www.wolfmantula.com/book-reviews
MY ⭐️ RATING: 4.25/5
FORMAT: Kindle Whispersync
I read this as I was doing laundry, dishes and wrapping presents. While doing all that I found myself pausing several times so that I could follow what was happening. For only being a 47 page prequel, short story of The Heart of Stone, this was very good!
“War was not a job for a golem, it was a life.”
I was generally shocked that I would like a story about a golem, but I guess I shouldn’t be too shocked since I already like the way Galley writes from reading his Chasing Graves series. Shards takes place several centuries before the events of The Heart of Stone, which I plan to read very soon. The action starts almost immediately, and it gets pretty dark and a little gruesome.
The other thing I want to mention is that this short story has Whispersync’d narration! Adam Stubbs does a great job with all the voices, especially the voices of the golems, who sound exactly the way I hoped they would sound. I would most definitely suggest going this route or just audio because Stubbs makes it that much better!
For more reviews, go to www.wolfmantula.com/book-reviews
MY ⭐️ RATING: 4.25/5
FORMAT: Kindle Whispersync
I read this as I was doing laundry, dishes and wrapping presents. While doing all that I found myself pausing several times so that I could follow what was happening. For only being a 47 page prequel, short story of The Heart of Stone, this was very good!
“War was not a job for a golem, it was a life.”
I was generally shocked that I would like a story about a golem, but I guess I shouldn’t be too shocked since I already like the way Galley writes from reading his Chasing Graves series. Shards takes place several centuries before the events of The Heart of Stone, which I plan to read very soon. The action starts almost immediately, and it gets pretty dark and a little gruesome.
The other thing I want to mention is that this short story has Whispersync’d narration! Adam Stubbs does a great job with all the voices, especially the voices of the golems, who sound exactly the way I hoped they would sound. I would most definitely suggest going this route or just audio because Stubbs makes it that much better!
June 8, 2022
I loved this story.
It's a prequel to Ben Galley's excellent standalone novel, The Heart of Stone, about a giant battle golem made of stone. I LOVED the audiobook & this short story is read by the same narrator, Adam Stubbs.
I know reading order is a hot topic of debate when it comes to things like this & I think you could read or listen to them in either order. Either Heart of Stone first or Shards first. I think listening to or reading them in publication order might work better, to be honest, because I really fell in love with Task as a character in The Heart of Stone & was truly hankering for some more Task when I was finished with that. So, this short story helped me recover from the post-book doldrums after Heart of Stone.
If you want grimdark with some heart, I think you'll like this short story and The Heart of Stone! Highly recommended.
It's a prequel to Ben Galley's excellent standalone novel, The Heart of Stone, about a giant battle golem made of stone. I LOVED the audiobook & this short story is read by the same narrator, Adam Stubbs.
I know reading order is a hot topic of debate when it comes to things like this & I think you could read or listen to them in either order. Either Heart of Stone first or Shards first. I think listening to or reading them in publication order might work better, to be honest, because I really fell in love with Task as a character in The Heart of Stone & was truly hankering for some more Task when I was finished with that. So, this short story helped me recover from the post-book doldrums after Heart of Stone.
If you want grimdark with some heart, I think you'll like this short story and The Heart of Stone! Highly recommended.
December 11, 2019
Shards
I hadn't known about this until recently after reading a heart of stone a few years ago I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was more to read in this world but now I am left with questions about the prophesy and hoping Ben adds another book to this where task goes looking for the wizards and fulfils the prophesy
I hadn't known about this until recently after reading a heart of stone a few years ago I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was more to read in this world but now I am left with questions about the prophesy and hoping Ben adds another book to this where task goes looking for the wizards and fulfils the prophesy
July 23, 2022
Fantastic
Small bit of a cliffhanger it seems. I will be diving straight into Heart Stone. Very short and I wish there was more build to it but I reckon I’ll see that in Heart Stone. Maybe there will be more scythe scenes. Haha
Small bit of a cliffhanger it seems. I will be diving straight into Heart Stone. Very short and I wish there was more build to it but I reckon I’ll see that in Heart Stone. Maybe there will be more scythe scenes. Haha
December 24, 2018
Great read
Loved this short story that gave more of Task's past. It introduces other golems as well. I'd love to read more about the culture and how golems are made.
Loved this short story that gave more of Task's past. It introduces other golems as well. I'd love to read more about the culture and how golems are made.
May 4, 2022
A fast paced quick read. Nice to learn more about Task's beginnings.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews