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The Shattered Soul #2
The Fragment of Shadow
The fragments of Draeken have protected Lumineia for ages, but never faced such a foe. Serak, the Father of Guardians, has plotted for thousands of years, studying them in secret, even inciting conflicts to measure their power. Now allied with Wylyn, leader of the invading krey, he is even more dangerous, yet his true purpose is a mystery. The fragment of Shadow is sent in search of Wylyn’s son. Intelligent and tactical, Relgor thinks himself a master of all, and wants the fragments for his own gain. Unfortunately for him, Shadow possesses a gift for evasion, and a desire for mischief. With the last guild assassin as a reluctant ally, Shadow is ready to hunt, for the most delightful prey is also the most deadly.
- GenresFantasy
341 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 9, 2018
37 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Ben Hale
50 books353 followersAs an avid snowboarder from Utah, Ben grew up with a passion for learning. This thirst for knowledge led him to sports, music, and academic endeavors. After a year of college, he did volunteer work in Brazil and became fluent in three languages. Graduating from the University of Central Florida, he started and ran several successful businesses before publishing his first novel in June of 2012. By the end of the year he'd sold almost ten thousand copies of The Second Draeken War, and he began writing full-time. Now spanning 10,000 years, ten titles, and two series, The Chronicles of Lumineia represents a sprawling YA series that has sold over fifty thousand copies, and continues to expand its readership across all ages. Each of his books has been inspired by his wonderful wife and five beautiful children.
To contact the author, discover more about Lumineia, or find out about upcoming novels, check out his website at Lumineia.com. You can also follow Ben on twitter @ BenHale8 or on Facebook.
To contact the author, discover more about Lumineia, or find out about upcoming novels, check out his website at Lumineia.com. You can also follow Ben on twitter @ BenHale8 or on Facebook.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 25, 2018
Beautiful and disturbing, but altogether wonderful!
Really great insights into Draeken by looking at the mischievous and closed off brother. We get to see that Shadow is much more than what he appeared to be in The Fragment of Water. Though we were playing catch-up with Shadow's story for the good majority of the book, that did not detract from the usual masterpiece we have come to love from Ben.
Really great insights into Draeken by looking at the mischievous and closed off brother. We get to see that Shadow is much more than what he appeared to be in The Fragment of Water. Though we were playing catch-up with Shadow's story for the good majority of the book, that did not detract from the usual masterpiece we have come to love from Ben.
November 29, 2018
Ben writes some entertaining fantasy. It can't be denied and I look forward to all of his stuff. Shadow is no exception and continues The Shattered Soul series. This seems like its going to be a little like that one movie where they showed the same event over and over again but from different POVs. Book 1 was Water, Book 2 Shadow. So far, it's easy to see how Ben plans on running this as the different fragments of Draekan are split into teams that split again, cross paths with other fragments, and reform through the narrative so far. So while Shadow covered much the same time period as Water, and certainly intersected at key points, there was enough to feel like it wasn't a simple rehash.
Again, the general story of these books so far takes place a couple thousand years after the end of the Oracle War and is leading, presumably, to the first Draekan war. It is expanding our understanding of the Eternals and their mission. I wonder, myself, where the Eternals were in the Last Oracle series though. We know Ero, at least, is still putting around the 2nd Draekan war from the Jack Myst series. Seeing their mission is to protect Lumineia, where were they when all life was extinguished in the three major wars that we know of? I posed these questions in my review of book one, but they remain. Ben, however, has my full faith and confidence as he has been very good at wrapping up loose ends in other cases.
Shadow allows Ben to flex his anti-hero writing muscles some more after writing a whole series with Jack Myst. And, indeed, there are certainly flavors of Jack in Shadow, even if Jack lacked the undercurrent of menace and overt troublemaking qualities of Shadow. Water was definitely more in the vein of the other Ben archtype, the honorable warrior (see Tryton, Tess, and Taryn). And yet, even with the mischevious-ness and the downright rebellious nature of Shadow, he still seems to be more a chaotic neutral character as opposed to the force that almost destroys the world. The krey are almost a sideshow at this point. The real question is how do we get from here to the First Draeken war. My personal theories involve some of the nobeler fragments dying or going away and the remaining fragments making the Draekan we see later on. And that the First war will be the next series. In any case, I'm here for it.
Again, the general story of these books so far takes place a couple thousand years after the end of the Oracle War and is leading, presumably, to the first Draekan war. It is expanding our understanding of the Eternals and their mission. I wonder, myself, where the Eternals were in the Last Oracle series though. We know Ero, at least, is still putting around the 2nd Draekan war from the Jack Myst series. Seeing their mission is to protect Lumineia, where were they when all life was extinguished in the three major wars that we know of? I posed these questions in my review of book one, but they remain. Ben, however, has my full faith and confidence as he has been very good at wrapping up loose ends in other cases.
Shadow allows Ben to flex his anti-hero writing muscles some more after writing a whole series with Jack Myst. And, indeed, there are certainly flavors of Jack in Shadow, even if Jack lacked the undercurrent of menace and overt troublemaking qualities of Shadow. Water was definitely more in the vein of the other Ben archtype, the honorable warrior (see Tryton, Tess, and Taryn). And yet, even with the mischevious-ness and the downright rebellious nature of Shadow, he still seems to be more a chaotic neutral character as opposed to the force that almost destroys the world. The krey are almost a sideshow at this point. The real question is how do we get from here to the First Draeken war. My personal theories involve some of the nobeler fragments dying or going away and the remaining fragments making the Draekan we see later on. And that the First war will be the next series. In any case, I'm here for it.
April 17, 2019
It retreads some of last book from Shadow's perspective. He makes friends with Lorca the assassin. They make plans to get captured by Serak, it goes kind of wrong when he really captures them, but it's part of the plan. Light turns up so whisk away a light based monster they were going to use on Shadow, then they blow the place up. Elen, as expected, gets attacked and gets mostly away but blasted by lightning in directed underground and blacks out. May or may not be toast. Shadow has Mind and Light help him make her some new wings. Then goes to report to the bad guys who is working for, but not. Then goes to the good guys waiting (Lorca comes too) and the plan is to take them out for what they did to Elen, so she's probably alive. But Light is missing.
November 12, 2018
Shadow 's character was one of my favorites in book 1 and confirmed that in this book. He's complicated, intriguing, but also learns he is more than a fragment. I look forward to the next fragment of Draeken.
February 27, 2024
Really like the concept, and Shadow as a main character is great fun. My version of the book needed some more editing, which occasionally made for stilted reading, but I'm looking forward to reading the next one.
November 7, 2018
can't wait for the next book
July 15, 2019
Oh Shadow you naughty fragment...by far my favourite...!
January 14, 2023
I like it a lot
May 1, 2024
An excellent instalment in the series, and brilliantly narrated by Derek Perkins, plenty of action, with a good dose of humour and great characters, looking forward to the next book in the series.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews