Paths of the Broken

Record of the Sentinel Seer #4

by M.H. Woodscourt

Forgotten promises. Buried history.
No one is ready for the truth.

At last, Lekore and Toranskay have been granted permission to visit Sirinhigha, the birth world of magic. There, they hope to uncover the mystery of their twin blades—but an ancient evil has broken its bonds in search of the Sentinel Seer.

Emperor Majentay is fighting for peace on the heels of all the chaos his two notorious prisoners have wreaked. But everything turns upside-down when a new Kiisuld partnership breaches the world of Erokel and kidnaps two feisty Kel royals.

Choices and secrets collide to reveal a horrific, mind-shattering chapter of history. And no one is prepared to face the truth. Not even the Kiisuld.

362 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 6, 2022

Reviews

[Giselle Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic! Seat-Gripping! Impossible to Put Down!

The epic battle between the galactic races continues in this fourth installment of Record of Sentinel Seer, and as it progresses to the climax unexpected and life altering secrets unravel. Emotions and trauma spill over. Life as all have come to know it during the last several centuries is being turned on its head. Old promises and terrible experiments are coming to light. Lekore and his friends won't come out of this next adventure unscathed, and the dangers to follow cannot be ignored. Fate cannot be ignored. Feelings and instincts cannot be ignored.

Readers will be craving more with every chapter, and before they know it the sun will be rising.

[Emmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC REVIEW
*I received a free digital copy. This does not affect my review, which I leave voluntarily

This is book 4 of a clean, new adult, whimsical epic sci-fantasy series with a soft magic system.
A prophesied hero, lucky charms in the form of people, shape shifting dragons and redemption arcs. This one has it all!
Multiple third person pov.

[spoilers below]

What I loved:
- the world building in this series is still fantastic, though in this particular instalment i would have liked to see a bit more detail. But the universe in this story is so vast, and there's so much to explore.
- prose & themes: Woodscourt, as always, has some beautiful prose and deeper themes that make you think and stand still to dream a little
- DRAGONS! yay! 'nuff said

What I missed:
- Romance: the romance in this story doesn't work for me. It's written well, and in a way i enjoyed that, but the two characters seem so incredible unevenly matched at the moment that it raises too many alarm bells for me and i can't root for them
- Pro-active MC: there seems to be a pattern of the MC getting captured by villains, and that worked fine for me in the last books, but when it happened again in this one, i was a little disappointed. It felt like another repetition and instead, I really wanted him to become more assertive and take control of his life.

Sexual content: none
Coarse language: none
Violence and gore: moderate violence, mild gore, including torture scenes and mention of sexual violence I believe somewhere, though nothing graphic or detailed whatsoever

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paths of the Broken is what a fantastic penultimate story in a series should look like! This epic book begins with Lekore, who is still very much suffering from past trauma and even new knowledge of events to come, and Prince Toranskay traveling to get much needed answers about the history of their twin blades. But along this path, they uncover evil that has been waiting for the right time to strike. All the while, peace negotiations between the Ahvenians and Kiisuld are at a stand-still. As a result, both sides take desperate action that bring about a course of events that will change everything!

I don’t want to spoil too much, but I will start by saying that it has dragons-yes dragons! I am such a sucker for a book that has dragons involved, but that also makes me very picky on how they are written and woven into the story. And I have to say, Woodscourt makes a dragon everything that it should be, and more. They are so powerful, majestic, and surrounded by mystery. I really, really, really hope they show up again in book 5.

Although Lekore will always hold the place as my absolute favorite character with his refreshing irrevocable goodness, we see a focus on Tahomin’s journey to a level we haven’t yet. And I am not upset about that at all! With his constant internal battles of discovering himself, he is turning into the character that is really one of the most intriguing of this series. But I also love how his story is turning into such a vital part of understanding this universe as a whole. This is so masterfully done and a very nice payoff as a reader who has really gone through the roller coaster and spent a lot of time with Tahomin throughout this series!

This world and history continues to get bigger and bigger and how little nuggets of information and plot points, even all the way back from book one, is now all connecting is so incredible and really cool to see unfold.

That is what I think this book does best and so darn well! We now have almost all of the pieces of history and mystery of the series put together, and it sets up the last upcoming book of the series to be the ultimate showdown of what all the characters are going to do now that most of the cards are on the table.

I simply cannot recommend this series enough, and Woodscourt has continued to outdo herself with each new installment. She has all the ingredients of a top tier series that should be on everyone’s radar! I cannot wait to see how this series ends with the next book!

[Beba Andric · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is it about Lekore that gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, that makes me want to befriend him so badly? Can there be a nicer person? I think not! He's one of the most sensitive characters I've come across, he's just so...nice! He has all the elements at his fingertips, literally, his magic is powerful yet he battles to reconcile his view of the world with reality. Strife, pain and killing physically hurt him. He might seem naive for some, but such purity is rare, HE is a rare character, extremely well written and developed throughout the series, which gets better with each book! This book is for lovers of magic, of incredibly creative characters, of inter galactic adventures and strife. The so called gods are constantly jostling for dominance, which leads to some spectacular battles. Each race is so imaginatively portrayed and the attention to detail is superb. Once again, Majentay impressed me, (don't you just love the play of words or letters in this case?) another great guy, but then to balance the scales, there's Vay-Dinn, who's a pompous, self important and devious so and so! I love how Tahomin's conscience comes to the fore with his captive, and his realisation or denial of Vay-Dinn's character. There are many characters in the book, all deserving a mention but I guess the best way to "discover" them, is to read this book and series. Wonderfully intriguing and intricate. This is a superbly written book, gorgeous characters and a writing style that's just up my alley! Absolutely agog in anticipation of the next book!

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Record of Sentinel Seer series is a complete immersive experience. Woodscourt has blown me away with her characters, story, and world every single book and this is no exception. The story is intricate and intriguing. The perfect blending of fantasy and science. This combo lends to these lush worlds that are rich and vivid, so well described and developed that you can perfectly imagine them. It is a multi-race and cultured story with several kingdoms, magics, and technologies to explore. The characters though—This is absolutely where this series shines. They are all multidimensional, they experience the full range emotions and interactions. This doesn’t even explain what a feat this is because she manages to do this with all of her characters and the amount of characters you meet and grow to care for a long the way is phenomenal. While you root for the good guy (actually, Lekore is the best guy) you don’t instantly dismiss the not so great characters. There are redemptive qualities that make you ponder a characters’ nature and intentions, giving you some semblance of hope. And Woodscourt writes these stories so that anything is possible.

While I did receive an ARC of this book, my opinion was no way influenced and entirely my own.

[Laura A. Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not that you're broken, it's what you do with your brokenness.

Lekore and gang have been through a lot, which is no surprise since we're embarking into Record of the Sentinel Seer IV. Unfortunately, there's very little time to work through trauma of the past as more evil seeks out Lekore.

Paths of the Broken is an exploration of trauma and healing in the wake of seemingly insurmountable challenges and unspeakable hurt. Do you let it corrode you? Is healing an option? What will it mean for what's happened and who you are? Through the lens of a fantastic sci-fantasy story, we can ask these questions of ourselves and learn with our characters what the answers might be.

I particularly love how certain characters shine in this installment of the series: Lekore, Tahomin, Sajaray, and Ademas stick out for me. Their growth leaps from the pages and endears me to them even more than I already was.

If you're diving into Paths of the Broken, get ready for an emotional deep dive into our characters as the adventure continues and worlds collide. There are still many more surprises along the way that'll leave your jaw on the floor.

[Mandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woodscourt has done it again in this fabulous addition to the Sentinel Seer Series. As always, her writing transforms the reader's surroundings to whatever world her characters are on. The sights, the sounds, the smells are all so vivid that you can't help but travel along with Lekore and his companions.

And the characters. Oh, the characters are definitely Woodscourt's strong point. They are perfectly written. Flawed, tortured, tormented, caring, honest, naive, diabolical, conniving, manipulative, and most if not all of them are facing their own inner demons, trying to overcome them and live each day. I am not the type of person to root for the bad guy, but Woodscourt has a way of showing me their redeeming qualities and makes me want to see them get a second chance. She makes me want for them to overcome their circumstances and live up to their potential.

The plot is flawlessly constructed, and I have no doubt that everything will fit together perfectly in the conclusion to this series. I cannot wait to read it!

[Chey · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the fourth installment of the Record of Sentient Seer, we find our MCs, Lekore and Toranskay working to unravel the mystery of their blades. But there is more happening than they realize when an ancient evil frees itself, and two royals find themselves kidnapped.

This series is fun, clean and whimsical, lending itself to an entertaining read. The magic system and world the author built showed their creativity and continues to do so as the story progresses. It's interesting to see how the story continues to unfold as our main characters unravel more mysteries.

The pacing is on the slower side, and there are portions that tend to drag, just because a lot of detail is needed. The detail isn't dispersed out enough so the reading becomes slightly tedious, but overall the story was entertaining.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

My experience when reading a series of books about mostly the same characters there will be highs and lows within my the tale. I'm happy to say that there's been no lows in this tale. I'm still in love with the characters that I've been drawn to since book 1. And mad with the characters are making me sick. 😆. I've read a lot of books that have a enemy to lovers spin. But this tale is totally unique in the way the characters connect. There's only one more book in this series and I find myself wanting to slow down because I'm not ready to leave these characters and their story. By the way, I'm usually reading a few books at any given time. But I've only read this series since I picked up book one. This really should be on the screen.

[Anya Josephs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book neatly balances the different plot elements, giving us plenty of time with all the characters we've gotten to love. It felt most intense in terms of plot, with the introduction of a true antagonist along with the characteristic cast of morally grey characters doing their best. It continues to be beautifully written and compelling to read. I'm looking forward to the rest of this series, and hope there will be a book five soon!

[R.K. Goff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great installment in the series.

Woodscourt continues her trend of excellence in this book. Epic plot. Lyrical, well-crafted writing. She's carrying the story along marvelously, so if you've read the first three books, of course you'll want to read this one. And if you haven't read the first three books, you should definitely start there.

The basic plot is a science-fantasy (blend of science fiction and fantasy) with a true hero set up in an epic fight against evil to try to save everyone without losing himself. I don't know about a happy ending - that's book five - but while he's on his journey, he's going to be put through the wringer.

If you like The Lord of the Rings or similarly involved stories with the theme of good and evil, this would be a good match for you.