Prelude to the Shards

A Shards of the Coven Novel

De: Michael Timmins

Narrado por: C. J. Grey

From Michael Timmins, acclaimed author who breathed new life into the shifter genre with, The Lycan War Saga, comes the first book in an amazing new series set in the captivating new world of Ismia.

An epic tale of magical swords, treacherous races, and forbidden magic.

Quint Linksill is on the run. Framed for murdering his love, he now seeks the help of the Witch of Time, whose power will prove his innocence. With his unique companion, Wren, he must avoid capture from a man who hunts him for his own dark purpose.

It’s Sojin and Lyyra’s time to partake in the Race, the traditional competition to determine who will become a Witchguard. It was supposed to be like all of the Races in the past, but when a mysterious stranger joins them, Sojin and Lyyra find that everything they thought they knew was a lie and now surviving the Race is the least of their worries.

Whisp, a young thief, in a dangerous town of thugs and gangs, where street life is the only life. But Whisp has a secret, she has Essence magic, a magic forbidden by the Witches of the Coven. Now, the Shen, the magic hunters have come for her, but they made a mistake, they came to Ghost and this is her town.

Prelude to the Shards sets the stage for the exciting, action packed Shards of the Coven series for classic fantasy lovers. Open the cover on a new world from the mind of Michael Timmins and get lost in the wonder of magical swords, dark magic, and beautiful world building as only Mr. Timmins can do.

Buy Prelude to the Shards and start your epic adventure today!

©2018 Michael Timmins (P)2020 Michael Timmins

Great New Series Starter, for +17 readers

Parents: Depending on your stance on gore and sexual content, this is most likely best suited to 17+ readers. The language is moderate but there are no f-bombs. In terms of violence it's very descriptive with: drawn and quartered child, sword fights, and in terms of the level of gore. The sexual content has references to “laying” with people, descriptions in detail of body types, and references to rape/whoring.

All that being said the story is fast paced and very enjoyable. There are several stories and this reads fairly straightforward in terms of being a setup/groundwork novel. Without giving anything away, this book was engulfing to say the least and the second book is likely to be equally enjoyable. I look forward to the opportunity to see what cliffhangers are answered in the next installment.

The narrator has a good voice, decent pace (I sped up to 1.5x).

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Cool World, Cool Magic, Cool Characters

I thought the book was a really good introduction to a new world. The world that Michael Timmins introduces us to is fully of magic and excitement.

I think that the story has some interesting characters, good character development and a interesting magic. There are few things that I hate more in a fantasy book then lame magic, but this story has a interesting magic system that I hope will get more defined as the series continues. Also the attitude that this world has towards magic is very interesting, I am looking forward to see how that theme develops in future books. There are three separate story arcs contained in this book and each of the characters that were introduced are unique and interesting. I thought that there development was done well. However, the three stories were broken out as separate stories, meaning that one characters story arc started and ended before the other one began. None of the three story arcs have crossed as of yet. So I would have liked to have had the book skip between story arcs and had all three of the stories interlaced throughout the book. With the three stories completely separated it almost seemed like three short novels combined into one.

The narrator did a very good job. I had not previously listened to a book read by C.J. Grey but I think he did a very good job. I think that he did a good job creating distinct voices, his also normal reading voice is pleasant to listen to.

Overall..... I am looking forward to the

I have no affiliation to the author, narrator or publisher. This was a unbiased review.

A Well-Written Start to a New Series

I enjoyed Prelude to the Shards. It was well written, had interesting and deep characters, and excellent world-building. Though it’s a typical start to an epic fantasy series, with several significant protagonists being introduced within their own plotline and background stories, it’s also really well done and put together. And unlike similar novels where each chapter shifts to a different protagonist’s POV, the three individual stories in Prelude are written as self-contained novellas.

Each story in Prelude to the Shards is perfectly executed. The characters are introduced along with details about their background, personality, and quirks; their motivations for uprooting their lives and traveling, which I imagine will ultimately lead them to crossing paths in future books, start to develop as each story ends. All three narratives are deep and descriptive, providing bits and details that slowly build the world and explain its politics, magic systems, and cultures. If every book in this series is as well done, this will be an excellent series.

My only gripe about Prelude to the Shards isn’t really a drawback -- it’s actually something that is executed well. All three stories contain their own mini-plots, but each ends right after the narrative climax but before anything is really, truly resolved. The end feels rather sudden. You could say that each story ends “right when it was getting good.” But the word “Prelude” is right there in the title, so I suppose I should have expected as much. It’s infuriating because it leaves me with tons of unresolved questions, but I have to say that the author has done an excellent job hooking me, and now I want to read the next book in the series, which isn’t out yet (as of the time I’m writing this). So that’s a bit irritating. But I guess if the only negative thing I can say about a book is that it left me wanting more, it’s not a negative thing.

C. J. Grey does a pretty good job narrating the audio version of the book. He does excellent, unique voices for the characters, matches the tone of the writing, and manages to pull off both male and female voices well. Prelude to the Shards was already good, and the excellent performance makes it that much better.

Special thanks to Michael Timmins, who provided me with this book at my request.

Awesome!!!

I really enjoyed this story... The characters were well developed and the writing was very good. I felt like I was a part of the story and I am looking forward to listening to book two...

the narrator done an amazing job as well