The Shard

Chronicles of Xax

De: Ted Cross

Narrado por: Rosa B. Watkinson

A dying king. A mysterious invader. The seer's vision was clear: Find the lost shard from the Spire of Peace or the realm would drown in blood.

The problem: Eight hundred years ago the elven hero Kathkalan took the shard with him into the lair of the most vicious dragon ever known to mankind...and he never returned.

Reluctantly drafted to lead the quest is the minor noble Midas, torn between his duty to the realm and the desire to protect his sons. With an unlikely band of heroes, including two elderly rangers and a young tinker’s son, Midas must risk losing everything he loves if he is to locate the shard and save the Known Lands.

©2015 Ted Cross (P)2020 Ted Cross

Fantasy read

I really liked this book. The world building is good. The characters are all fleshed out. I loved Midas. The narrators performance was really good and each character had their own voice. If you like fantasy books you’ll like this.

Goblins and dragons and wizards, oh my.

A truly epic high fantasy story that follows several characters and is masterfully written. This is of the best books I've had the pleasure of listening to in months. Not once did I feel like the stakes were lacking in this story. There were battles ranging from large to small and the tension was always palpable. The author does a good job developing the characters and making you want them to succeed in their most dire circumstances. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who has a love for high fantasy or fantasy in general. It includes many classic fantasy races without making them feel stale, cliche or forced. The story, itself, is also self contained so you leave quenched but eagerly anticipating the next installment of what is bound to be a great series.

Epic fantasy with a Dragonlance or Tolkien feel

This was one one of the best fantasy books I've read in quite sometime. For me, it had the same feel as Dragonlance or maybe even Lord of the Rings. It is definitely its own thing, but I saw aspects each.

You have a lot of common fantasy components: an invading horde, racial divisions, a mysterious wizard, a dragon hoarding a magical artifact, and a desperate quest to bring it all together. The author manages to combine all of these familiar components into his own world and add some original twists.

The narration initially took a bit of getting used to -- something about the cadence, perhaps. However, either I got used to it, or the narrator found her pace after a few chapters. She did a really good job with the character voices, and overall, I really enjoyed her narration.

From a story perspective, I had some trouble initially figuring out who the "main" characters were. There is a lot going on. We do get to see characters grow in this book, but maybe not as much as I had hoped. I really enjoy character driven stories. I grew to like the characters in the book, but I didn't get to know them as much as I would have hoped.

Without going into spoilers, I really appreciated that the author managed to make this a complete story (without a cliff hanger). Yet he still managed to set things up nicely for the next book -- leaving me wanting to know "What's next?". I am very eager to hear what this author has in store for this world! There are some clues suggesting that there is some interesting world building yet to come!

An Adventure, A Hunt & a Fight for Survival

A beautiful day marred by an argument with the wife, followed by a slaughter in the woods, and then things really get exciting.

This story is told from the POV of three very different characters following their normal paths until the lives of all are threatened. Ted Cross' character development, plot and world building are well done.

Sadly, the narration threw me off for the first few chapters. Her rhythm seemed off, one minute too slow and the next too fast. BUT then narrator Rosa B. Watkinson settled into a good rhythm and after that and I was able to enjoy her lovely vocal representations and this wonderful story.

I will be definitely checking out the next book in the series.

Epic Fantasy

A Mysterious wizard, a dragon with a magical artifact told from three different POV’s great world building and characters and it’s all tied up Nicely while leaving it open for a follow up. Enjoyed the narration

Great!

This is one that I enjoyed very much! The story was well written and the performance was on par. I recommend to anyone!

Enveloping

This is an epic adventure novel with a twist.
The characters aren’t all children or very young adults. They have to make tough choices and they have complex lives and histories.

The world building is great and it draws you in. But it is the all too human struggles of the characters that keep you listening for “just 10 more minutes” about a dozen times in a row.

Really liked this world and characters. Narrator took awhile to get used to, but overall a positive.

I received this audiobook for free in exchange for a review

epic Fantasy

The Shard is an epic fantasy in a deep complex world. The author was clearly inspired by Tolkien, but builds on the genre. It is worth a listen.