Cephrael's Hand

A Pattern of Shadow and Light, Book 1

By: Melissa McPhail

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Length: 32 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

"All things are composed of patterns...." And within the pattern of the realm of Alorin, three strands must cross.

In Alorin...300 years after the genocidal Adept Wars, the realm is dying, and the blessed Adept race dies with it. One man holds the secret to reverting this decline: Bjorn van Gelderan, a dangerous and enigmatic man whose shocking betrayal three centuries past earned him a traitor's brand. It is the Adept Vestal Raine D'Lacourte's mission to learn what Bjorn knows in the hope of salvaging his race. But first he'll have to find him....

In the kingdom of Dannym...the young Prince Ean val Lorian faces a tenuous future as the last living heir to the coveted Eagle Throne. When his blood brother is slain during a failed assassination, Ean embarks on a desperate hunt for the man responsible. Yet his advisors have their own agendas, and his quest for vengeance leads him ever deeper into a sinuous plot masterminded by a mysterious and powerful man, the one they call First Lord.

In the Nadori desert...tormented by the missing pieces of his life, a soldier named Trell heads off to uncover the truth of his shadowed past. But when disaster places him in the debt of Wildlings sworn to the First Lord, Trell begins to suspect a deadlier, darker secret motivating them.

©2010 Melissa McPhail (P)2016 Podium Publishing

great story

a great read it was a cross between Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan I look forward to the second book

Great Start to an Epic Series

I found Melissa McPhail's, Cephrael's Hand: A Pattern of Shadow and Light, Book 1, at a time where I was in a reader's drought trying to find something new to read and struggling to find a new series/author in the Epic Fantasy genre.
Melissa McPhail makes a Great start to an Epic Series with a very unique magic system, good world development, complex and original characters.
This book is narrated by Nick Podehl who does a fantastic job bringing all of Melissa's characters to life.
If you like books by Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, & Patrick Rothfuss I highly recommend "Cephrael's Hand" and "A Pattern of Shadow and Light" series.

Jumps all over the place too much

The story is pretty good, but it jumps between too many different concurrent stories, so that the story doesn't really flow. Also uses the word "ostensibly" incorrectly throughout the story, which is irritating! But the overall storyline is good.

Epic story, Dazzling performance, Comforting read

What did you love best about Cephrael's Hand?

Melissa expertly crafted a very believable world, provided us with a magic system with multiple variables and she developed characters we love, envy, pity and despise.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tanis, oh Tanis, so young, innocent and full of life. He is a very likable lad and is going to get into more compromising situations due to his adventurism and curiosity.

Which character – as performed by Nick Podehl – was your favorite?

A toss up between the reckless Prince Ean val Lorian and the ever tranquil Bjorn van Gelderan. I feel Nick really brings out the personality of Bjorn.

Great start to a series, first half is tough

The book was really enjoyable and the only reason I'm not giving it a perfect score is that the first half of the book is really tough to get through because the author just kind of throws you right into the story without much background information, once everything starts to click and make sense it is a great book though.

Slow beginning but was worth it.

I'll be giving a more in depth review here very soon but this book was fantastic. I already bought the second book. Great magic system and the romance gives a depth not really explored in most other books and I find to be a nice touch as I don't shy from sexuality

Be cautious starting this series

Book 2 gets into some pretty graphic homosexual encounters. Just a heads up. I felt like I was listening to gay men's erotic forums for a bit there.

Ok but convoluted

not a bad book. I enjoyed it but it seemed longer than necessary. it was difficult to keep characters straight in their own story lines. still good but I'm not sure I will continue in the series.

intriguing tail that pulls you in

a bit too much jumping around at first but once the story gets moving it is very good!

Very captivating

I downloaded this randomly and it sat in my library for almost a year and i began listening to it about a month ago and it was hard to get Into it at first. Once u get past the first 3 chapters it picks up and has twist after twist and that's what I like in books myself. Just when u 5hink u figured it out something changes and reels you back in again