Cephrael's Hand

A Pattern of Shadow and Light, Book 1

By: Melissa McPhail

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

"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

Character much?

Okay, don't get me wrong this is an excellent book. However I caution listen to the first 5-10 chapters twice. There are so many characters and storylines make sure you have them straight then listen on.

Interesting magic system

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
This series is set in a fantasy setting with gods, monsters, magic, and dragons with adult rated romances. A good combination for an epic series spanning several books of around 30 hours per book which seems good value for money.

There is good character development and the narrator does a great job of leading the listener through the complex story with so many characters and their machinations. At times it is hard to follow the torrent of names and locations but the book is well written with layered stories.

Before one reads "Cephrael's Hand: A Pattern of Shadow and Light, Book 1" and gets wrapped up in the lore be aware the second book has a strong anti-gay agenda vilifying Gay Men as evil monsters or paedophiles that subvert straight men's minds against their will through possession making them into undead monsters. It is mild in the this book making it is easy to overlook this undertone. One keeps reading hoping the story might only be using this theme to drive the narrative on but it is hard to ignore in the second book making this book unpleasant with this homophobic undertone. The strong homophobic tone makes it impossible to enjoy the series leaving a disgusted sour taste as you think back that you enjoyed the story up until a point when you realise the undertone of the book.

Would you ever listen to anything by Melissa McPhail again?
With the homophobic undertone of the "Pattern of Shadow and Light" series it is unlikely I would read any of the author's next books.

MORE please!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Great performance, great story, very deep and connected in the same ways Jordan was. Has all the elements you want, huge world problems, country wide conflict, and the personal stuff. Easily recommended, now we just need MORE of this story.

Any additional comments?

If anyone is still reading, this story and world would work FANTASTIC to turn into movies. Way better than Wheel of Time would. I love and will always love WoT, but there is no great way to put weaving into a movie AND have it not look dumb. This world however, Yes please.

Great book!!!

I heard good things about both Melissa McPhail as a person and her ability as an author. Was very happy with my purchase! Buy this audiobook you won't be let down. She builds a fantasy world without being overly cumbersome with too much character development or history. The story flows right along as you learn more about new groups of people and other magical creatures. Everything in balance, just like the book says.

So good but takes some time

When I started this book I wasn't sure I was going to finish it. There are so many characters and places and names- I was utterly lost. But I kept listening and part way thru I was hooked and am about to start the fourth. The books are such a good value and the story has so many interesting characters that you don't get bored. The world the author created with its magic is very captivating and thought provoking. So happy I stuck with it

great narration poor writing

The ideas of the book were excellent and the narration was superb but the writing was poor. The development of characters was practically non existent which made it difficult to keep track of the characters. The names were also tossed around in a way that made it hard to remember. There were also many perspectives in each strand of story that seemed quite random and senseless at times. Another frustration of mine was the repetitive use of words and phrases that weren't even necessary more than once or twice such as "tawny" and "echoic of a growl". All in all, great imagination, great narration, poor/unclear plot,poor character development. Very frustrating to listen to.

What a performance. And a great story!

Narrator did a fantastic job with the accents of the different races. I was extremely impressed by the performance. And the story was amazing as well. Could not stop listening to it.

11 hours in, and still nothing was grabbing me

I can't say there was really any specific item wrong with it, other than I just wasn't looking forward to listening it to it each day. none of the several story lines really ever grabbed my interest or left me dying to know what happened next. it's exceedingly rare I don't start audible book that I finish, but this is one.

great

It had a little bit of a slow start and it was a bit confusing but in the end everything started flowing together and it was great

Amazing

This series is one of the best I have ever listened too! I'm now starting book 4 and can't listen to enough of the series! Do not let any poor reviews dissuade you from this amazing story!