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Cephrael's Hand

A Pattern of Shadow & Light, Book 1

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Cephrael's Hand

By: Melissa McPhail
Narrated by: Nick Podehl
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About this listen

"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.

©2016 Melissa McPhail (P)2016 Podium Audio Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Military Science Fiction Royalty Thought-Provoking
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It does admittedly take some time to get into the story for a first time listener but after about 5 hours I was so hooked I bought the remaining 3 available books. I highly recommend you go about 10 hours before you judge the book, it's complex and has intriguing plots spanning multiple books.

Captaviting story!

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I listen to books usually while at work and unfortunately this one is front loaded with a lot of fantasy style information (complicated names, countries, political machinations), zoning out for even a couple minutes left me confused and rewinding, especially when combined with quite a few character jumps in the first few hours.. Hopefully will get some focus time and come back to this one with an edit. Nick's narration is spectacular as always

Couldn't Make It..

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I'm on my fourth listening of this series and I'm still learning more about this engaging universe. The magic system is in-depth and explored thoroughly. Nick Podehl makes this book come to life and I couldn't recommend it more.

Engaging and exciting

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I love this series, currently in book 3, and I still have wonderful questions due to the mysteries yet to be uncovered!! I will admit I nearly gave up after the first 20 chapters, cause it was so complex with soo many new characters as well as trying to understand the rules of magic that are introduced in this world! BUT, I am glad I pushed through, it is amazing and the storyline starts to align the more you push through. I love soo many of the characters, very relatable. and Nick Podel does an incredible job of bringing characters to life :)

A whole new world of magic and creatures

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Nick has done an amazing job bringing the cast of this epic tale to life. If you love the wheel of time or any of Brandon Sandersons work, give this a try!

Amazing!

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Would you listen to Cephrael's Hand again? Why?

I never read a book twice! But I have enjoyed this so far.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cousin Fin is a great bloke. A complete soak.

Have you listened to any of Nick Podehl’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Have listened to a few narrations by Nick Podehl. He is one of my favourites.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The book is well written and has interesting life messages and observations.

Any additional comments?

There are many parallel events and stories which can be confusing at the beginning.Keep a notebook handy to list characters and relationships.

A good story and I will continue with the series.

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It took me until the 3rd book to really start to enjoy this series. I dont jest when I say that there is so much gayness its really hard for a hetero straight guy to be comfortable. Seems like all the bad guys like anal sex, LOTS of anal sex. But also there is hetro sex and other good stuff. But the anal rape is kinda hard to get used to.

That being said, once you lube up and get into the story its really good. I found that I wanted to listen more and more as it gave me a different perspective into the life of love. Maybe opened my legs a little (But not enough for unwashed anal) to that kind of story telling. I think its a good mix for female and male listeners. But not so good if you dont want to put the time in to learning about all the strands.

Learning about the characters and all the magical theory is hard. But once you understand it its good. The love scenes are really good. Be it anal or not anal rape. Some times there is consenctual hetero sex. But not often. Mostly is anal.

Sodomy is always gonna be good.

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On the scale of the Wheel of Time, the Lord of the Rings, or any of the other greats; this book & series should be counted amoung them.

- Yes, you need to invest time and thought
- No, you won’t understand everything after the first 20 pages
- Yes, this is brilliantly written and narrated
- No, it’s not homoerotic. (Read that in a review…)
- Yes, you will be richly rewarded

The book was advertised on Facebook and I couldn’t stop thinking there was a catch - why would this title be flogged in this manner when all the other greats get picked up and have ground swell because of their brilliance.

I’ve just finished the 4th book in this series, and plots and hints raised in this 1st book are only now being fully brought into light.

Get over the fact that there are difficult names, the magic system doesn’t immediately make sense, & you can’t figure out the plot in 20 pages. THIS IS NOT Harry Potter or some young adult brainless basic drivel (btw, I love the Harry Potter series).

If you enjoyed Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera, The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson, then give this a read. This is on par - if not better. You will not be disappointed!

How have I missed this series!

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12 hours in and it all sounds like gibberish. Just a rambling mess. 1 credit wasted.

Ugh. So painful.

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Found this disappointing, long winded & the characters are hard to engage with, especially in the early stages. After persisting for hours I gave up & abandoned what was potentially a reasonable story.

Hard work

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