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History's Shadow I: Legends Born
England: circa 1310 A.D. Few are blessed with the burden of foresight. Few could feel the wind changing, or see the skies darkening; a storm was brewing.
For centuries, those with magic and those without lived together in relative peace. Alas, all good things must eventually come to an end. Twelve sorcerers, condemned to centuries of slumber, would soon awaken. During a time of religious reign, their awakening would be the catalyst that turned man against magic forever.
So would begin the witch hunt, the slaughtering of magical creatures once awed. Some would perish; most would hide. Others would build an army in retaliation and the world would be at full out war. All this, with the threat of a dark cult hellbent on resurrecting the one being that should not be resurrected ever looming. Indeed, dark times lie ahead.
It has been said: “A man does not become great by having it easy; it is adversity that pushes him to greatness.” If that were true, then Tahir and his companions had enough adversity to become some of the greatest people ever to live. This is their story.
For centuries, those with magic and those without lived together in relative peace. Alas, all good things must eventually come to an end. Twelve sorcerers, condemned to centuries of slumber, would soon awaken. During a time of religious reign, their awakening would be the catalyst that turned man against magic forever.
So would begin the witch hunt, the slaughtering of magical creatures once awed. Some would perish; most would hide. Others would build an army in retaliation and the world would be at full out war. All this, with the threat of a dark cult hellbent on resurrecting the one being that should not be resurrected ever looming. Indeed, dark times lie ahead.
It has been said: “A man does not become great by having it easy; it is adversity that pushes him to greatness.” If that were true, then Tahir and his companions had enough adversity to become some of the greatest people ever to live. This is their story.
- GenresFantasy
654 pages, Paperback
First published November 20, 2012
2 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
About the author
K. Dzr
2 books2 followersK. Dzr is a graphic designer, author and artist from Detroit, MI. She is a long-time fan of sci-fi, fantasy and superheroes and began collecting comics and reading Terry Brooks novels at a young age. She spent most of her childhood drawing, writing and dreaming of fantastical places and characters, a hobby she continues to this day. Despite positive feedback on early written works, she had little desire to pursue a writing career and instead focused her creative energy into drawing and music. It wasn't until college, and after a lot of persuasion from her mother during a conversation about an idea for a comic book that she began writing her first novel, Legends Born. A few years later she fulfilled her childhood dream of creating a comic book with the release of REBOOT #01.
K. Dzr prefers to write science fiction, fantasy and adventure stories highlighting people and places often ignored by Hollywood. Her stories typically feature characters from under-represented cultures, people with disabilities, mental illness and senior citizens having big adventures. Friendship, working hard to achieve goals and respecting and preserving the environment, wildlife and different cultures are common themes in her work. She truly believes that art doesn't just imitate life, but influences it as well, and that a pen-stroke can indeed change the world. So she tries to make each one count.
K. Dzr lives in Detroit with her Grandmother and her dog, Eerie. She enjoys traveling, fighting zombies, learning languages, parkour, soccer and finding adventures in everyday life. She works as a graphic designer and part-time ESL instructor.
K. Dzr prefers to write science fiction, fantasy and adventure stories highlighting people and places often ignored by Hollywood. Her stories typically feature characters from under-represented cultures, people with disabilities, mental illness and senior citizens having big adventures. Friendship, working hard to achieve goals and respecting and preserving the environment, wildlife and different cultures are common themes in her work. She truly believes that art doesn't just imitate life, but influences it as well, and that a pen-stroke can indeed change the world. So she tries to make each one count.
K. Dzr lives in Detroit with her Grandmother and her dog, Eerie. She enjoys traveling, fighting zombies, learning languages, parkour, soccer and finding adventures in everyday life. She works as a graphic designer and part-time ESL instructor.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 12, 2019
I wanted this book to be so much better than it actually was. It just... wasn't. It clearly wasn't edited before publication, if at all. It has LOADS of grammatical errors, changes in period-language, and spelling and punctuation errors. And worst of the worst, it had plot holes for days.
The book is broken up into three part. The first focusing on the beginnings of the legendary, Demetrius. The second introducing the main protagonist, Tahir. And the third part focuses on the events leading up to, and including, the final battles.
The book started out with a really compelling Prologue and Part 1. I was really intrigued by the storyline and unique idea of how wizards came to be. Unfortunately, the flow of the story gets interrupted in the transition from Part 1 to Part 2 - I wasn't sure what was going on because all of the sudden the main character disappeared, we had a new main character, and the setting was on a completely different continent and in a different time. I muddled through it.
Part 2 is where the book really shines. The story of Tahir and his journey to becoming a knight was so well put together. It had great flow, good imagery, and good character development. The action scenes that were set up were also well done. If the book consisted of just THIS part, I probably would have given a 4-star review because this section actually drew me in and made me want to read more.
Then we get to Part 3, which is where everything fell apart. The theme changed from adventure to religious allegory - no mention of religion AT ALL until about the last 250-ish pages, and then it was about the religious persecution of Muslims, and in the final 50 pages it changed focus again to the eradication of of all magical beings. This completely changed the tone of the book from one of optimism and adventure to one of prejudice and persecution. There were other sudden shifts in the story that came out of nowhere - The primary antagonist flip-flopping between Artemisios and Francis, and then Kraven at the very end; the protagonists going off to magic school without any follow-up; the wizards basically becoming useless in the climactic-but-not-really battle; the disaster that destroyed Tahir's village and killed his mother, originally seemed/implied as a natural disaster, but all of the sudden it's Francis and the Crusaders, but THEN it's because of some mysterious magical attack.... ummmm... wut? And the most disappointing shift was how there was so much put into preparing for this huge battle with Artemisios, but the battle itself barely covered one chapter and it was anticlimactic and nonsensical - Tahir's battle with the wolves was sooo much more put together, and just better overall.
Another issue I had with Part 3 overall was how everything became SOOOO rushed. The kids going to magic school didn't get covered at ALL, the battle with Artemisios was barely a blip on the radar, the ordeal with Francis became an unfortunate hiccup, and the mini-war with Kraven was like a passing thought. All of these events took place in less than 100 pages!! When you've got an EPIC as long as the Lord of the Rings, then a single battle scene better have just as much space dedicated to it as the chapters on training up for them -Training with Gavin was 50 pages, whereas the battle with Artemisios was mere 20, the battle with Kraven a trifling 12 pages, and the issues with Frances barely covered 5 pages because the protagonists just gave up and left without a fight.... I'm not siding with Kraven on the whole destruction of humanity thing, but COME ON!!! An entire team of magic beings who literally just saved the world can't figure out a way to show Francis the error of his ways? Huge cop-out.
There were so many plot holes I started yelling at the book - Destiny brutally killing a butterfly, but never revisiting that again; how Tahir's village got destroyed; Tahir and Destiny getting married out of nowhere - like literally, just got hitched at some point in the year they were off in magic school, which BTW, why wasn't there at LEAST a chapter on magic school, especially when there were chapters on Ellic going off to basically-Dragon-school, and how is the wedding between a magical princess and a magical pauper not a huge event?!?!; how destiny became mega-powerful (like almost as powerful as Demetrius) in such a short time; who in the world is Destiny's mother, and why was she so special; what's up with Destiny's/Tahir's pendant necklace; why Oraden is so special; what happened to the three bonkers magicians/wizards that spoke strangely; why did the King just sit back and let Francis abuse his "precious" daughter for a lifetime; also why the King didn't do anything to destigmatize magic in his kingdom despite having had a magical wife(?) and daughter; were Francis and Destiny only half-siblings? - not explicitly stated at any point, but would have greatly helped to explain some of the animosity between the siblings; how Tahir was able to go from a dual-edged sword to a scimitar so easily without training; how Tahir forgot to use his magical powers to escape torture from Francis when he LITERALLY just came back from magic school; why these all-powerful-all-knowing wizards decided to put ALL their eggs in one basket with Tahir in the battle with Artemisios - Seriously, everyone gets only one attack, but Tahir has to pull off 13 in a row, and only after everyone else has gone?!?! That's just dumb, especially when you have an entire TEAM of magical beings engaging in the battle, INCLUDING these uselessly powerful wizards. UGH. I could continue going on for days, but I think you get the idea.
I can usually say that there are enough redeeming parts in a book I didn't enjoy to be worth reading if you like certain elements or can get past its less appealing parts. This book, however, does not hit that balance. Even though there was a section I really enjoyed, there were just too many parts that were poorly written to make it worth the read, especially since it's a major time investment at 645 pages!
Two stars because it has a really interesting premise (+1) and a pretty decent Part 2 (+1), but I 100% do not recommend. I TRULY wanted this book to be so much better than it turned out to be, which is why I stuck through it, but I was just disappointed.
The book is broken up into three part. The first focusing on the beginnings of the legendary, Demetrius. The second introducing the main protagonist, Tahir. And the third part focuses on the events leading up to, and including, the final battles.
The book started out with a really compelling Prologue and Part 1. I was really intrigued by the storyline and unique idea of how wizards came to be. Unfortunately, the flow of the story gets interrupted in the transition from Part 1 to Part 2 - I wasn't sure what was going on because all of the sudden the main character disappeared, we had a new main character, and the setting was on a completely different continent and in a different time. I muddled through it.
Part 2 is where the book really shines. The story of Tahir and his journey to becoming a knight was so well put together. It had great flow, good imagery, and good character development. The action scenes that were set up were also well done. If the book consisted of just THIS part, I probably would have given a 4-star review because this section actually drew me in and made me want to read more.
Then we get to Part 3, which is where everything fell apart. The theme changed from adventure to religious allegory - no mention of religion AT ALL until about the last 250-ish pages, and then it was about the religious persecution of Muslims, and in the final 50 pages it changed focus again to the eradication of of all magical beings. This completely changed the tone of the book from one of optimism and adventure to one of prejudice and persecution. There were other sudden shifts in the story that came out of nowhere - The primary antagonist flip-flopping between Artemisios and Francis, and then Kraven at the very end; the protagonists going off to magic school without any follow-up; the wizards basically becoming useless in the climactic-but-not-really battle; the disaster that destroyed Tahir's village and killed his mother, originally seemed/implied as a natural disaster, but all of the sudden it's Francis and the Crusaders, but THEN it's because of some mysterious magical attack.... ummmm... wut? And the most disappointing shift was how there was so much put into preparing for this huge battle with Artemisios, but the battle itself barely covered one chapter and it was anticlimactic and nonsensical - Tahir's battle with the wolves was sooo much more put together, and just better overall.
Another issue I had with Part 3 overall was how everything became SOOOO rushed. The kids going to magic school didn't get covered at ALL, the battle with Artemisios was barely a blip on the radar, the ordeal with Francis became an unfortunate hiccup, and the mini-war with Kraven was like a passing thought. All of these events took place in less than 100 pages!! When you've got an EPIC as long as the Lord of the Rings, then a single battle scene better have just as much space dedicated to it as the chapters on training up for them -Training with Gavin was 50 pages, whereas the battle with Artemisios was mere 20, the battle with Kraven a trifling 12 pages, and the issues with Frances barely covered 5 pages because the protagonists just gave up and left without a fight.... I'm not siding with Kraven on the whole destruction of humanity thing, but COME ON!!! An entire team of magic beings who literally just saved the world can't figure out a way to show Francis the error of his ways? Huge cop-out.
There were so many plot holes I started yelling at the book - Destiny brutally killing a butterfly, but never revisiting that again; how Tahir's village got destroyed; Tahir and Destiny getting married out of nowhere - like literally, just got hitched at some point in the year they were off in magic school, which BTW, why wasn't there at LEAST a chapter on magic school, especially when there were chapters on Ellic going off to basically-Dragon-school, and how is the wedding between a magical princess and a magical pauper not a huge event?!?!; how destiny became mega-powerful (like almost as powerful as Demetrius) in such a short time; who in the world is Destiny's mother, and why was she so special; what's up with Destiny's/Tahir's pendant necklace; why Oraden is so special; what happened to the three bonkers magicians/wizards that spoke strangely; why did the King just sit back and let Francis abuse his "precious" daughter for a lifetime; also why the King didn't do anything to destigmatize magic in his kingdom despite having had a magical wife(?) and daughter; were Francis and Destiny only half-siblings? - not explicitly stated at any point, but would have greatly helped to explain some of the animosity between the siblings; how Tahir was able to go from a dual-edged sword to a scimitar so easily without training; how Tahir forgot to use his magical powers to escape torture from Francis when he LITERALLY just came back from magic school; why these all-powerful-all-knowing wizards decided to put ALL their eggs in one basket with Tahir in the battle with Artemisios - Seriously, everyone gets only one attack, but Tahir has to pull off 13 in a row, and only after everyone else has gone?!?! That's just dumb, especially when you have an entire TEAM of magical beings engaging in the battle, INCLUDING these uselessly powerful wizards. UGH. I could continue going on for days, but I think you get the idea.
I can usually say that there are enough redeeming parts in a book I didn't enjoy to be worth reading if you like certain elements or can get past its less appealing parts. This book, however, does not hit that balance. Even though there was a section I really enjoyed, there were just too many parts that were poorly written to make it worth the read, especially since it's a major time investment at 645 pages!
Two stars because it has a really interesting premise (+1) and a pretty decent Part 2 (+1), but I 100% do not recommend. I TRULY wanted this book to be so much better than it turned out to be, which is why I stuck through it, but I was just disappointed.
January 13, 2014
Legends Born starts out with immediate suspense and undertaking as young Demetrius somberly makes a terrifying journey with his parents to feed their worst nightmare. Unsatisfied, the mighty beast decides the people have grown complacent and need to be reawakened to what awaits them when they stop being afraid and off guard. Resulting in the death of family friends, Demetrius decides it is time to take action. However, with the ban of magic, his own powers are unknown to him and so his adventure begins.
“My father used to tell me there are places in the world most people would never see. Forces most people would never understand. Things most people would never believe in. I never really understood what he meant, until today.”
Read the full review at
http://www.musingwithcrayolakym.com/3...
“My father used to tell me there are places in the world most people would never see. Forces most people would never understand. Things most people would never believe in. I never really understood what he meant, until today.”
Read the full review at
http://www.musingwithcrayolakym.com/3...
October 17, 2013
This is a fantasy adventure of epic scale - whilst quite a long book (and thus good value for money) and whilst it does concentrate on Tahir's upbringing and training, it did not drag at all, and I found the antics of him and his childhood friends rather delightful (even the fights - such typical boys, despite their differences in appearance). I would have liked to see Roddy play a more important role, but that's just a small niggle.
With the uninhibited freshness of self-published fantasy, this was a charming tale, with an obvious level of thought and research put into the settings and with a colourful cast of intriguing characters.
An enjoyable world that I would be happy to venture into again.
With the uninhibited freshness of self-published fantasy, this was a charming tale, with an obvious level of thought and research put into the settings and with a colourful cast of intriguing characters.
An enjoyable world that I would be happy to venture into again.
September 11, 2013
I found this book very engaging and entertaining. It started off quickly and didn't waste time with a lot of needless flowery descriptions. It does give you enough information, but it was refreshing not to have to wade through what everyone was wearing and how the inside of all the rooms looked. The author concentrated on keeping things interesting and moving the plot along. I liked the characters and the story line. It's a long book and a great deal for just $3.00 on Amazon. I can't wait to see what comes next!
September 28, 2013
Wow! I rarely read a book twice, but I am eager to start reading this one a second time! History's Shadow is a very enjoyable adventure/fantasy story. The characters are fun, entertaining and unique. The book is strong from the very start. The characters are believable (well, except for the dragons, unicorns, and people with special powers, their not very believable, but you know what I mean). The story stays with you even after you put the book down. Reading this book makes me want to read more fantasy books.
June 4, 2013
I was offered a free book on my kindle for a review. I don't usually give five stars to the first book in a series but this book exceeded my expectations. There was magic that was mixed with history and I thought it was done nicely. I really enjoyed all of the characters even the ones I'm probably not supposed to like, so far my favorite character is Meelix the gnome. I can't wait to see what comes next.
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November 13, 2012I hate it when I start a good story and can't finish it. These first six chapters were just enough of a teaser to get me hooked. The story itself is well written, & moves along quickly. What a battle with that dragon! Looking forward to getting the entire book.
February 5, 2015
Great story about friendship and adventure. The end of the story leaves you wanting more. I would like to know more about some of the characters' mysterious backgrounds though. Maybe a mini-story?
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews