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Echoes Across Time #1
Shard Knight
The world believes the last heir to the throne died five years ago.The world is wrong.
When a corrupt archbishop overthrows the queen, her teenage son, Prince Ronan Latimer, fakes his own death to escape.
The false king reigns for five years instilling a brutal regime bent on ethnic cleansing and racial divide. Meanwhile, the missing prince has grown into a young man who's hardened his skills on the capital city's mean streets.
Now, when the world needs a savior, will Ronan answer the call? Can he set aside his bitterness and thirst for revenge long enough to offer hope to those who resist?
Can the man the world once knew as Prince Ronan reclaim his crown and prepare the world against an even greater threat? Will he find strength enough to overcome his foes? More importantly, can he find it in his heart to forgive those who've wronged him?
Follow a young man's fall from grace and his rise from the ashes. You'll love this epic series that winds across continents and bridges relationships thought beyond repair. You'll find swords and magic. Dragons and the undead. You'll find hope, ambition, lust, and cruelty all on the pages of this magical series that grabs you on page one and holds you for the ride.Most of all, you'll love this series because you can read it FREE with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Grab a copy today and start your adventure.
When a corrupt archbishop overthrows the queen, her teenage son, Prince Ronan Latimer, fakes his own death to escape.
The false king reigns for five years instilling a brutal regime bent on ethnic cleansing and racial divide. Meanwhile, the missing prince has grown into a young man who's hardened his skills on the capital city's mean streets.
Now, when the world needs a savior, will Ronan answer the call? Can he set aside his bitterness and thirst for revenge long enough to offer hope to those who resist?
Can the man the world once knew as Prince Ronan reclaim his crown and prepare the world against an even greater threat? Will he find strength enough to overcome his foes? More importantly, can he find it in his heart to forgive those who've wronged him?
Follow a young man's fall from grace and his rise from the ashes. You'll love this epic series that winds across continents and bridges relationships thought beyond repair. You'll find swords and magic. Dragons and the undead. You'll find hope, ambition, lust, and cruelty all on the pages of this magical series that grabs you on page one and holds you for the ride.Most of all, you'll love this series because you can read it FREE with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Grab a copy today and start your adventure.
- GenresFantasyYoung Adult
519 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 12, 2013
17 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
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March 31, 2019
There's nothing new here: a standard fantasy, magic-myths and Mordor kind of tale, but sadly it doesn't come up to scratch of being even a little bit enjoyable.
It's a quick read, but that's because you can skip pretty much whole pages of nothing happening. The romance is forced, the plot is old and done to death and the dialogue is flat with baddies swearing and goodies being confused all of the time.
It has all the generic fantasy characters: the cackling baddy; the righteous goodies preaching; the raven hair and the pretty girls. But it's just boring.
It's a quick read, but that's because you can skip pretty much whole pages of nothing happening. The romance is forced, the plot is old and done to death and the dialogue is flat with baddies swearing and goodies being confused all of the time.
It has all the generic fantasy characters: the cackling baddy; the righteous goodies preaching; the raven hair and the pretty girls. But it's just boring.
August 12, 2014
I listened to this because I know the narrator for the Audible version (who is quite good). This would probably be a fine standard fantasy tale for someone new to the genre, but it didn't offer much that was new or different. It was reasonably well written (could have used a bit more editing) and the magic system wasn't particularly clever (everything was way overpowered -- there was no balance that I could see). I don't know if I'll slog through the next one.
September 21, 2017
DNF at 25% completion.
I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't bring myself to finish it because of two things:
1. The romance/romantic tension between two main characters were incredibly forced; it was unnatural and the auto-pairing usually is a big turn off for me, since there was really no reason for any romantic feelings to develop.
2. Book description was boring and confusing. Couldn't get into the imagery with the author.
I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't bring myself to finish it because of two things:
1. The romance/romantic tension between two main characters were incredibly forced; it was unnatural and the auto-pairing usually is a big turn off for me, since there was really no reason for any romantic feelings to develop.
2. Book description was boring and confusing. Couldn't get into the imagery with the author.
May 3, 2024
The thirst for revenge can leave a man’s life in ruins. Even for a prince who has it all. One victory separates Prince Ronan Latimer from holding the tournament crown and fulfilling his lifelong dream. A dream that places him among the ranks of an elite group of knights dedicated to preserving the realm. At Ronan’s victory banquet those dreams are shattered. When Ronan’s mother is viciously murdered, he finds himself on the run from an assassin hell-bent on claiming the throne for himself. Now, with the church, the royal guard, and the knights of the crown all after him, Ronan must find a way to save himself and avenge his mother’s death before the maniacal king can carry out plans for genocide.
September 23, 2015
This book doesn't really do much to distinguish itself from pretty much any other fantasy book you can pick up out there. It doesn't do anything really bad, but it doesn't do anything really good or original either. It's a mostly harmless, and quick read, but don't go in expecting it to be something original, or epic, because chances are, you've already read this book before, just by a different author and with a different title. It does have a cool cover though. In fact, the cover is probably the most interesting thing about the book. If I had found this book when I was fifteen, I probably would have liked it more, but that was more than 20 years ago, and I've had 20 years of authors like Robert Jordan, Jim Butcher, George R. R. Martin, Brent Weeks, and Brandon Sanderson to show me that stories in the fantasy genre don't always have to be about the same thing, and when they are, there can be new twists and turns to make that same old thing fresh and interesting again. Matthew Ballard isn't a bad writer, it's just that the story he told was one I've already heard, and told better by other, more experienced authors. And speaking of Jim Butcher and Brandon Sanderson, both of them have new books coming out in the next two weeks, so I'm fairly sure I'll have forgotten this book even exists by then. Sorry Matthew Ballard, I wanted to really love this book, but you didn't really give me anything to love. It was a pretty generic, forgettable story that I've read before, and told better by other people.
August 6, 2014
Arianne, the Queen of Meranthia is overthrown and killed by her mutinous guards. Her son, Prince Ronan, manages to escape. However, everyone believes him to be dead. Ronan then spends the next five years plotting his revenge against his mothers killer who has now taken the throne of Meranthia. Merric Pride, the self proclaimed King is segregating the Ayralen migrants and holding them in concentration camps. Ronan must overthrow Merric Pride and free the Ayralen people. But first he must solve the riddle of Elan’s and Lora’s hearts, the essence of all magic. Help will come to him from an unexpected avenue.
Matthew Ballard’s Shard Knight is a fresh newcomer to the fantasy genre. The storyline was skilfully thought out and flowed well. It was refreshing to read the myriad of original ideas concerning the use of magic and how it was obtained.
Described with just enough detail to picture the scenes but not get bogged down with unnecessary wording. Ronan was always a gentleman and was in danger of coming across as a little weak at times. I was relieved when he finally decided to fight rather than surrender to fate.
” A storm of raw anger boiled in Ronan’s emerald green eyes.” No. This won’t end here. Not like this.” He screamed with primal rage and channelled a vast amount of shard energy.”
Well written for the YA Fantasy audience with lots of twist and turns to keep the reader entranced.
Matthew Ballard’s Shard Knight is a fresh newcomer to the fantasy genre. The storyline was skilfully thought out and flowed well. It was refreshing to read the myriad of original ideas concerning the use of magic and how it was obtained.
Described with just enough detail to picture the scenes but not get bogged down with unnecessary wording. Ronan was always a gentleman and was in danger of coming across as a little weak at times. I was relieved when he finally decided to fight rather than surrender to fate.
” A storm of raw anger boiled in Ronan’s emerald green eyes.” No. This won’t end here. Not like this.” He screamed with primal rage and channelled a vast amount of shard energy.”
Well written for the YA Fantasy audience with lots of twist and turns to keep the reader entranced.
April 7, 2014
This is great book. I read it in several days as I could not put it down. I liked the magic system and the characters were well done. There was enough lore to make it interesting without having to keep a cheat sheet to keep everything straight. The story was fun to read for the ~400 pages. I appreciated the focus on the characters and actions instead of the surroundings. I would recommend this book to anybody that likes fantasy books and I would like to read the continuation of the story. Keep up the great work Matthew as I am fan.
August 2, 2015
If you are a fan of old school fantasy like David Eddings' Belgariad or the Magician series by Raymond E. Fiest, then you will enjoy this.
If you are a fan of "gritty" George R R Martin then this isn't for you.
There isn't a lot of depravity, sex language or violence. The hero is also trying for a higher level of morality more like a Superman rather than a Batman.
If you are a fan of "gritty" George R R Martin then this isn't for you.
There isn't a lot of depravity, sex language or violence. The hero is also trying for a higher level of morality more like a Superman rather than a Batman.
March 19, 2014
What a great debut novel by Matthew Ballard! I had such a great time reading I did not want a put it down. Sword and sorcery to the max! Very interesting magic system and epically described sword fighting scenes. Looking forward to the next in the series.
October 29, 2015
Working on review... will update!
August 12, 2014
Great new fantasy realm with really cool magice system.
October 17, 2014
Classic fantasy
this is a classic fantasy. there is magic, love, and sword fighting. who could ask for more. I want to see what happens next. it will be interesting to find out.
this is a classic fantasy. there is magic, love, and sword fighting. who could ask for more. I want to see what happens next. it will be interesting to find out.
April 7, 2015
Pretty standard fantasy. I enjoyed it but don't expect any big surprises. Good characters, somewhat stilted dialogue and interesting magic.
July 2, 2016
It was fine, but I don't think I'll bother with the next one.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews