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Alora's Tear #1
Fragments
There is no magic in the kingdom of Vladvir…
Tucked away in a quiet valley, the community of Tolarenz offers a refuge and safe haven for its people, keeping persecution at bay. One young citizen—Askon son of Teral—is destined to lead them, but first he must leave them behind: one final mission, in service of the king.
In the north, leering nightmare creatures known as the Norill gather. Their armor is bone and skin; their weapons are black and crude and cold. They strike in the night, allies to the darkness. It is to them Askon marches, his men a bulwark against the threat.
For there is no magic in Vladvir.
What Askon finds when he arrives seems impossible: smoke and fire, death and defeat, and all around a suffocating sense of dread. The Norill seek something they call “Stone of Mountain,” but in the half-remembered stories from Askon’s childhood, it was always “Alora’s Tear,” a gem with powers great and terrible. A gem that cannot exist.
Unless there is magic in Vladvir…
Tucked away in a quiet valley, the community of Tolarenz offers a refuge and safe haven for its people, keeping persecution at bay. One young citizen—Askon son of Teral—is destined to lead them, but first he must leave them behind: one final mission, in service of the king.
In the north, leering nightmare creatures known as the Norill gather. Their armor is bone and skin; their weapons are black and crude and cold. They strike in the night, allies to the darkness. It is to them Askon marches, his men a bulwark against the threat.
For there is no magic in Vladvir.
What Askon finds when he arrives seems impossible: smoke and fire, death and defeat, and all around a suffocating sense of dread. The Norill seek something they call “Stone of Mountain,” but in the half-remembered stories from Askon’s childhood, it was always “Alora’s Tear,” a gem with powers great and terrible. A gem that cannot exist.
Unless there is magic in Vladvir…
- GenresFantasy
262 pages, Paperback
First published August 17, 2014
2 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 5, 2018
Slightly slow start but thoroughly entranced ...
May 30, 2019
An absolute must-read.
August 21, 2014
Advance copy of the book provided by the author, in exchange for an impartial review.
It's fair to say that there are a few tropes in fantasy - often those that entered the genre via Tolkien - that have fallen out of favour in recent years. Reading 'Fragments', however, you start to wonder why.
The story begins with a particularly important moment in the formative years of our protagonist, the half-elf Askon. However, 'Fragments' is not a coming-of-age story, for which I was glad - instead, when we rejoin Askon after the prologue, he's already an adult and a military commander, respected enough in his community to be considered to take over the helm of its leadership. First, though, he has one last assignment to undertake, and it's fair to say it doesn't run smoothly.
That assignment gives Barham a chance to really show off what I considered the novel's two main strengths: its combat scenes and its world-building descriptions. For the latter, we get skilfully described landscapes and a real sense of place that does an excellent job of contrasting Askon's idyllic home with the locations he later finds himself in; the former are even stronger, with tense, fast-paced fight scenes.
My only two real gripes with 'Fragments' are, as much as anything, my personal bugbears with a lot of traditional fantasy. First of all, there's a bit too much travelling for my liking, and whilst Barham handles this well - with those strong descriptions and some interesting conversations taking place along the route - I still felt there were moments in the first half of the book when the plot was stalling for the sake of getting the characters from place to place. Secondly, there were a lack of female characters in the novel, but as 'Fragments' is really only the opening chapter in a series and features a fairly limited cast at this stage, I'm willing to give Barham the benefit of the doubt here.
That limited cast has expanded, too, by the end of the novel, as apparently disparate plot strands start to knit together. 'Fragments' continues to throw unexpected twists into the mix right until the end, providing a sense of mystery throughout, yet without resorting to a cliff-hanger. Instead, we get both closure and a sense that the story is just about to open up, widening the scope of both the world and its dangers in later volumes. That's not to suggest there's anything unsatisfying either about the conclusion or the rest of the novel, however. Instead, this is an excellent début that that simply hints at even better things to come.
It's fair to say that there are a few tropes in fantasy - often those that entered the genre via Tolkien - that have fallen out of favour in recent years. Reading 'Fragments', however, you start to wonder why.
The story begins with a particularly important moment in the formative years of our protagonist, the half-elf Askon. However, 'Fragments' is not a coming-of-age story, for which I was glad - instead, when we rejoin Askon after the prologue, he's already an adult and a military commander, respected enough in his community to be considered to take over the helm of its leadership. First, though, he has one last assignment to undertake, and it's fair to say it doesn't run smoothly.
That assignment gives Barham a chance to really show off what I considered the novel's two main strengths: its combat scenes and its world-building descriptions. For the latter, we get skilfully described landscapes and a real sense of place that does an excellent job of contrasting Askon's idyllic home with the locations he later finds himself in; the former are even stronger, with tense, fast-paced fight scenes.
My only two real gripes with 'Fragments' are, as much as anything, my personal bugbears with a lot of traditional fantasy. First of all, there's a bit too much travelling for my liking, and whilst Barham handles this well - with those strong descriptions and some interesting conversations taking place along the route - I still felt there were moments in the first half of the book when the plot was stalling for the sake of getting the characters from place to place. Secondly, there were a lack of female characters in the novel, but as 'Fragments' is really only the opening chapter in a series and features a fairly limited cast at this stage, I'm willing to give Barham the benefit of the doubt here.
That limited cast has expanded, too, by the end of the novel, as apparently disparate plot strands start to knit together. 'Fragments' continues to throw unexpected twists into the mix right until the end, providing a sense of mystery throughout, yet without resorting to a cliff-hanger. Instead, we get both closure and a sense that the story is just about to open up, widening the scope of both the world and its dangers in later volumes. That's not to suggest there's anything unsatisfying either about the conclusion or the rest of the novel, however. Instead, this is an excellent début that that simply hints at even better things to come.
July 19, 2016
A well-written YA fantasy with very rich vocabulary. And written by a local author. I plan to read the next book in the series, even though I'm not a huge fantasy person.
November 25, 2016
3.5
Full review to come!
Liked it well enough but thought the protagonist was too goody goody. I like my heroes flawed and he was just too damn nice.
Full review to come!
Liked it well enough but thought the protagonist was too goody goody. I like my heroes flawed and he was just too damn nice.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews