Birth of Legends: The Nathmaria Chronicles Book One

by Shaun K. Thornhill

Since the fall of Utatam, magic and mind have become inextricably linked in Nathmaria, for better and for worse. Discover what The Chronicler has foreseen as dark forces plan to send the world into catastrophe, again. Birth of The Nathmaria Chronicles Book One is the debut novel by Shaun K. Thornhill that charts the blood-pumping adventure of four unlikely heroes who must work together to vanquish those who may just be their undoing. A fantasy with a steampunk flair, it follows four individuals, who each has broken from his past to forge a new future. Mordic Almsford, a half elph of lesser royal lineage, cast off his birthright to pursue fame and fortune through neuromancy. The half elph Kale Barrington stole away from his past to try his hand at high class thievery. Mattatias of Contained Tiger seeks peace from his tragic early life. Kalamar Throx wants only to forget his profound failure. As The Chronicler warns the people of the schemes of evil people, the four newfound allies must galvanize their distinct talents before sheer chaos is loosed upon their world by thwarting the power of necromancy and undermining national structure. But who is Simon and how do his plans affect the others? Will he ally with Nigel or defeat the four heroes? Or both?

542 pages, Paperback

First published November 19, 2014

Reviews

[Paul Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of this book was a bit tough for me to follow as it starts out with several unrelated characters and storylines which were a bit much for me to track at first, but I enjoyed it when the plot lines started to converge. There is a higher than average number of typos that I personally found rather distracting (as pedantic as I am), but the story itself was an enjoyable romp through an expansive fantasy world. I was very impressed with the level of detail that was put into each town/area which really helped to make these places feel real to me. Despite my difficulty in initially keeping track of the plot, and the typos, I still enjoyed this book quite a lot.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an AWESOME BOOK! I got in at Comic Con where I met the author and I just finished it and I love it! The book just has a way of making the reader love all the characters, both the good and the bad guys. I'm definitely going to buy book two. I hope this series gets popular cause its so amazing. (Kale is my favorite character: he's so cool!)

[Amy Magee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is set in a fantasy world unlike any you have ever read about or even imagined could exist. It has many elements of different worlds such a magic, western and steampunk that I have never seen all together in one fantasy world. It is a very intriguing world that you find yourself wanting to learn more about. However, because it is like nothing you have read about, the beginning can be confusing. There are a lot of creatures, terms and things going on that it is hard to understand and place, because you will inevitably try to place them inside of a fantasy world you are already familiar with. The beginning is also building a back story that you may not understand the relevance to at the time. But you have to keep reading. Don't try too hard to understand it all in the beginning, just pay attention to what is happening to each character and keep reading. It will all come together and converge to give you a clear picture and understanding of what is going on. You just can't get discouraged in the beginning trying to make sense of everything. When it does converge it is a wonderful story of friendship and personal growth of a group of people in a fantasy world like no other. Just when you think you have a firm grasp of the world they are in, it takes many turns that you will not see coming and challenge your thinking. The prologue to the second book also takes a very unexpected turn and will pique your interest for where the story and people are headed in their next adventure. I am looking forward to the 2nd volume of this adventure.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good for a first book. I expect more to follow!