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Shroud of the Avatar #1
The Sword of Midras: A Shroud of the Avatar Novel
The thrilling prequel to Shroud of the Avatar from Portalarium!
The world died during the Fall.
Abandoned by the mighty Avatars and their Virtues, the people who remained were left defenseless in an untamed land. That is, until the Obsidians came. Through dark sorcery and overwhelming force the Obsidian Empire brought order to chaos, no matter the cost.
Aren Bennis is a Captain in the Obsidian Army who has seen enough of what a world without Virtue looks like and is willing to do whatever it takes to establish a lasting peace. But after finding a magical sword that only he can wield, a sword his trusted scout, Syenna, claims is a blade once used by the legendary Avatars, Aren is thrown into a far more unfamiliar battle. One fought with whispered words and betrayal instead of swords and arrows.
Running out of allies, Aren's only hope for survival is to discover the true nature of the ancient weapon he wears at his side. In order to do that, Aren will have to turn to the empire's enemies and, in doing so, he will discover what order at the hands of the Obsidians really means.
The world died during the Fall.
Abandoned by the mighty Avatars and their Virtues, the people who remained were left defenseless in an untamed land. That is, until the Obsidians came. Through dark sorcery and overwhelming force the Obsidian Empire brought order to chaos, no matter the cost.
Aren Bennis is a Captain in the Obsidian Army who has seen enough of what a world without Virtue looks like and is willing to do whatever it takes to establish a lasting peace. But after finding a magical sword that only he can wield, a sword his trusted scout, Syenna, claims is a blade once used by the legendary Avatars, Aren is thrown into a far more unfamiliar battle. One fought with whispered words and betrayal instead of swords and arrows.
Running out of allies, Aren's only hope for survival is to discover the true nature of the ancient weapon he wears at his side. In order to do that, Aren will have to turn to the empire's enemies and, in doing so, he will discover what order at the hands of the Obsidians really means.
336 pages, Paperback
First published June 21, 2016
13 people are currently reading
615 people want to read
About the author
Tracy Hickman
452 books2,729 followersNYT Best-selling fantasy authors Tracy Hickman, with his wife Laura, began their journey across the 'Sea of Possibilities' as the creators of 'Dragonlance' and their voyage continues into new areas with the 'Drakis' trilogy, 'Wayne of Gotham', a Batman novel for DC Comics and his
'Dragon's Bard' collector's series
. Tracy has over fifty books currently in print in most languages around the world. A record of both Tracy and Laura's DNA currently orbits on the international space station and he is the writer and editor of the first science-fiction movie actually filmed in space. Follow us on
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 31, 2016
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2016/07/31/...
Developed by Portalarium and directed by video game legend Richard Garriott, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is a game I’ve been following since it was publicly announced in 2013. In the spring of that same year, the project was also funded on Kickstarter, raising nearly $2 million. While the official launch date is still to come in late 2016, as a backer I’ve been able to dabble in early access, and so far I’ve been really impressed by what I’ve seen. So impressed, that I immediately added The Sword of Midras to my reading list.
(Note: This book is also sometimes known as Blade of the Avatar, which was included in serial format as a pledge reward at some backer levels, but they are not exactly the same as far as I know. The Sword of Midras is an “updated” version that contains some extra content—at least four extra chapters.)
If you want to find out more about the world in which Shroud of the Avatar takes place, then The Sword of Midras is a great place to start. Being relatively new to the game lore myself, I enjoyed learning more about the setting of New Britannia and the people who make it their home. This novel takes place approximately two hundred years before the game. It provides some history, introducing readers to a world that died during a catastrophic event known as the Fall. For a long time, those who survived managed to carve out a living for themselves in a land left wild and chaotic after the departure of powerful beings known as the Avatars. Then, the Obsidians came. Their armies subjugated the people using dark magic, and claimed that in doing so they brought law and order to the world.
The story follows a captain in the Obsidian Army named Aren Bennis. One day, while reconnoitering with a scout named Syenna, the two of them stumble upon a mysterious sword in an ancient ruin. Against the warnings of Syenna, who believes the sword could be cursed, Aren picks up the weapon anyway and is staggered to discover its magical properties—and the fact that he is the only one who can wield it. Unfortunately for him, there are plenty who have theories about the sword’s origins, but even more who want to use it for their own gain. And as the only person who can hold the blade without experiencing the negative effects, Aren finds himself caught in the middle of many conflicting agendas.
If you’re not acquainted with the world and the history from the game, that shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying this book. It might, however, make this story seem somewhat sparse and conventional compared to other high fantasy novels. I’m guessing Shroud of the Avatar fans and lore buffs are the ones who will probably get the most out of this one, and it’s also rather light and reads very quickly. In other words, nothing really sets The Sword of Midras above other tie-ins of its type, so adjust expectations accordingly.
That said though, the authors do a great up keeping up an energetic pace, and I thought both plot and characters were very interesting. The book also sets up the historical context nicely, featuring some places that will be familiar to players of the game. I enjoyed the character of Aren, whom we spend the most time with in this story. He starts off as your typical Obsidian army officer, but gradually, the mysterious powers of the sword changes him, and makes him contemplate other points of view. A strong supporting cast also provides plenty of opportunities for fascinating relationships to develop.
Audiobook Comments: I was also fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to listen to the audio edition of The Sword of Midras. Narrator Derek Perkins is new to me, but I knew right from the start that his voice would be a good fit. His reading made it easy to get into the story, even the slower sections that involve more descriptive detail (and there are plenty examples of this, especially when characters arrive at new places.) His dialogue is also animated and distinguishable, with emotion in all the right places, and I really have no complaints with overall his performance. Overall, this audiobook is one I would recommend, especially if you prefer this format for your lighter reads.
From what I hear, The Sword of Midras is only the first of a planned trilogy. I’m definitely open to checking out the next two books, and hopefully by then the game would be in full swing too, because I really enjoy spending time in this world!
Developed by Portalarium and directed by video game legend Richard Garriott, Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is a game I’ve been following since it was publicly announced in 2013. In the spring of that same year, the project was also funded on Kickstarter, raising nearly $2 million. While the official launch date is still to come in late 2016, as a backer I’ve been able to dabble in early access, and so far I’ve been really impressed by what I’ve seen. So impressed, that I immediately added The Sword of Midras to my reading list.
(Note: This book is also sometimes known as Blade of the Avatar, which was included in serial format as a pledge reward at some backer levels, but they are not exactly the same as far as I know. The Sword of Midras is an “updated” version that contains some extra content—at least four extra chapters.)
If you want to find out more about the world in which Shroud of the Avatar takes place, then The Sword of Midras is a great place to start. Being relatively new to the game lore myself, I enjoyed learning more about the setting of New Britannia and the people who make it their home. This novel takes place approximately two hundred years before the game. It provides some history, introducing readers to a world that died during a catastrophic event known as the Fall. For a long time, those who survived managed to carve out a living for themselves in a land left wild and chaotic after the departure of powerful beings known as the Avatars. Then, the Obsidians came. Their armies subjugated the people using dark magic, and claimed that in doing so they brought law and order to the world.
The story follows a captain in the Obsidian Army named Aren Bennis. One day, while reconnoitering with a scout named Syenna, the two of them stumble upon a mysterious sword in an ancient ruin. Against the warnings of Syenna, who believes the sword could be cursed, Aren picks up the weapon anyway and is staggered to discover its magical properties—and the fact that he is the only one who can wield it. Unfortunately for him, there are plenty who have theories about the sword’s origins, but even more who want to use it for their own gain. And as the only person who can hold the blade without experiencing the negative effects, Aren finds himself caught in the middle of many conflicting agendas.
If you’re not acquainted with the world and the history from the game, that shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying this book. It might, however, make this story seem somewhat sparse and conventional compared to other high fantasy novels. I’m guessing Shroud of the Avatar fans and lore buffs are the ones who will probably get the most out of this one, and it’s also rather light and reads very quickly. In other words, nothing really sets The Sword of Midras above other tie-ins of its type, so adjust expectations accordingly.
That said though, the authors do a great up keeping up an energetic pace, and I thought both plot and characters were very interesting. The book also sets up the historical context nicely, featuring some places that will be familiar to players of the game. I enjoyed the character of Aren, whom we spend the most time with in this story. He starts off as your typical Obsidian army officer, but gradually, the mysterious powers of the sword changes him, and makes him contemplate other points of view. A strong supporting cast also provides plenty of opportunities for fascinating relationships to develop.
Audiobook Comments: I was also fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to listen to the audio edition of The Sword of Midras. Narrator Derek Perkins is new to me, but I knew right from the start that his voice would be a good fit. His reading made it easy to get into the story, even the slower sections that involve more descriptive detail (and there are plenty examples of this, especially when characters arrive at new places.) His dialogue is also animated and distinguishable, with emotion in all the right places, and I really have no complaints with overall his performance. Overall, this audiobook is one I would recommend, especially if you prefer this format for your lighter reads.
From what I hear, The Sword of Midras is only the first of a planned trilogy. I’m definitely open to checking out the next two books, and hopefully by then the game would be in full swing too, because I really enjoy spending time in this world!
October 5, 2016
Mon avis en Français
My English review
I’m always quite anxious when I start a fantasy novel. I know that we can find some very good ones but I’m really complicated so I finally don’t read many of them. Still, it’s always nice to get out of my comfort zone and to discover new novels such as this one. I had the chance to discover Tracy Hickman with another of his series: unwept (which, it must be said, is quite different from this novel) and I was curious to see what this new story was going to be.
We can see in the book that the author has teamed up with Richard Garriott to write a novel based on a videogame. I admit that once again I do not know the whole game and have never heard of it but I was pleasantly surprised by the story. Indeed, we discover a young captain, Aren Bennis, who face an excessive general and must follow his orders without saying a thing. This is certainly the case until he finds out an ancient sword supposedly cursed that will open his eyes to a world he did not know about. I will not say more because ultimately we can read the novel very quickly and I do not want to reveal too much but it’s true that I let myself be easily carried by the chapters following the adventures of Aren and discovering gradually this world with different characters. I also enjoyed the few images that we find inserted in the book and that gives us a glimpse of the characters.
Unlike many fantasy novels, we do not have many points of view, which is a huge point for me and I enjoyed learning more about Aren and his actions. Besides, I was surprised several times by his decisions.
In any case, it was a great discovery. I did not know much about this world but I am curious to read more and find out what happens next.
My English review
I’m always quite anxious when I start a fantasy novel. I know that we can find some very good ones but I’m really complicated so I finally don’t read many of them. Still, it’s always nice to get out of my comfort zone and to discover new novels such as this one. I had the chance to discover Tracy Hickman with another of his series: unwept (which, it must be said, is quite different from this novel) and I was curious to see what this new story was going to be.
We can see in the book that the author has teamed up with Richard Garriott to write a novel based on a videogame. I admit that once again I do not know the whole game and have never heard of it but I was pleasantly surprised by the story. Indeed, we discover a young captain, Aren Bennis, who face an excessive general and must follow his orders without saying a thing. This is certainly the case until he finds out an ancient sword supposedly cursed that will open his eyes to a world he did not know about. I will not say more because ultimately we can read the novel very quickly and I do not want to reveal too much but it’s true that I let myself be easily carried by the chapters following the adventures of Aren and discovering gradually this world with different characters. I also enjoyed the few images that we find inserted in the book and that gives us a glimpse of the characters.
Unlike many fantasy novels, we do not have many points of view, which is a huge point for me and I enjoyed learning more about Aren and his actions. Besides, I was surprised several times by his decisions.
In any case, it was a great discovery. I did not know much about this world but I am curious to read more and find out what happens next.
October 1, 2022
While I enjoyed this book I am left wanting and dissatisfied. The world we are introduced to is clearly too big for this book. There are a lot of cool things and interesting characters and not nearly enough time spent on any of them save the main few. I might still read the second book. I did get through this one quickly. It captured me.
January 2, 2018
Pretty standard fantasy tropes. Enemy warrior that doesn't really believe in his leader, magical sword, evil sorcerers. The world building was weak and the characters were entirely uninteresting. Their motivations were poorly developed and the main character showed little to no growth.
June 9, 2016
I won this from goodreads and I am very glad I did. It was a fun ride and I can't wait for the next book. A must read for anyone looking for a good fantasy novel.
December 13, 2016
I’ve been getting very nostalgic recently for the video fantasy role-playing games of my youth, most notably the Ultima series of games. I played Ultima I – V when I was young, and even watched a complete walkthrough of Ultima V about a month ago.
Fortunately, I have an even better outlet for this nostalgia: Richard Garriott aka “Lord British,” the auteur of the original Ultima games, has been working with a team on a new Ultima-ish style game, Shroud of the Avatar. I’ll say more about the game in a bit, but looking into it led me to the first tie-in novel for the game, The Sword of Midras, written by Richard Garriott and the prolific and talented fantasy author Tracy Hickman.
The Sword of Midras is, basically, a prequel novel to the Shroud of the Avatar game. It is set in the land of New Britannia (a callback to the Ultima series’ continent of Britannia) and begins a tale of what appears to be the rediscovery of the history of the Avatars.
Read the whole review.
Fortunately, I have an even better outlet for this nostalgia: Richard Garriott aka “Lord British,” the auteur of the original Ultima games, has been working with a team on a new Ultima-ish style game, Shroud of the Avatar. I’ll say more about the game in a bit, but looking into it led me to the first tie-in novel for the game, The Sword of Midras, written by Richard Garriott and the prolific and talented fantasy author Tracy Hickman.
The Sword of Midras is, basically, a prequel novel to the Shroud of the Avatar game. It is set in the land of New Britannia (a callback to the Ultima series’ continent of Britannia) and begins a tale of what appears to be the rediscovery of the history of the Avatars.
Read the whole review.
September 2, 2023
Sword of Midras left me feeling unenthused for the rest of the series. Although the world is interesting and its dark spin on fantasy tropes is engaging at first, the characters grow bland, the tone shifts in an unsatisfactory way, and in the end, the pacing feels off. The ending conflict is exciting and cleverly set up/ resolved, but overall, I was left feeling overwhelmingly "eh".
June 5, 2017
Can't wait for the next book! :)
August 23, 2017
Real rating 3.5.
I can see this series becoming very interesting and then I realized that I'd have to wait for the next one. Curse you writing and release cycles.
I can see this series becoming very interesting and then I realized that I'd have to wait for the next one. Curse you writing and release cycles.
December 2, 2018
I didn't finish this, and I won't. Obviously for the fans. None of Hickman's great characters. Instead, inconsistencies, plot holes and co-incidence.
December 28, 2018
Pretty awesome and interesting fantasy novel looking forward to more in this series
May 10, 2021
3.5. Better than I thought. I was interested in the story line and it was a nice quick read. Did not really understand the ending.
Read
May 30, 2022DNF p. 90. Was there a story? A plot ? I don't know. It was dry and boring and so predictable that I had to give up.
July 27, 2016
The Sword of Midras disappointed me. It is by no means a bad story. In fact, it is fairly well written and flows smoothly. I just found it formulaic. The prologue of the story starts off brilliantly with a sorcerer finding his pathway to power and inscribing the scrolls that will grant him even more power. Then the actual story starts several decades later. The aforementioned Sorcerer had founded a Cabal of Sorcerers, which in turn founded an Empire. The Obsidian Empire.
Captain Aren Bennis of the Obsidian Order is a fine soldier. He believes that the Obsidian Empire brings peace and stability to the unruly world (after conquering the opposition first). Everything is fine until in one of the conquests- Aren finds a "cursed" sword belonging to a myth-shrouded being known as an Avatar. The myths say the demigod-like Avatars used powers known as Virtues and battled the gods themselves. The conflict caused the Fall, after which many of the nations of New Britannia became small city-states ruled by warlords.
I was excited since Capt. Bennis was developing as a great anti-hero. Dark and ruthless, he also obeyed a strict military code of honor. The sword he finds is obviously meant for him, since anyone else who dares to touch it suffers from terrible visions. Yet once the story is part way through- Capt. Bennis starts the turn into a good guy. I found it not only formulaic, but a little disappointing. The "change" and its start is fairly obvious. More about the story I will not say since it'd be spoiling.
This is still a good and enjoyable read. The world is fairly interesting with different city-states mirroring different cultures from English knights to Romans to Saumrai....while we only get to visit two cities well enough to know them well, I was curious as to how they would have pulled this mish-mash of cultures off. At the end of the day I gave this series a 3 star rating because it is good. That's all. It's not really good nor is it amazing. I think the author's turning Capt Bennis into a hero turned what could have been a unique and cool tale into a typical tale of "bad-guy turns hero" and that has been done so many times already that this novel really doesn't stand out in any way from all the others just like it in the fantasy genre. Again, I must note this is not a bad story. I enjoyed reading it and flew through the book due to it's nice flow. But, after finishing the story I can also say I don't really care if I ever read more of the series. If I do run across later volumes I might read them or might not. I would recommend this to any fantasy fan. Everyone else will find what I found- a good story with interesting characters that sadly succumbs to typical "now he's a hero" storytelling. Too bad..they could have had something quite unusual and brilliant on their hands.
Captain Aren Bennis of the Obsidian Order is a fine soldier. He believes that the Obsidian Empire brings peace and stability to the unruly world (after conquering the opposition first). Everything is fine until in one of the conquests- Aren finds a "cursed" sword belonging to a myth-shrouded being known as an Avatar. The myths say the demigod-like Avatars used powers known as Virtues and battled the gods themselves. The conflict caused the Fall, after which many of the nations of New Britannia became small city-states ruled by warlords.
I was excited since Capt. Bennis was developing as a great anti-hero. Dark and ruthless, he also obeyed a strict military code of honor. The sword he finds is obviously meant for him, since anyone else who dares to touch it suffers from terrible visions. Yet once the story is part way through- Capt. Bennis starts the turn into a good guy. I found it not only formulaic, but a little disappointing. The "change" and its start is fairly obvious. More about the story I will not say since it'd be spoiling.
This is still a good and enjoyable read. The world is fairly interesting with different city-states mirroring different cultures from English knights to Romans to Saumrai....while we only get to visit two cities well enough to know them well, I was curious as to how they would have pulled this mish-mash of cultures off. At the end of the day I gave this series a 3 star rating because it is good. That's all. It's not really good nor is it amazing. I think the author's turning Capt Bennis into a hero turned what could have been a unique and cool tale into a typical tale of "bad-guy turns hero" and that has been done so many times already that this novel really doesn't stand out in any way from all the others just like it in the fantasy genre. Again, I must note this is not a bad story. I enjoyed reading it and flew through the book due to it's nice flow. But, after finishing the story I can also say I don't really care if I ever read more of the series. If I do run across later volumes I might read them or might not. I would recommend this to any fantasy fan. Everyone else will find what I found- a good story with interesting characters that sadly succumbs to typical "now he's a hero" storytelling. Too bad..they could have had something quite unusual and brilliant on their hands.
did-not-finish
August 31, 2016It started off so well, solid banter, interesting fantasy setting with all the good stuff of fallen gods, avatars, giant armies, giant armor. Fat generals that you immediately dislike and our stalwart hero who is just a normal person. There's even a magical sword! It's after the sword part that things fall apart. I'm not sure if it's because this is a prequel so the story is limited in scope and serves the purpose of maybe giving you a little more if you liked the series, but it's the little part that bothers me. Through the first 100 pages of banter hardly anything happens, people continue to pretty much stall after that and very little actually happens over the course of the next 100 pages. The normal guy isn't enough to carry the plot and the overall crisis of faith/character building is constantly presented to us and is just simplistic. I grew to not care, and the worldbuilding and little details of armor and landscape were not well done in my opinion. After skimming too much I had to put it down for good.
Want to read
August 25, 2016Talk about a interesting book.
September 12, 2016
Good enough starter to a series. Troubled slightly with 21st century editing mistakes.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews