What do you think?
Rate this book
The Sundered Crown Saga #1
Heir to the Sundered Crown
A realm torn asunder by civil war will give rise to a hero.
The Kingdom of Delfinnia is in chaos. After assassins kill the king and his family, greedy self serving men battle one another for the crown. Unknown to them is that one heir yet lives, a baby boy now hidden and protected.
In the mage city of Caldaria is a boy named Luxon. A young mage who will discover his past and his powers. For he will one day become known as the Legendary, the wizard who would break the world, the man who would embrace death and live and the hero who would give a realm its greatest king.
Sent on a quest to find the one responsible for the King's assassination Luxon teams up with Ferran of the Blackmoor the legendary Nightblade and hunter of fell beasts, Sophia Cunning the land’s greatest witch hunter and Kaiden, a noble knight sworn to defend the world from darkness.
Together they find the answers they seek, but the truth is far worse than anyone could possibly imagine.
The Heir to the Sundered Crown is a fantasy tale that will ignite the imagination and set the stage for an epic battle
between the light and the darkness.
Copyright © Matthew Olney
The Kingdom of Delfinnia is in chaos. After assassins kill the king and his family, greedy self serving men battle one another for the crown. Unknown to them is that one heir yet lives, a baby boy now hidden and protected.
In the mage city of Caldaria is a boy named Luxon. A young mage who will discover his past and his powers. For he will one day become known as the Legendary, the wizard who would break the world, the man who would embrace death and live and the hero who would give a realm its greatest king.
Sent on a quest to find the one responsible for the King's assassination Luxon teams up with Ferran of the Blackmoor the legendary Nightblade and hunter of fell beasts, Sophia Cunning the land’s greatest witch hunter and Kaiden, a noble knight sworn to defend the world from darkness.
Together they find the answers they seek, but the truth is far worse than anyone could possibly imagine.
The Heir to the Sundered Crown is a fantasy tale that will ignite the imagination and set the stage for an epic battle
between the light and the darkness.
Copyright © Matthew Olney
372 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2014
70 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
M.S. Olney
25 books135 followersMatthew Olney lives in Worcester with his wife Chloe. By day, he works as a copywriter, but at night he writes novels.
Sign up to my newsletter via -
https://emailoctopus.com/lists/56af72...
Sign up to my newsletter via -
https://emailoctopus.com/lists/56af72...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 30 reviews
Read
October 2, 2017I read to approximately 24% of the way into this story before I decided that it just wasn't keeping me interested enough. It follows quite a few different fantasy tropes and characters, all of whom I felt I had seen before (albeit in other iterations and other books) and for me there just wasn't quite enough to distinguish the characters and the adventure from the other books I have read. I definitely think this is a readable and fun fantasy book at times, but I also never felt overly compelled to pick it up and read it, there was always another book I was reading alongside it which would steal my imagination away.
One element that was different from the norm with this book was that even though it felt like a fairly high fantasy, it seemed to include some things I would more frequently associate with Urban fantasy, such as Zombies and Werewolves. I think that this could have been a cool inclusion, but it all felt a little bit too rushed and chaotic for me, and there was a subtlety lost when the hordes of mythological creatures just swamped the other characters.
I do think there are a few elements of the story that I could have enjoyed hearing more about, for example the sorceress and the magic of this realm. I feel like it all turned a bit mad quite fast and I didn't get a chance to get to know the characters, world or magic before all three were thrown into chaos. I think maybe focusing in on one of these elements more closely and giving a lot more details and moments would have really boosted this from an average story into the realm of a more complex and compelling read.
In the end I didn't finish it, so there may well be a lot more to come that was better, but I think if the book hasn't kept you interested by 20% then it really needs a bit of refining. I do think that there's potential here, but in its current form I imagine I would only give it a 2*s overall, and I just feel like I wanted something to really set this apart.
One element that was different from the norm with this book was that even though it felt like a fairly high fantasy, it seemed to include some things I would more frequently associate with Urban fantasy, such as Zombies and Werewolves. I think that this could have been a cool inclusion, but it all felt a little bit too rushed and chaotic for me, and there was a subtlety lost when the hordes of mythological creatures just swamped the other characters.
I do think there are a few elements of the story that I could have enjoyed hearing more about, for example the sorceress and the magic of this realm. I feel like it all turned a bit mad quite fast and I didn't get a chance to get to know the characters, world or magic before all three were thrown into chaos. I think maybe focusing in on one of these elements more closely and giving a lot more details and moments would have really boosted this from an average story into the realm of a more complex and compelling read.
In the end I didn't finish it, so there may well be a lot more to come that was better, but I think if the book hasn't kept you interested by 20% then it really needs a bit of refining. I do think that there's potential here, but in its current form I imagine I would only give it a 2*s overall, and I just feel like I wanted something to really set this apart.
December 17, 2017
This was part of Kitty G’s grouping and has since been eliminated.
This is another book where I listened to the audio instead of reading, and there are SO many names of people and places it’s making it a little difficult to write the review. If you’re reading this, please forgive my spelling, Matthew.
Plot:
There are a lot of POV’s in this book and most of their plot lines intersect throughout the book.
The prologue starts out with the murder of the King and his family, there’s only one survivor, but he’s thought to be dead and has since been forgotten.
After the death of the royal family, there are 6 different people making claims to the throne which became known as The War of the Six Claimants. The one in the best position to take the throne is a general in the army, and he’s gone as far as to try and crown himself. However, when he tries to do that the people get very upset because rumors of an heir to the crown have surfaced and they would prefer to be lead by the ‘rightful king’ over the general. The general set out on a mission to find the heir, and kill him – although he knows how to play the diplomat and pleases the crowd by saying if he can find the heir he will help restore him to the throne.
Luxon is a kid who grew up in Caldaria, it’s one of the few places where magic can be practiced freely without fear of persecution. Wizards and mages used to be welcomed as advisors to the realm, but have since been pushed back into Caldaria out of prejudice and fear. Luxon finds himself being bullied by a kid named Accadus, and he unwittingly hexes him nearly killing him. It gets him put on trial for attempted murder and uncontrolled magic. He was found innocent of the attempted murder, but the magic use still had consequences. For reasons that are too long to type out, he finds himself in a Void realm where dragons have been banished – he meets an old wizard, one of his ancestors in this realm who tells him he’s been trapped for thousands of years. He has to find a way back to the real world before a Witch opens the gate to the void and brings forth Fell Beasts and her husband, and evil Wizard/god.
Kaiden is a knight of Neveren who’s sworn to help defend the weak and to kill evil creatures and seek out dark magic. He finds himself in jail after defying a barron, and he’s imprisoned with a lady mage named Alira – and finds himself at odds because Knights of Neveren are sworn to seek out and arrest mages. They end up escaping together.
A witch has taken hold of the General who’s trying to be king, as well as other Barons in the realm. She’s able to mind control vast armies of people and make them bend to her will – they become mindless automatons on the outside, but on the inside they’re screaming. The witch is merciless, she tortures a barons wife and children in front of him trying to get the information she needs. Her goal is to open a gateway to the void that was sealed years ago to get her husband back, and to release all of the evil behind the gateway.
There’s more going on but it would turn this post into a novel – I hope I was able to tie this together to make it make sense, there was a lot going on.
Final Score: 8/10
Characters:
Luxon – A young kid, sort of typical for his age but he grows exponentially when he finds himself in the void. An hour in the real world is a decades length of time in the void, and Luxon finds himself trapped there for weeks – which feels like decades to him in the Void. He’s one of the first Thaumaturgist to have appeared in several generations, and could be extremely powerful if given proper training.
Kaiden – he’s a serious white knight, he tries his best to do the right thing even if other people are telling him not to. He takes his oaths seriously and is overall a decent person.
The General, Rason, has been totally taken over by the witch, Claria, and is doing horrible, horrible things to people and has zero remorse. You get his POV throughout the book and it does make it interesting – I’m a fan of villian POV’s.
There are a lot of smaller POV’s, but I think these three probably get the most page time. I would have liked to get to know the characters a bit better, some of them are there and gone so quickly it was hard to get a feel for them, but the ones I got to know because they had more page time were done well enough.
Final Score: 6.5/10
World Building:
Caldaria is the one place magic can be used without being imprisoned or executed.
Wizards and mages are gulfs apart as far as magical abilities. Mages can do moderate magic, enough to be useful, but a wizard is far more powerful.
Dragons have been banished to the Void, and the King of Dragons speaks to Luxon about his people and how they came to be there, and how much he misses the sun and blue skies of Delfinnia.
There are armies of werewolves roaming the forests and killing people, a bite can turn people very quickly.
There are zombies and ghouls, undead and witches. Witches aren’t just ‘people’ with magical powers, the witch who’s trying to open the gateway to the Void is probably over 100,000 years old.
There is a LOT of lore going on with how the world was created, the old gods and their children. Pay attention to that, because it all loops back into the story, it’s not just there as extra world building, it gets woven into the plot.
Although I’ve seen a lot of undead, ghouls, witches, dragons and all that before, the lore revolving around the gods, and the types of witches in this book were well done. I like it when the background mythos of the world has an impact on the plot rather than floating around loosely.
Final Score: 8/10
Pacing/Prose/Tone:
The book starts out with murder which sort of sets the tone for the book, there’s a lot of death, a lot of monsters, and a lot of magic. The scene with the baron and his children was particularly dark and and violent.
The pacing was okay, but it did take me a little while to get into the book, and I think that’s because so many characters and plot lines were thrown at me from the start I didn’t know which characters were going to be key players or what exactly was going on with the plot until about 20-25% through.
Pacing Final Score: 6.5/10
Writing Final Score: 8/10
Originality:
There was a lot of stuff done here I’ve seen before, it felt like a classic epic fantasy story with a few exceptions. The further I got through the book, the more unique elements were used, so it started to catch my attention later rather than sooner.
Final Score: 6.5/10
Audience:
For people who like classical fantasy
For people who like war and military fantasy
For people who like a lot of POV’s
For people who like action, fight scenes and violence
For people who like hordes of monsters, and werewolves
For people who like sword fighting
For people who like darker books
Final Score: 43.5/60 or 7.2/10
This is another book where I listened to the audio instead of reading, and there are SO many names of people and places it’s making it a little difficult to write the review. If you’re reading this, please forgive my spelling, Matthew.
Plot:
There are a lot of POV’s in this book and most of their plot lines intersect throughout the book.
The prologue starts out with the murder of the King and his family, there’s only one survivor, but he’s thought to be dead and has since been forgotten.
After the death of the royal family, there are 6 different people making claims to the throne which became known as The War of the Six Claimants. The one in the best position to take the throne is a general in the army, and he’s gone as far as to try and crown himself. However, when he tries to do that the people get very upset because rumors of an heir to the crown have surfaced and they would prefer to be lead by the ‘rightful king’ over the general. The general set out on a mission to find the heir, and kill him – although he knows how to play the diplomat and pleases the crowd by saying if he can find the heir he will help restore him to the throne.
Luxon is a kid who grew up in Caldaria, it’s one of the few places where magic can be practiced freely without fear of persecution. Wizards and mages used to be welcomed as advisors to the realm, but have since been pushed back into Caldaria out of prejudice and fear. Luxon finds himself being bullied by a kid named Accadus, and he unwittingly hexes him nearly killing him. It gets him put on trial for attempted murder and uncontrolled magic. He was found innocent of the attempted murder, but the magic use still had consequences. For reasons that are too long to type out, he finds himself in a Void realm where dragons have been banished – he meets an old wizard, one of his ancestors in this realm who tells him he’s been trapped for thousands of years. He has to find a way back to the real world before a Witch opens the gate to the void and brings forth Fell Beasts and her husband, and evil Wizard/god.
Kaiden is a knight of Neveren who’s sworn to help defend the weak and to kill evil creatures and seek out dark magic. He finds himself in jail after defying a barron, and he’s imprisoned with a lady mage named Alira – and finds himself at odds because Knights of Neveren are sworn to seek out and arrest mages. They end up escaping together.
A witch has taken hold of the General who’s trying to be king, as well as other Barons in the realm. She’s able to mind control vast armies of people and make them bend to her will – they become mindless automatons on the outside, but on the inside they’re screaming. The witch is merciless, she tortures a barons wife and children in front of him trying to get the information she needs. Her goal is to open a gateway to the void that was sealed years ago to get her husband back, and to release all of the evil behind the gateway.
There’s more going on but it would turn this post into a novel – I hope I was able to tie this together to make it make sense, there was a lot going on.
Final Score: 8/10
Characters:
Luxon – A young kid, sort of typical for his age but he grows exponentially when he finds himself in the void. An hour in the real world is a decades length of time in the void, and Luxon finds himself trapped there for weeks – which feels like decades to him in the Void. He’s one of the first Thaumaturgist to have appeared in several generations, and could be extremely powerful if given proper training.
Kaiden – he’s a serious white knight, he tries his best to do the right thing even if other people are telling him not to. He takes his oaths seriously and is overall a decent person.
The General, Rason, has been totally taken over by the witch, Claria, and is doing horrible, horrible things to people and has zero remorse. You get his POV throughout the book and it does make it interesting – I’m a fan of villian POV’s.
There are a lot of smaller POV’s, but I think these three probably get the most page time. I would have liked to get to know the characters a bit better, some of them are there and gone so quickly it was hard to get a feel for them, but the ones I got to know because they had more page time were done well enough.
Final Score: 6.5/10
World Building:
Caldaria is the one place magic can be used without being imprisoned or executed.
Wizards and mages are gulfs apart as far as magical abilities. Mages can do moderate magic, enough to be useful, but a wizard is far more powerful.
Dragons have been banished to the Void, and the King of Dragons speaks to Luxon about his people and how they came to be there, and how much he misses the sun and blue skies of Delfinnia.
There are armies of werewolves roaming the forests and killing people, a bite can turn people very quickly.
There are zombies and ghouls, undead and witches. Witches aren’t just ‘people’ with magical powers, the witch who’s trying to open the gateway to the Void is probably over 100,000 years old.
There is a LOT of lore going on with how the world was created, the old gods and their children. Pay attention to that, because it all loops back into the story, it’s not just there as extra world building, it gets woven into the plot.
Although I’ve seen a lot of undead, ghouls, witches, dragons and all that before, the lore revolving around the gods, and the types of witches in this book were well done. I like it when the background mythos of the world has an impact on the plot rather than floating around loosely.
Final Score: 8/10
Pacing/Prose/Tone:
The book starts out with murder which sort of sets the tone for the book, there’s a lot of death, a lot of monsters, and a lot of magic. The scene with the baron and his children was particularly dark and and violent.
The pacing was okay, but it did take me a little while to get into the book, and I think that’s because so many characters and plot lines were thrown at me from the start I didn’t know which characters were going to be key players or what exactly was going on with the plot until about 20-25% through.
Pacing Final Score: 6.5/10
Writing Final Score: 8/10
Originality:
There was a lot of stuff done here I’ve seen before, it felt like a classic epic fantasy story with a few exceptions. The further I got through the book, the more unique elements were used, so it started to catch my attention later rather than sooner.
Final Score: 6.5/10
Audience:
For people who like classical fantasy
For people who like war and military fantasy
For people who like a lot of POV’s
For people who like action, fight scenes and violence
For people who like hordes of monsters, and werewolves
For people who like sword fighting
For people who like darker books
Final Score: 43.5/60 or 7.2/10
February 22, 2021
As a fan of fantasy, I find it amazing the amount of choices we have when it comes to books to read. There is literally something for every taste. Sometimes, though, I just feel in the mood for a more traditional type of story, with clearly defined heroes and villains, epic quests and a fight to stop the forces of darkness from taking over and destroying the light.
MY THOUGHTS
That's where Heir To The Sundered Crown by M.S. Olney comes in. It has that old school feeling of good versus evil, while adding in a few modern touches of realism. While the world building is strong with this book, its much more character driven, and that starts with Luxon, the main focus of the book. In the kingdom of Delfinnia magic banned in any place but Caldaria, the mage city. Luxon is an oddity, a wizard in a land of mages. He is in touch with his magic instinctively, and doesn't need to use ritual or spells to use his magic, unlike the mages, who require specialized training to access the magic. Luxon's life situation has also had some consequences on his life, as his father was executed by the barons when he swore that when the entire royal family was assassinated that the youngest price escaped. Considering a live heir invalidated the six baron's claims, he was branded a lying traitor and executed to shut him up, disgracing his family in the process.
This is what Luxom has had to live with. It informs his decision making throughout the book as he joins a group of allies in trying to defeat an ancient evil, an evil so bad it still frightens people centuries later. Its fun watching his growth from awkward youth to confident young man with unique power. He is well complimented by a varied cast of supporting characters, including his friend Yeppert, a mage student with surprising strength of character and will, Sophia, a Witch Hunter, Ferran, a Mageblade, those tasked with defeating monsters, and Kaidan, a knight of Nivarin, the order that keeps rogue mages from causing trouble. They all have interesting back stories and get lots of development throughout the story. Definitely not cardboard cutouts.
There are no shades of gray in the villains. Danon is an ancient dark wizard thought dead with the defeat of his dark god, but his return with dragons disproves that. His magic is well beyond what any current mage can do, and there's only one possible check to his power. Cliria is the other villain, a power ful witch, the partner and lover of Danon, and she has spent centuries arranging things to make his return possible. Her reveal is one of the best moments of the book, as things really start to unfold from there. Their motivations aren't justifiable as anything other than a lust for power, and it's kind of a refreshing callback to villains of the past. The characters really add some flavor to the mix.
NARRATION
The narration is handled by Joseph Tweedale. I was unfamiliar with his work before listening to this, but I was impressed with his voice work. He managed to create young sounding voices for the mage students, but also a wide range of adult and older voices for various other characters. He even put an excellent spin on a dragon's voice. He creates unique voices for each character using various tones, accents and cadence changes, all while avoiding dropping into a monotone during the narrative portions. I look forward to listening to more of his work.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As I stated, this book has an old school sensibility which I really enjoyed. None of the anti hero or conflicted villains we see in so many books today, just characters that are generally good trying to stop the plans of truly evil villains. Its an engaging story I think any fan of fantasy can find something to love. I highly recommend it.
MY THOUGHTS
That's where Heir To The Sundered Crown by M.S. Olney comes in. It has that old school feeling of good versus evil, while adding in a few modern touches of realism. While the world building is strong with this book, its much more character driven, and that starts with Luxon, the main focus of the book. In the kingdom of Delfinnia magic banned in any place but Caldaria, the mage city. Luxon is an oddity, a wizard in a land of mages. He is in touch with his magic instinctively, and doesn't need to use ritual or spells to use his magic, unlike the mages, who require specialized training to access the magic. Luxon's life situation has also had some consequences on his life, as his father was executed by the barons when he swore that when the entire royal family was assassinated that the youngest price escaped. Considering a live heir invalidated the six baron's claims, he was branded a lying traitor and executed to shut him up, disgracing his family in the process.
This is what Luxom has had to live with. It informs his decision making throughout the book as he joins a group of allies in trying to defeat an ancient evil, an evil so bad it still frightens people centuries later. Its fun watching his growth from awkward youth to confident young man with unique power. He is well complimented by a varied cast of supporting characters, including his friend Yeppert, a mage student with surprising strength of character and will, Sophia, a Witch Hunter, Ferran, a Mageblade, those tasked with defeating monsters, and Kaidan, a knight of Nivarin, the order that keeps rogue mages from causing trouble. They all have interesting back stories and get lots of development throughout the story. Definitely not cardboard cutouts.
There are no shades of gray in the villains. Danon is an ancient dark wizard thought dead with the defeat of his dark god, but his return with dragons disproves that. His magic is well beyond what any current mage can do, and there's only one possible check to his power. Cliria is the other villain, a power ful witch, the partner and lover of Danon, and she has spent centuries arranging things to make his return possible. Her reveal is one of the best moments of the book, as things really start to unfold from there. Their motivations aren't justifiable as anything other than a lust for power, and it's kind of a refreshing callback to villains of the past. The characters really add some flavor to the mix.
NARRATION
The narration is handled by Joseph Tweedale. I was unfamiliar with his work before listening to this, but I was impressed with his voice work. He managed to create young sounding voices for the mage students, but also a wide range of adult and older voices for various other characters. He even put an excellent spin on a dragon's voice. He creates unique voices for each character using various tones, accents and cadence changes, all while avoiding dropping into a monotone during the narrative portions. I look forward to listening to more of his work.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As I stated, this book has an old school sensibility which I really enjoyed. None of the anti hero or conflicted villains we see in so many books today, just characters that are generally good trying to stop the plans of truly evil villains. Its an engaging story I think any fan of fantasy can find something to love. I highly recommend it.
December 27, 2020
In the fantasy world, one can find hidden gems in the self-published series. These writers are willing to take risks that publishing houses fail to acknowledge. This first installment is by no means a walk in the park, it is realistically violent and has a rough start. By where it shines is the themes that it seeks to establish. It looks at heroism and good and evil, religion, and corruption of those in positions of power. And unlike the normal trend, it wraps up the major initial conflict whilst leaving room for further development of minor unresolved plots.
In Heir to the Sundered Crown, the initial story opens with the benevolent reign at Delfinnia ending with assassination and civil war. There are multiple point of views that occur which will eventually coalesce to give a well-rounded view of the setting. This book does my favourite aspect- world-building- well. It intuitively answers many of the initial questions of a reader about this world. Despite the rough start and some predictable elements, the author is willing to treat certain characters harshly. And despite my discomfort with the level of violence depicted on-page, it did allow for thinking about the brutality and price of war.
In Heir to the Sundered Crown, the initial story opens with the benevolent reign at Delfinnia ending with assassination and civil war. There are multiple point of views that occur which will eventually coalesce to give a well-rounded view of the setting. This book does my favourite aspect- world-building- well. It intuitively answers many of the initial questions of a reader about this world. Despite the rough start and some predictable elements, the author is willing to treat certain characters harshly. And despite my discomfort with the level of violence depicted on-page, it did allow for thinking about the brutality and price of war.
July 24, 2024
Horror visits Delfinnia. The royal family…assassinated. A grasp for power eyed while perpetrators hunted. Sinister darkness spreads…but within hope lies hidden.
Gr8 classic TSR/WOTC throwback feel! Fast paced, intriguing & exciting. Dragons, wizards, undead Whoo hoo!
Gr8 classic TSR/WOTC throwback feel! Fast paced, intriguing & exciting. Dragons, wizards, undead Whoo hoo!
December 5, 2020
Absolutely enticing to keep reading until you finish. Enjoyed meeting the characters and what is going on. First books by this authir and definitely not the last.
June 9, 2020
I was completely blown away by Heir to the Sundered Crown. This is one of the best fantasy novels I have come across in years. Mathew Olney has given us a wonderfully created world and well rounded relatable characters. Knights, kings, mages, witch hunters, witches, wizards, dragons, and much more inhabit this magical realm. Joseph Tweedale did an amazing job narrating the audio book edition. I can't wait to see what happens next. Mathew Olney will definitely be an author I follow.
August 23, 2019
This is an epic fantasy novel, the first book in a trilogy. Perfect for readers who know what they want from the genre, less satisfying for those looking for something new.
It felt like a plot led book to me. There are a variety of characters and right from the beginning we follow a wide range of points of views from characters spread over the world of Delfinnia. I like this kind of story and was pleased that the author trusted me to be able to follow a complex storyline. The POV often jumps within a scene, however, something I don't like. The setup is also good, with a royal family murdered and a kingdom in chaos.
With a sound plot, unfortunately for me it lacked a little in execution, at times feeling like it needed another draft from the author. This resulted in a 'rushed' feel to the book. So many of the characters have potential but more care could have been taken in developing them. Luxon, the wizard apprentice and effectively the MC, never becomes more than the trope teenage character with super powers that has been done countless times before.
Another trope used here is the return of the banished evil god and his minions. As the novel develops these become the main threat, who exploit the chaos of the civil war. I thought the witch made a good baddy. There are lots of 'fell' creatures who roam the margins of the land and threaten to invade. I liked the idea of the northern marches being assaulted by dark forces, this gave it a Game of Thrones type feel. But the enemies here are called zombies, ghouls and werewolves. These creatures arrive with little introduction - yes, we all know what these creatures are, but for me it added to the feel that this is a generic fantasy world rather than a unique one. Magic abounds but for my personal taste a little too much of it, with not enough cost attached to the user. Finally, there were a number of what I would call errors of various kinds which knocked me out of the story. In the final chapter ticker tape streamers fill the air after the heroes win, incongruous in the otherwise medieval setting.
All in all then I would call this a solid fantasy debut from an author well capable of producing something even better, with more attention to detail and bringing more innovation to the genre.
It felt like a plot led book to me. There are a variety of characters and right from the beginning we follow a wide range of points of views from characters spread over the world of Delfinnia. I like this kind of story and was pleased that the author trusted me to be able to follow a complex storyline. The POV often jumps within a scene, however, something I don't like. The setup is also good, with a royal family murdered and a kingdom in chaos.
With a sound plot, unfortunately for me it lacked a little in execution, at times feeling like it needed another draft from the author. This resulted in a 'rushed' feel to the book. So many of the characters have potential but more care could have been taken in developing them. Luxon, the wizard apprentice and effectively the MC, never becomes more than the trope teenage character with super powers that has been done countless times before.
Another trope used here is the return of the banished evil god and his minions. As the novel develops these become the main threat, who exploit the chaos of the civil war. I thought the witch made a good baddy. There are lots of 'fell' creatures who roam the margins of the land and threaten to invade. I liked the idea of the northern marches being assaulted by dark forces, this gave it a Game of Thrones type feel. But the enemies here are called zombies, ghouls and werewolves. These creatures arrive with little introduction - yes, we all know what these creatures are, but for me it added to the feel that this is a generic fantasy world rather than a unique one. Magic abounds but for my personal taste a little too much of it, with not enough cost attached to the user. Finally, there were a number of what I would call errors of various kinds which knocked me out of the story. In the final chapter ticker tape streamers fill the air after the heroes win, incongruous in the otherwise medieval setting.
All in all then I would call this a solid fantasy debut from an author well capable of producing something even better, with more attention to detail and bringing more innovation to the genre.
June 19, 2020
A great read
I enjoyed this book the story pulled me in straight away ,I couldn't wait to finish to find out how it ends,some
I enjoyed this book,the story pulled me in quickly,the characters are well written,so many to root fora book well worth reading
I enjoyed this book the story pulled me in straight away ,I couldn't wait to finish to find out how it ends,some
I enjoyed this book,the story pulled me in quickly,the characters are well written,so many to root fora book well worth reading
February 3, 2021
I thought this was a good book and a first read from this author.
I thought this was a good story line was very good and interspersed all the characters that made the story go through very nicely.
The character built up was very good and interspersed into the story very well.
I thought this was a good story line was very good and interspersed all the characters that made the story go through very nicely.
The character built up was very good and interspersed into the story very well.
June 30, 2020
Just got through reading and loved the story. Can't wait to read the whole series. Well written and thought out.
May 10, 2015
After I read the book, I had to sit back and let it soak in. It was very fast pace with a lot going on. Lots of action and gore. Lots of characters and interactions. The storyline was great. The characters and the world they lived in were clearly thought out and well created. The dialogue moved the story forward and explained a lot of what was going on. A lot of the history of that world came out in the dialogue but the author also put the history in an appendix at the end of book, which was very helpful. Overall, I enjoyed it.
One thing I felt the story lacked was character buildup. There wasn’t enough substance in the main characters. They felt one-dimensional. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around why they want to rule so badly. What do they gain besides being a ruler and having all the power? There has to be something much deeper. Wanting power is usually driven by something very personal that one can’t seem to let go of that can manifest in the form of revenge. I did not sense that if that was meant to be part of character buildup. The characters had too much trust in everyone they came across. They seem to all be unintelligent and gullible. Another thing was that I also found myself wondering why, after Luxon fainted a couple of times, he would continue to use his magic. I would think he would be afraid to even feel his magic knowing it would make him weak afterward.
I should also mention that there were lots of grammatical errors and typos. Also, the word, “whilst” was overused.
Note: author offered book for read and review.
One thing I felt the story lacked was character buildup. There wasn’t enough substance in the main characters. They felt one-dimensional. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around why they want to rule so badly. What do they gain besides being a ruler and having all the power? There has to be something much deeper. Wanting power is usually driven by something very personal that one can’t seem to let go of that can manifest in the form of revenge. I did not sense that if that was meant to be part of character buildup. The characters had too much trust in everyone they came across. They seem to all be unintelligent and gullible. Another thing was that I also found myself wondering why, after Luxon fainted a couple of times, he would continue to use his magic. I would think he would be afraid to even feel his magic knowing it would make him weak afterward.
I should also mention that there were lots of grammatical errors and typos. Also, the word, “whilst” was overused.
Note: author offered book for read and review.
June 1, 2015
classic epic fantasy with lots of interesting characters, kingdoms and dangers. Works well as a stand alone novel but definitely leaves me wanting more! My only complaint is that I think the ending was a bit rushed. Still a good read - even reminds me a bit of the Harry Potter series.
If you’re considering starting this epic fantasy book, then let me just get this out there — several times while reading this book I thought, “man, this reminds me of Harry Potter.” And I LOVE the Harry Potter series. Now, I’m not saying that this book is as great as Harry Potter, but out of all the fantasy books I’ve read, this one comes the closest in terms of a similar feel.
I don't want to post any spoilers, so I'll just say that overall, this was a very enjoyable read. It is classic epic fantasy with a whole host of characters and kingdoms. You get dragons, witches, ghouls, mages, knights and so much more. I do feel like the ending was a wee bit rushed, but even so I’d still recommend reading this one. It is the first book in a series, though the second book is not yet available. It does not end on a cliffhanger but definitely leaves you wanting more – like what’s up with that land across the sea where Luxon wakes up? And what is the deal with the nefarious goings on in the epilogue? So many questions!
And, if you want to know more of my thoughts (with a few minor spoilers), I posted a full review at the WorldsEdgeTavern website where I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
If you’re considering starting this epic fantasy book, then let me just get this out there — several times while reading this book I thought, “man, this reminds me of Harry Potter.” And I LOVE the Harry Potter series. Now, I’m not saying that this book is as great as Harry Potter, but out of all the fantasy books I’ve read, this one comes the closest in terms of a similar feel.
I don't want to post any spoilers, so I'll just say that overall, this was a very enjoyable read. It is classic epic fantasy with a whole host of characters and kingdoms. You get dragons, witches, ghouls, mages, knights and so much more. I do feel like the ending was a wee bit rushed, but even so I’d still recommend reading this one. It is the first book in a series, though the second book is not yet available. It does not end on a cliffhanger but definitely leaves you wanting more – like what’s up with that land across the sea where Luxon wakes up? And what is the deal with the nefarious goings on in the epilogue? So many questions!
And, if you want to know more of my thoughts (with a few minor spoilers), I posted a full review at the WorldsEdgeTavern website where I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 22, 2017
Luxon is training to be a mage, but is having a hard time of it. Son of an executed father and abandoned by his mother, he has more magical ability and curiosity than he knows what to do with. That constantly gets him into trouble in the academy. He also has one particular enemy that won't let him alone. Caldaria is the only safe haven for those of magical talents, since the last king banned the use of it in the rest of the country. The Kingdom itself has descended into civil war after the assassination of the last king. Unfortunately, one of the Barons that is claiming the throne raids Caldaria and Luxon helps thwart his plans. From this raid it becomes known that an older and even greater evil is behind all these events. Because of his magical abilities and his role in these events, Luxon is chosen, with a small band of others, to go and seek out this evil. Along the way Luxon has some fantastic adventures and finds out some unbelievable things about himself. A very good sword and sorcery read that I would recommend to other fans.
March 8, 2016
When Matthew asked me to review this book I was a little bit hesitant, my love of medieval fantasy has waned as I got older, and I feared a tiresome slog through more nonsense about men swinging swords as princesses swooned to one side. Instead, I received a refreshing change of pace as I encountered a different mythos from standard Tolkein, a complex and dynamic world, and not only do the female characters refuse to swoon, they also remain strong in their own ways. I encountered a few grammatical and spelling errors, but these were minor and did not distract me from the book, and I am happy to say that I would continue to read this series and will post more reviews when I do.
April 3, 2016
3.5 * - 4* This was a good book. Told from a few different POV. The characters where interesting and developed through the story. The book is a good versus evil story, but also with themes of internal civil war and assassins cults. It has a nice blend of magic and sword fighting and few nice twists thrown in. There where a few parts I didn't like, the book started off slow and it took me a while to get into the flow of the book. Also a few of the characters had weak POV'S and the story could of been expanded slightly as the book went on. All in all though this was a enjoyable read overall.
December 10, 2018
Absolutely an epic fantasy series that combined all the elements of a good fantasy series. I READ for pleasure, fun, light romance, love , excitement , being SKERT as I called it when I was young and this 3 book series fulfilled every reading need for me. The last part that described ALL eras of history was fantastic!! it explained in summary form each era and that told me there are more to come. Great great great reading pleasure.
October 10, 2020
I believe if you love Fantasy,Dragons,Wizards,Battles ,And Wars on epic scales You will absolutely LOVE this Adventure. Betrayal leaves the kingdom leaderless, Evil has been building it's army to darken the World. Who can withstand the onslaught ? what happens next ? get this Awesome book to find the answers to those questions that will leave you wanting the whole series.I am an Honest ARC Reviewer.
October 9, 2019
This is a great beginning to a new series! It has plenty of action and intrigue that will keep you reading late into the night. The world building and characters are well defined and will get even more fleshed out as the series goes along. I really enjoyed this read and think you will too.
February 10, 2020
WANT TO READ AN EXCITING ADVENTURE,BUY THIS BOOK NOW!😍
Great 👍characters super beathtaking descriptions!😍This Has Dragons, Magic and Amazing suspense!book to buy is right here..Marvelous book.BUY THIS BOOK NOW!😍 I Recommend This 😲 BOOK!
Great 👍characters super beathtaking descriptions!😍This Has Dragons, Magic and Amazing suspense!book to buy is right here..Marvelous book.BUY THIS BOOK NOW!😍 I Recommend This 😲 BOOK!
October 17, 2020
This is a good story. Interesting characters, good plot. Lots of action, a few twists. The magic system is unusual, the enemies are powerful and evil. Overall, a good book.
February 6, 2025
Book 1 of Heir to the Sundered Crown is a well-written, enthralling fantasy tale that I found quite enjoyable for different reasons. Let’s face it, it is very difficult nowadays to write fantasy that manages to capture our full attention. This is due to several reasons:
The market is oversaturated with fantasy books and if the author is not well known, chances are they will fly under the radar of most readers.
Most current fantasy stories today are a ‘reassembling of parts’ from Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, and Harry Potter. It’s the norm for modern fantasy writers to just copy and paste aspects of those fantasy cult classics without adding anything fresh or original to them.
We have progressive modernists who want to use the genre with the application of ‘modern thinking’ so that the ‘fantasy’ element becomes just a veneer, with the essence of the stories becoming a sad reflection of the deranged post-modernist agenda.
HTSC manages to offer enough exciting content while avoiding to fall into the category of stereotypical fantasy/adventure novel.
PLOT:
The entire story centers around the assassination of the royal family of the kingdom of Delfinia. The assassins, however, fail to find and murder the young prince who, thanks to Davik and Elena, is taken to safety at an undisclosed location. This coup leads to civil unrest and skirmishes among local barons, all vying for power.
However, the mastermind behind this plot is a supernatural foe greater than any mortal being, and that is our mage apprentice, Luxon gets introduced to us.
Luxon is made aware that he comes from a lineage of powerful mages and, along with a team composed of knights, nightblades, and witch hunters, will play a key role in finding the young prince and rightful heir to the throne, which is key to avoid the legions of darkness to breach the Void and take over the world.
THE TOLKIEN EFFECT:
As I was reading this book, I couldn’t help but think of Lord of The Rings at some points.
For example the friendship between apprentice mage Luxon and his buddy Yepert (a rotund, jolly friend from the mage apprentice school) reminded me very much of the same relationship we see with Frodo and Sam. Yepert even finds courage and strength when it’s needed most just like Sam, while Luxon, just like Frodo, is the most reflective of the two.
Also lines like “Please don’t turn me in anything unnatural” too reminded me very much of what we read in Tolkien. Not a major issue but it speaks volume of the massive influence Tolkien still has on modern fantasy writing.
MODERN EUPHEMISMS:
If there is one area I think the author could improve is in the implementation of modern euphemisms.
Phrases like:
All in all, I’d say that was a good day’s work
And none of us died, which is always a bonus
intelligence network
until the cows come home
The above could easily be replaced with more evocative alternatives. That would help readers be drawn further into this fantasy world. Just because a term CAN be used doesn’t necessarily mean that it SHOULD be used, within the context of this genre.
CONCLUSIONS:
All in all, book 1 of HTSC delivers a fun, action-packed fantasy adventure for die-hard fans of the genre with heavy Tolkienian influence. I suggest you pick this book or maybe buy it as a gift and perhaps get your family and friends into discovering the magic and excitement that books like this one can offer.
Book 2 will probably get reviewed at a later date since I’m curious to know what could possibly happen in the plot after the seemingly decisive victory of good over evil we read in book 1!
🦀
The market is oversaturated with fantasy books and if the author is not well known, chances are they will fly under the radar of most readers.
Most current fantasy stories today are a ‘reassembling of parts’ from Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, and Harry Potter. It’s the norm for modern fantasy writers to just copy and paste aspects of those fantasy cult classics without adding anything fresh or original to them.
We have progressive modernists who want to use the genre with the application of ‘modern thinking’ so that the ‘fantasy’ element becomes just a veneer, with the essence of the stories becoming a sad reflection of the deranged post-modernist agenda.
HTSC manages to offer enough exciting content while avoiding to fall into the category of stereotypical fantasy/adventure novel.
PLOT:
The entire story centers around the assassination of the royal family of the kingdom of Delfinia. The assassins, however, fail to find and murder the young prince who, thanks to Davik and Elena, is taken to safety at an undisclosed location. This coup leads to civil unrest and skirmishes among local barons, all vying for power.
However, the mastermind behind this plot is a supernatural foe greater than any mortal being, and that is our mage apprentice, Luxon gets introduced to us.
Luxon is made aware that he comes from a lineage of powerful mages and, along with a team composed of knights, nightblades, and witch hunters, will play a key role in finding the young prince and rightful heir to the throne, which is key to avoid the legions of darkness to breach the Void and take over the world.
THE TOLKIEN EFFECT:
As I was reading this book, I couldn’t help but think of Lord of The Rings at some points.
For example the friendship between apprentice mage Luxon and his buddy Yepert (a rotund, jolly friend from the mage apprentice school) reminded me very much of the same relationship we see with Frodo and Sam. Yepert even finds courage and strength when it’s needed most just like Sam, while Luxon, just like Frodo, is the most reflective of the two.
Also lines like “Please don’t turn me in anything unnatural” too reminded me very much of what we read in Tolkien. Not a major issue but it speaks volume of the massive influence Tolkien still has on modern fantasy writing.
MODERN EUPHEMISMS:
If there is one area I think the author could improve is in the implementation of modern euphemisms.
Phrases like:
All in all, I’d say that was a good day’s work
And none of us died, which is always a bonus
intelligence network
until the cows come home
The above could easily be replaced with more evocative alternatives. That would help readers be drawn further into this fantasy world. Just because a term CAN be used doesn’t necessarily mean that it SHOULD be used, within the context of this genre.
CONCLUSIONS:
All in all, book 1 of HTSC delivers a fun, action-packed fantasy adventure for die-hard fans of the genre with heavy Tolkienian influence. I suggest you pick this book or maybe buy it as a gift and perhaps get your family and friends into discovering the magic and excitement that books like this one can offer.
Book 2 will probably get reviewed at a later date since I’m curious to know what could possibly happen in the plot after the seemingly decisive victory of good over evil we read in book 1!
🦀
August 6, 2024
Heir to the Sundered Crown is the first book of The Sundered Crown Saga. A mage named Luxon sets off on a quest in a realm torn apart by war. The heir is lost, and evil forces threaten to cause further chaos in the world. Together with a knight, a nightblade, and a witch-hunter, he will attempt to restore the realm and save them from damnation.
This is classic epic fantasy, one of those books where you know what you're going to get when you pick it up. Safe, perhaps, but it definitely works. It has a nice mix of classic mythological creatures, and other supernatural beings, like zombies and werewolves. It was an entertaining read (or listen, in my case), with the story keeping up the pace throughout, and it held plenty of easy-to-root-for characters.
Dragons, magic, items of power, mages, and undead are abounding in this book, and it's a great start to a series. I really enjoyed it.
Note: I listened to this as an audiobook, and the performance by Joseph Tweedale was brilliant. I especially liked the distorted voices of both the witch and the dragon. It really added a cool element to the narration.
This is classic epic fantasy, one of those books where you know what you're going to get when you pick it up. Safe, perhaps, but it definitely works. It has a nice mix of classic mythological creatures, and other supernatural beings, like zombies and werewolves. It was an entertaining read (or listen, in my case), with the story keeping up the pace throughout, and it held plenty of easy-to-root-for characters.
Dragons, magic, items of power, mages, and undead are abounding in this book, and it's a great start to a series. I really enjoyed it.
Note: I listened to this as an audiobook, and the performance by Joseph Tweedale was brilliant. I especially liked the distorted voices of both the witch and the dragon. It really added a cool element to the narration.
October 9, 2020
The story is that classic good v. Evil, with a lot of twists and turns along the way. The main characters are fairly well developed, though some of the background characters could use some fleshing out. That doesn’t detract from the solid plot and the vivid descriptions. This is the setup for what promises to be an excellent series. Onward to book 2! I can’t wait to see where the story takes young Luxon.
December 22, 2022
entertaining
Enjoyable tale , Luxon the MC is an okay character , we know little about him and learn nothing during the story it's the classic good V evil and the other main characters Ferran, Sophia ,Yepert and Maiden are okay but again we learn little about them if the series was on KU I'd read the next book but it isn't so I might revisit the Sundered Crown again but I've to many other books lined up right now.
Enjoyable tale , Luxon the MC is an okay character , we know little about him and learn nothing during the story it's the classic good V evil and the other main characters Ferran, Sophia ,Yepert and Maiden are okay but again we learn little about them if the series was on KU I'd read the next book but it isn't so I might revisit the Sundered Crown again but I've to many other books lined up right now.
July 7, 2017
Needs extensive polish. Wrong word errors, awkwardness, insufficient clarity on the POV. It just didn't feel professionally finished. 2.5 star
July 14, 2024
Very good
I enjoyed reading this story, it was interesting and it had believable characters.
I recommend reading this book. This is a new author I will follow.
I enjoyed reading this story, it was interesting and it had believable characters.
I recommend reading this book. This is a new author I will follow.
June 20, 2021
Reads like a fanfiction.The adverbs are overdone and the descriptions are repetitive. Wouldn't have read/listened to this if I hadn't been on a roadtrip with someone who wanted to listen to it.
September 20, 2014
Good start but I wished there was some editing.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 30 reviews