Shard Knight

Echoes Across Time, Book 1

By: Matthew Ballard

Narrated by: Greg Tremblay

Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

At just 15 seasons, Prince Ronan Latimer emerges from the Tournament of Knights as its youngest champion in five hundred years. A champion who's earned the right to absorb ancient Meranthian battle magic. Battle magic that places him among the ranks of an elite group of men and women dedicated to preserving Meranthian culture and upholding its law.

But what should be a time of celebration ends in horror as Ronan's mother, Queen Arianne, falls victim to an assassination plot. With his life turned inside out, Ronan's thirst for revenge threatens to destroy the life of his only friend and leave the kingdom in shambles.

Ronan races to unravel the key to an ancient mystery meant to restore the full power of magic before his enemies.

The first part of an epic journey awash in magic, adventure, and romance travels through sprawling cities, giant forests, dangerous snow-capped mountains, and long-forgotten underground ruins.

©2013 Matthew Ballard (P)2014 Matthew Ballard

Good first book. Excellent Narrating

What did you love best about Shard Knight?

I enjoyed the fight scenes. I was, for the most part, able to have a movie of the action running in my head. The writer paints vivid pictures with words.

Would you recommend Shard Knight to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, It is a beautifully told story.
Matthew Ballard has created a wonderful world and a wonderful story. It is also a story that will carry through future books. The characters are the sort you felt like you could get to know.
My issue with the book is that he rushed through some areas that could have used a little more time. Also there were jarring Time/Plot hops. At first I honestly thought there was something technically wrong with the download. This is what I mean when I say he needs to spend a little more time. Transitions are abrupt and rough. I see this as something that can be fixed. He also needs to work on the dialogue transitions. "He said, She said" are great tools but there are others as well. A little diversity will help a lot.
I will buy more books by this author. I truly enjoyed the story and the world created and I look forward to future adventures.

What about Greg Tremblay’s performance did you like?

I enjoyed his voices and accents the most. They carried me away and I was able to forget about the narrator. He helped wrap the listener into the story. There have been narrators who's voices to not mix well with the story. I end up thinking more about the person talking at me than the story. Being able to forget about the narrator as a person and have them be a storyteller is important to me.

The narrator, Greg Tremblay, has become one of my Top 5 Narrators on Audible. He brought the book to life. I was able to forget that the narrator was male. He became gender-less. His interpretation of some of the voices was a surprise when first used but quickly became a tone that worked for the characters. The flow of accent was smooth and made for some lovely listening. I look forward to listening to more of his narrations.

Any additional comments?

I do a lot of driving. The story kept me interested and the narration helped fuel my imagination. It made the hours go by more easily.

Not bad, not great either

This was a pretty forgettably generic bit of fantasy. It wasn't bad, but I've heard this story before by other authors, and with different titles, and, frankly, it was told better by them. It's not a bad book, but if you're looking for something new or original, look somewhere else.

Also, the narrator was a little weird. I have a Kindle Fire, and it has a text to speech function where it will read books to you. It's not perfect. Most of the time you can tell that it's not an actual human being reading to you. It's flat and emotionless, and speaks with a mechanical cadence, rather than in a natural rhythm like an actual person would. At times in this book, the narrator sounded like that flat, mechanical voice from my kindle. It was pretty off-putting.

Brought me back in time

What made the experience of listening to Shard Knight the most enjoyable?

I listened to this book while running. The diverse voices of the narrator made me feel like I was there. It was a wonderful distraction from pounding the pavement. It's fast paced enough to stay interesting, but not so complicated that I couldn't focus on the road. I also appreciate the number of characters (each with a unique voice!). Enough to make the story full of twists, but I didn't feel the need to have the names/locations printed in front of me to go back and reference.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The cast of women play essential roles with grace. I noted the strength of the females in this book and enjoyed it!

Which scene was your favorite?

When Ronan gets the support of the crowd in battle.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Ronan's mentor didn't make it on to the bird.

Don't be fooled

To be frank, if it wasn't for the fact that there's a 5 year gap from the assassination to when Ronan makes his play I might have enjoyed this book. But 5 years! The story doesn't make sense with that and it rubbed me raw the entire book.

It's also just too much. It's a two book story smashed into 1 book. All the pieces are there and I couldn't put the book down at times, but at the end of the day it wasn't the worlds best story. It was also very predictable and a less than satisfying end.

Is it worth a credit, yes. But don't pay any more for this.

Narrations was excellent.

Just okay

This story is very fast paced. There isn't a lot of world building and there isn't much information given on the magic system. The latter of which made it difficult for me to suspend disbelief. The story is pretty cookie cutter too. I kept finding myself distracted and would have to skip back a few to several minutes to figure out what was going on. I won't be purchasing anymore in this series and don't recommend it.

The narrator was much better than average. I'll be looking out for more books he narrates.

Good start to a fantasy series

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, it's a fun fantasy book.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

A bit too much rush to make it all come together may have left the story by the wayside.

What about Greg Tremblay’s performance did you like?

Great range of character voices. Excellent sound quality.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A magic history is brought to life.

Greg doors a great job! great story.

Great story. I'm really looking forward to the next book! I hope Greg Trimbly read that one too!

Reminiscent of Terry Brooks, well written/acted!

Would you listen to Shard Knight again? Why?

I would definitely listen to this story again. It is a great memorable fantasy tale with a coming of age story thrown in for good measure. It reminds me of some of Terry Brooks' tales, like the gypsy morph series.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Shard Knight?

The secret entrance underneath the tavern section was particularly exciting and well written.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene was interaction with Laura

Any additional comments?

The voice actor did a particularly good job in giving each character depth and distinct voices. I thought the choice of accents for Ronin and Reika's people were spot on.

One drawback to "reading" with audible...I have no idea how to spell anything!

Good, not great

Any additional comments?

This book was better than I thought it would be. The story kept moving and had interesting points. The magic system did get a little over the top at some points, but it was not too bad. Overall, a good story although a little predictable. The reader did a good job.

OK story, horrible narration

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The story isn't too bad for youth fiction, especially if this is his first attempt. Given that audience, I'm surprised he included a sex scene in the book. I'd get really frustrated by the characters and then the author would sneak in something interesting to make me hold on.

What really ruined it was the narration. Random pauses, horrible accents, overly dramatic readings of perfectly normal scenes- in just about every way this guy ruined the book for me.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

See above. I'll not get another book this guy narrates.

Do you think Shard Knight needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No. The story was fairly dramatic and had good closure. I think the author should try again but this time try and figure out who his target audience is.