Shadow of the Conqueror

Chronicles of Everfall, Book 1

By: Shad Brooks

Narrated by: Michael Kramer, Kate Reading

Length: 18 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Who better to fight back the darkness of the world than the one responsible for most of it?

Daylen, once known as the Great Bastard, the Scourge of Nations, Dayless the Conqueror, has lived in hiding since his presumed death. Burdened by age and tremendous guilt, he thinks his life is coming to an end. Unbeknownst to him he’s about to embark on a journey towards redemption where his ruthless abilities might save the world. Many battles await with friends to be made and a past filled with countless crimes to confront, all the while trying to keep his true identity a secret.

Indeed, it might be too much if not for the fabled power awaiting him.

Everfall is a world of perpetual day where the continents float in an endless sky. If one jumps from the continent they will fall for many hours before returning to the same place from which they fell. Skyships rule the air powered by shining sunstone and industrial darkstone. A legendary order of knights bears mystical powers which they use to hunt out the dreaded shade, monsters that regular people turn into if trapped in darkness for the length of a fall.

It is a world of enchanted swords, merciless monsters, mystical knights, and hard magic, filled with tales of wonder and adventure.

©2019 Shad Brooks (P)2019 Shad Brooks

Amazing start to a series

I hesitated to spend a credit on this at first, Amazing fights, powers and characters.

glorious! well done for his first novel!

Excellently written! my only problem with it is how easily the main character learns his powers, he never seems to struggle with them too much but all in all well told and a good story!

Loved it!

Great, compelling story with a very entertaining kind of humour at just the right places. Can't wait for the next one :)

An amazing read

The Shadow of the Conqueror is an amazing book with thrilling action sequences that had me at the end of my seat, multiple instances that caused me to literally laugh out loud, and beautiful character arcs that have caused me to want to be a better person. The audio book is greatly narrated, and is a performance I look forward to enjoying again and again for the years to come while I impatiently wait for a sequel.

A great debut for Shad!

I've been a fan of Shad M Brooks on Youtube for a while now, and his expertise shows through here. The worldbuilding is intriguing, the magic system masterfully complex, and the characters deep and engaging. While there is an argument to be made about the over-powereredness of the main protagonist, and some of the dialogue seemed a bit anachronistic, I found the dialogue to nevertheless be one of the strongest points of the novel.

This novel should come with a content warning, however; the main protagonist is a pedophile and rapist, and his crimes are discussed in some detail, along with the firsthand ongoing trauma of his victims. If you have trauma related to these, please read with caution.

A book i'm glad to recommend

It's a great mixture of a comic book universe and old-school fantasy writing. The humor gave it a fresh feeling and made me look from a slightly different angle at the story of a man struggling with his dramatic and horrible past. A true new-school with the storytelling of a good old-time writers.

5 starts

fantastic story of redemption set in a rich world I would highly recommend it to anyone

Great first book!

Creative magic system. Looking forward to polished up sequels! Amazing for a self-published debut! Don't let all the negative reviews dissuade you from giving it a shot. The narration by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading is also amazing.

A good step out of my comfort zone

I stumbled upon this book from Mr. Brooks YouTube channel and decided to take a chance on it. I'll be honest, in the beginning, the magic seemed overpowered to me and the whole neverending day thing took some adjusting to. There were times I wasn't sure if I'd like the story. But the thing that really had me sticking out and ultimately enjoying the story was the human element. I thought Mr. Brooks did an outstanding job describing a truly evil (not just a little bit here) man's attempt at redemption and the struggles along the way (I'm talking serious struggles, he didn't instantly become good!). I particularly enjoyed his interactions with the companions he met along the way. At times I was confused about a character's behavior but once all was revealed, it made sense in hindsight. The (in my opinion) overpowered magical abilities did lead to a truly outstanding fight sequence near the end so even though I was rather meh about the magic, it did add to the ending. I hope there will be other stories following the characters and I will gladly read them.

A Good First Novel

I liked this book. The characters were fun, the story was engaging, and I'm interested to see what happens in the next book.

There's been some mention that the main character is overpowered, and he is. There's nothing wrong with overpowered characters. I think Shad could have done a better job in giving him proper challenges though. Giving him the ability to heal back from death was probably a mistake I think.

I was also a little annoyed when characters used modern Earth colloquialisms. For example, using the word "retarded" to refer to someone unintelligent. I'm not talking about the objectionable nature of the word in general, but just the fact that this word seems like a glaring anachronism in the society that Shad is postulating. That's just one example, I noticed other colloquially modern words and phrases being thrown around. It grated on me a little, but it's not a big thing.

I also thought there was a little bit too much emphasis on the main character's internal struggle. It almost seemed like regret porn at certain points. I found myself thinking "Okay, I get it, this guy's full of self-loathing. Do I have to hear his every stray thought on the subject?"

I think it would have made a better story if his realization of his crimes was precipitated by a shocking event that forced him to confront his image of who he thought he was with reality. Gradually coming to realizations about yourself is certainly something that can happen through introspection, but it makes for a less compelling character's turning point.

Anyway, these minor gripes are made up for by how fun and interesting the story is. It's a completely new and imaginative type of world and system of magic. The amount of effort he put into figuring it all out really shows and places the book as an instant classic for me. The characters are well done and the action is well paced. I recommend it!