The Fragment of Water

The Shattered Soul, Book 1

By: Ben Hale

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Born of magic in the final days of war, Draeken’s power is near absolute - until his soul shatters, leaving five fragments. Each possesses a single magic, and a consciousness of his own. Trained by the Hauntress, they secretly quell threats throughout the kingdoms, and their mastery grows with every passing age. But their time of unity has come, for a dangerous new foe has arrived.

Long thought extinct, the ancient race of krey has returned to Lumineia, and they seek dominion over what they had lost. With an Eternal at his side, the fragment of Water is sent north in search of their lair. But in the ruins of an abandoned temple, he will discover a darker truth.

Kept secret since the Dawn of Magic, the Order of Ancients has members hidden among thieves, assassins, and even kings. After a millennia of waiting they rise...from anonymity to war.

©2018 Snowlight Publishing (P)2019 Podium Publishing

Awesome Book!

I had read the summary of this book 3 or 4 times and chose others to purchase but that was a mistake. I should have listen to this book months ago. This is a great book. I loved all the characters, the storyline, narration, it was just wonderful. Definitely checking out the other volumes.

the dragon king fight!

thatbfight gave me chills. as a long time listener of ben hale's other books it was exciting to listen to the raw power of draeken and elanear. such great writing!

A great book!

It starts slowly and then you can't stop listening to this book. If you are familiar with the Luminea univese you will love the way the plot helps you learn many new details about Draeken. Derek Perkin's performance was as always excellent (I would love to have him narrate the Age of Oracle too but that is my preference only) . I can't wait for the next installment in the series to be available in audible! My only complain... I wanted more of the Water's storyto be told but I understand that there are other fragments to be presented so it couldn't be as lengthy as I would want it to be.

Not Bad.

Ben Hale is an interesting author and some of his stories about his world are gripping and others have a lot of detail but maybe aren't packed with action in a way that keeps as many people engrossed. This first fragment story is somewhere in between. Great action scenes when they happen and some chapters of just detail and dialogue I definitely ended up skipping. Overall though it is worth a credit, and I feel like I'd continue the series.

Just not for me

In all the book is not bad, I just didn’t enjoy it. I may have enjoyed it more if I started the previous series first. But audible recommended this to me first.

Lots of dialog, slow plot movement

Ben Hale's writing was fine but didn't elicit much energy. There were a number of battle encounters between the protagonists and antagonists but most ended up being a thrust and parry action with a few NPC types falling but all tier 1 characters surviving. There is significant intrigue but even it came of somewhat muted. Lots of commiserating and lamenting about the enemy and burgeoning romantic interest but ultimately, too much dialog and too little story movement.

slow start...

not nearly as exciting as previous entries in this world. starts off very slow but does pick up later. many hints at future books and maybe even another series in this universe are dropped throughout.

Great Potential but Missed Opportunity

It wasn't a very gripping story. Even the action sequences didn't hold my interest. It was okay, but not complete.