A Shattered Empire

By: Mitchell Hogan

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 21 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

In this gritty and breathtaking conclusion to the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence, the award-winning fantasy series, a young sorcerer must learn to wield his extraordinary powers to defeat two warring empires.

In a battle of armies and sorcerers, empires will fall.

After young Caldan's parents were slain, a group of monks raised the boy and initiated him into the arcane mysteries of sorcery. But when the Mahruse Empire was attacked and the lives of his friends hung in the balance, he was forced to make a dangerous choice.

Now, as two mighty empires face off in a deadly game of supremacy, potent sorcery and creatures from legend have been unleashed. To turn the tide of war and prevent annihilation, Caldan must learn to harness his fearsome and forbidden magic. But as he grows into his powers, the young sorcerer realizes that not all the monsters are on the other side.

And though traps and pitfalls lie ahead, and countless lives are at stake, one thing is certain: To save his life, his friends, and his world, Caldan must risk all to defeat a sorcerer of immense power.

Failure will doom the world.

Success will doom Caldan.

©2016 Mitchell Hogan (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Dumb Hero Vs Too Many Blindly Irrational Antagonis

The main character, Caldan, exhibits too many contradictory behaviors to be believable. He's a brilliant strategist, tactician, and sorcerer one minute and a bumbling fool the next, repeating the same mistakes over and over. He vacillates between unwillingness to kill the enemy to irrational willingness to kill allies. I suppose people like this exist, but stories aren't written about them, because they fail or die. Additionally, there are only about 6 characters in the book that demonstrate an average amount of rational, logical decision-making. I think it is reasonable to expect blind, irrational, fervent, behaviors from some people, but it was hard for me to swallow the behaviors of most of the peripheral characters. They were just too many standard deviations off of typical to be believable. These issues made it hard to enjoy the book.

The conclusion that disappointed

After listening to the first two novels in the series I was hooked and had grand expectations for the big finale. I was very disappointed in this final book and the way it was written.
I believe that the story was made far longer than the material could withstand. This series is well worth listening to and is entertaining in its entirety, however the last book is missing that great intrige that I had come to expect from the first two books.
Hats off to the narrative and the artistic manner in which he laid out this magical tail of love and war.

more a place holder than a finish.

I got sucked into the series in the first book but the world never really developed. The principal thread of the book surrounds abomination and evil but that is never explained. Very dissapointing

Bargain bin Name of the Wind

Pros: some exciting parts. The main protagonist keeps making terrible decisions which gets kind of funny. Narrator is great
Cons: So much milling and wandering around the same place. Constant expository dialog and thoughts: if you are not sure what the main figures are thinking, they will tell you 3-8 times. Really very little payoff for therms of a trilogy

Are We There Yet?

I really enjoyed the first two books but the last one dragged for me. Maybe it was because I listened to all three in a row with no break but I just wanted the last one to end. I was waiting for the epic "good versus evil" battle but it just felt like "evil versus less evil". Still there were a couple of great parts that I loved but just not enough for me to give this book a rave review.

TO MUCH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MONOLOGUE!

The 1st book was great the 2nd book was borderline, because of it's useless internal and external monologue, this book has so much wasted time I simply could not listen to all of it. The author turned what is an amazing story into at least 5 hours of entirely to much internal and external USELESS monologue. Worse yet they stuffed in at the worst times. Sad too because the actual storyline is truely a fantasy listers dream.

Refund worthy

I was hoping that book three would have been better, but no, the storytelling goes even further off the rails. The same inconsistencies found in book 2, continues to plague #3. It's pretty much crap.

very dissapointed.

this last book just left me feeling empty. the first was fantastic. the second was still good but was definitely a step down. but this one made me feel like the author gave up halfway through and said forget this I am done with this book.

Definitely young adult.

This book disappointed me. It did tidy up the storyline. Leaving itself open for another trilogy. Writing style seem to degrade to young adult fiction. Did not feel this was on par with the prior two books.

Thumbs Up, Y'all

A finale that does Caldan justice.

I've really enjoyed this series, and once again, Oliver Wyman's performance is a masterclass in narration.

A Shattered Empire Completes A Fine Whole

As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews this series has divided opinion and I can certainly see both sides. However, in this final installment the whole thing moves up another gear and I would imagine that most who stick with it through to the end will be glad that they did. After a brief prologue we’re straight back into the action as this book continues on immediately from where the second left off, the fighting at River’s Edge. It would however be wrong to go too far overboard with the praise. Caldan’s navel is still regularly examined but the action to navel gazing quotient definitely improves. Some of his motivations and logical conclusions also continued to puzzle me at times though.

However, there is much more of what has been good in this series and less of the problems. The action and adventure is a little faster-paced. The interesting magic system is expanded upon and I’m again impressed by the innovative and clever ways that the sorcery is used in combat. The main characters including my personal favourite Amaden are given fates befitting their importance and the ending while perhaps a little contrived satisfied me as well as most. The last few hours of the book form a very fitting and spectacular conclusion to the main storyline.

A Shattered Empire also continued with some of the core themes that I have enjoyed in the previous books. Everything really does come at a price and the continuing difficulty for Caldan in choosing the correct path as the sheer duplicity of many of the other characters is revealed. Not many people or institutions are purely good or evil, much like real life.

In short I think that Mitchell Hogan has delivered very strongly in this final book. Some will have been put off this series but if you have been happy enough with the first two books I would definitely recommend seeing it through to the bitter end!

I Love a Good Ending

This is a book of pain, suffering, sorrow and, ultimately, choosing right over injustice. Caldan starts to really come into his powers, but this is not welcomed by anyone. The Emperor is after Caldan's touched blood; the Protectors and Warlocks all want to use him; Amerdan wants to consume him; Gazija and his men also want Caldan for their own plans. But Caldan? all he wants is to be normal and to go far away with Miranda. However, the Gods have other plans.

Whether everything makes complete sense is another matter - Caldan's powers, which seem to be increasing quickly, but how is a little foggy. There is little explanation about Gazija and Quiss's people and what will become of them after the final showdown? We only, briefly, get an insight into Caldan's family history, which I would have liked to hear more about. But, this is fantasy.

The battles come fast and furiously, but the showdown at the end ties up most of the loose ends. Would I recommend this? yes, I would as it is thoroughly engrossing and enjoyable.

Brilliant conclusion to a great series.

This was a brilliant conclusion to a great series. I loved the magic system from the beginning and it just kept growing and growing.

Definitely recommend

Great ending to the trilogy although it only feels like I read 2 books! the story is fast paced and imaginative and you're not 100% sure how it will end which is always good!

Loved the whole series

I love it when a series promises greatness and delivers all that it promises . Great character and wonderful plot . What I loved most was the diversity of the characters , we all have a power to do great evil and vast amounts of good too . This is shown in all his characters . All in all a very enjoyable read !

Fitting Finale

If you enjoyed the other 2 it's a satisfying conclusion with some genuinely exciting moments. Throughout the book the various characters have their motives explored and not everything is black and white .

overall an enjoyable experience.

Double plus good

Great series, just plane good old fun epic fantasy. Good narration. I bought the whole book series in one go.

great trilogy

it is a really brilliant trilogy with great narration and it keeps one gripped throughout.

good book like the last 2

I will say is that the end seems rushed, almost like there should've been another book but wanted to get it done in 3. still worth a listen tho

A Satisfying Conclusion

From the opening chapter of the first book to the final words of this, the final novel in the series, I have been captivated and transport through the many, trials, tribulations and successes of all of the main characters.
A REALLY GOOD READ.