The Hidden Magic Chronicles Boxed Set: Shades of Light, Shades of Dark, Shades of Glory, Shades of Justice

The truth will set you free, but what happens when the truth is a lie?

Rhona and her paladin brother, Alastar, belong to a holy people who have waged war on witches and warlocks and their clans from the highlands. But when she uses magic to save his life, their world is thrown upside down. On the run, having left all they knew behind, they have to rely on those who hate paladins. All magic is evil, the high paladin taught.... But Alastar starts to understand that he might have been misled.

If his sister uses magic, and she isn't evil...what does that mean for his beliefs?

Brother and sister soon find themselves aligned with magic users and thrown in with the clans in a war against sorcerers and paladins alike, with only one hope of uniting the land - the legendary Sword of Light.

It was lost years ago, and quest after quest by the holy paladins could not retrieve it. When you know the truth about magic...anything is possible.

This boxed set includes:

• Shades of Light
• Shades of Dark
• Shades of Glory
• Shades of Justice

Set on the foundation laid by the Kurtherian Gambit series, Shades of Light tells an entirely new story in the Age of Magic - and of the heroes and villains who battle for control of its destiny.

©2018 Justin Sloan, Michael Anderle (P)2018 LMBPN Audio

nice story good plot never board a amazing people

wow amazing keeps you listening very fast pass can't wait foR mor e about these characters

Great narration

Story was 👌 I wasn't hugely vested into it. Felt to be geared towards younger audience .

Excellent Narrator

This was a good story but at times it didn't keep my attention. I repeated parts because I felt like I missed something. excellent nattation.

Written well but story had issues

The MCs were a brother and sister in early adulthood who were orphaned young without memory of their past. They were both raised in a quasi-religious order of Paladins that was founded on the exploits of person who wielded a sacred sword and fought in the name of Justice. Not a god but more like a saint. Magic is considered evil and these Paladins were responsible for finding and executing all that possessed and used magic. So far, so good. However ...

{SPOILERS FOLLOW}

The authors decided to make this more than an untethered fantasy to our cultural society and drew parallels using magic users with different arcane affinities, like water, air, fire, &c to represent prejudices against each other without ever providing any rationalization as why this were the case. I was left with the impression that this distinction was meant to draw parallels to today's racial prejudices. A number of review comments suggested that it also was anti-religious; although the authors disavowed that being their intention. Still, the parallels to the Paladins oath of chastity and the symbolism of their sword comes very close to Catholicism.

I would also classify this as a female empowerment novel in that almost all the females were uber-magic wielders and the men begrudgingly deferred to them. The long-widowed king even demurred to a female he had just met after her chastisement. It became so bad that they decided to include a 9 year old foul-mouthed girl openly-disobeying her single-parent father and him allowing it even when it put her in extreme danger. The authors seemed to have a desire toward over-empowering children but it was so unnatural that it put me off on the character.

Not planning on continuing the series.

Great Story and World

Story is well written and entertaining. You don't feel expected attachment for some of the main characters, but the narrator is great.