Kingdom Blades

A Pattern of Shadow and Light, Book 4

By: Melissa McPhail

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Length: 42 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

"You cannot sculpt a piece into a Player. A Player must mold himself out of fortitude and conviction." (Bjorn van Gelderan)

After the events the first three books in Melissa McPhail's award-winning epic fantasy series, A Pattern of Shadow and Light, the realm of Alorin remains unbalanced. The Fifth Vestal, Bjorn van Gelderan, has cast his Players on the field. Now they must hold their positions against Malorin'athgul as well as their immortal allies.

In Kandori...Prince Ean val Lorian is bound to Bjorn van Gelderan's game and to his sister Isabel, but Ean would rather be free of both of them. Yet he fears the game won't let him - nor will the man he used to be. Chained by guilt on one side and duty on the other, Ean chases memories through three kingdoms in an attempt to become a Player on his own terms.

In Hallovia...Tanis of Adonnai has discovered his true identity and his nature as an Adept of four strands. He's bound himself to the Malorin'athgul Pelas and in turn bound Pelas to his uncle Bjorn van Gelderan's game. But will Pelas' ability to bend Fate to his will be enough to oppose the intentions of his brothers, Darshan and Shail? And will Pelas be able to keep Tanis safe from the immortal Warlock Sinarr, who vowed to go to any lengths to make Tanis his concubine?

At the First Lord's sa'reyth...Prince Trell val Lorian has been rescued from the island of Darroyhan and the mor'alir Adept Taliah hal'Jaitar and is recovering at the First Lord's sanctuary. But while Trell is enjoying an overdue reunion with his betrothed, Alyneri, he suspects he cannot long remain off the field. If the game doesn't summon him back, his conscience will, for he owes his life to too many others. Primary among these is the Water Goddess Naiadithine. Trell can't help but wonder what the goddess will require of him in return for Her many graces...and if it will be a price he's willing to pay.

As Bjorn's game intensifies and wars escalate, those serving the Fifth Vestal must mold themselves into more than mere Players. They must become his Kingdom Blades.

©2016 Melissa McPhail (P)2017 Podium Publishing

Awesome

Every book has captivated me from right from the start. Easily in my top three for epic series. Nick Podehl does an amazing job again. I've listened to many books he has done and he keeps getting better as a narrator.

Can't take any more.

Isabel prostitutes herself to gain an ally in the last book, this is bad enough. I can't listen to one more word of the characters trying to justify it. I'm done.

The best yet. But...

OK. I've been planning this comment since book one. But I said to myself "I'll wait till I've finished the series, maybe she gets her stride." now, don't get me wrong, Melissa is not a bad author at all. In fact, she is very interesting and quite talented. However, she strays so much! Each book adds more characters and SPENDS TIME ON THEM! I mean devotes chapters to these side characters that get randomly thrown in. For no reason. It almost feels like filler.

The series starts out pretty chaotic, which I found to be actually kind of interesting. Then she starts adding the twist of (spoiler)... The bad guys are actually the good guys, but then that keeps happening as a norm throughout the series making it a little less interesting, in general. Less novel.

So many tangents in the plot. Ideas not fully formed or explained. So many new characters, and characters you think are important that you never hear from again... So many times she goes off with a new character! It drives me insane! I want to say to her "no, please finish your thought with the characters the book is actually about".

For instance, (spoilers ahead) when Trell gets a small army there are characters in this army that see him as a brother but we never heard about... Or if we did it was brief. But they're vastly loyal, and so now you have two new characters Tanor and Lucas who get full chapters dedicated to them and they only just arrived in the FOURTH book. Not that I don't like them, but she just added like ten new characters in this book alone. Why?! To make her job more difficult? To remove us from what's going on to our actual characters? I think it's just because she liked the idea so she followed the thought, and made a huge digression.

Honestly, what I would LOVE to see is just a book about Trell, Tanor, and Lucas. I think that would be an excellent and amazing book. I think an epic was a hit ambitious for her. I don't mean to be a jerk at all. I'm sorry if that's how I come across. But I did listen to all of them before making this comment.

That being said THIS book was good. It was her best yet. It was the most exciting. The least aggravating, and the most interesting.

WOW! Finally a series that lives up to WOT!

Any additional comments?

This series has me hooked and brought me back from giving up on fantasy and wholly moving to LitRPG. I am in love with the writing style & at first the narrator's choice of voices seemed close to the Moontide Quartet (another favourite) but the character development has blown my mind and soon the voices made perfect sense.

If you have read Melissa's blog on her writing style, she allows each character and chapter to evolve and has no plan for them. With all of the turns and the intricate development I am in awe of her creative technique.

Wow.

One of the top 5 best fantasy series ever

Great story, great narrator, the books get better and better as the story goes on. Definitely way up there with Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, and Robert Jordan.

Best book of the series!

No one gets tortured or raped!! Nice changes in certain characters as well. Great change of pace from more traditional fantasy and a great value at 40 hours in length.

this book dragged on and on

Really enjoyed the first 3 books but this one should have just been a companion book about the worlds. The plot was practically nonexistent, and it dragged. I skipped entire chapters. Not getting the next one for sure.

Book 4 is even better!!!

This story is full of philisophical questions as it builds this amazing world, where concepts and ideals become real. I have loved this series since Book 1 and I can't wait for the next one!!!

Finished with the series, didn't finish the book.

The story lost me. I tired to like it, but I dont feel like wasting any more time on this one. Elements that the author brought in were uninteresting and it became too focused on characters that I don't care about, and don't want to hear/read about. Long passages over and over where I found all I was doing was hoping it would hurry up an move on to something else. It is a shame, the series started strong.

Narrator is fantastic, story a bit disjointed

The narrator brings the characters to life so well that I you know then by the voices he uses for them. The story is good, she's having trouble balancing all of the characters. You get so little time with each important character now that the story feels constantly unfinished. sometimes the chapter ends in the middle of a conversation and you don't revisit it for 5 or 6 chapters. That's less suspenseful and more irritating.

I love the story she's telling though and look forward to the next book.

Loved the nod to Robert Jordan, "The pattern weaves as it wills." :)

This series just get better and better

Would you listen to Kingdom Blades again? Why?

Yes, because the story is detailed and the narration is awesome. I have actually re-listened to Book 1,2,3 while waiting for book 4. I will most likely re-listen to all 4 books before book 5 comes out.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Kingdom Blades?

The way enemies become friends and the paths to forgiveness for characters. Also the vastness of the warlocks existence....

What does Nick Podehl bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Nick brings colour and so much personality to the characters. Truly fantastic.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Magnificent epic.

Any additional comments?

When the next book coming out? i can't wait.

Possibly one of the best fantasy stories I've read

This was brilliant, sometimes I thought the story was slowing down then it would pick up on another tale. If you like ultimate fantasy with every magical being then this is the book. I really hope to see this picked up by Netflix or amazon and made it to a series with all the money through in at it.

amazing fiction but some cringeworthy love stuff

It felt like multiple people wrote this..seriously dreadful cloying live scenes. all the same. all perfect in every way. love Pelis and his 'little theif" best, love Pelis's soft voice and accent best but why does he sound like a farmers boy when he was raised in a palace? we could also so with some normal people and a average looking ..that would be great. The narration exceptional.. even Tanis' because his perky cheekiness was well represented.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

The players have now been cast onto the field and they will need all of their fortutide to meet what is coming.

Ean Binds himself to Isabel and Bjorn van Gelderan, which he will question the wisdom of. He also struggles with the man he is with the man he used to be. He will have to resolve this conflict before being able to accept his roll and enter as a player?

Isabel sacrifices herself to save Ean in a way he will not readily forgive her for.

Tanis has now learned who he is and binds himself with Pelas, Sinarr and Phaedor.

Trell is rescued from Darroyham, but there is a cost for one of those who rescues him.

Alyneri grows as a person and will finally gain what she has longed for.

As the game progresse and intensifies the players will have to dig deep within themselves to endure and overcome what awaits all of them if they are to triumph against those who would split their world in two.

Boom Boom Boom

Another fantastic book full of surprises can't wait for the next one to take control of my life.

Amazing performance by a narrator

The brilliant story.
I listened to all books about 3 times now.
But what make it even more interesting and pleasant in an amazing performance by a narrator.

a brilliant story

This is such a world building story and full of wondrous detail, I greatly recommend this read!

another great book

Brilliantly done. Another great book...literally cannot wait for the next book. I absolutely love the characters and the plot- I cried and laughed ...It was a bit hard to get into this series at first but once your in your in. I'm off to listen from the start !

Awesome

This is a fantastic world that Melissa has created,masterfully character driven with some really unique characters, the story is layered with history secrets & legend, at times you will laugh out loud be sad and angry , it is a must read for fantasy lovers I would say aimed at mature young adults & adults, this is definitely not just another fantasy novel it is truly up at the top with the best fantasy world creators , Fiest Sanderson , but to name a few , listen read just do it you will not be disappointed, as for Nick Podehl a fantastic Job bringing these great characters to life , beautifully read .

Gripping and Glorious!

This is book four of the series and even so I am still gripped to it. It's an epic tale with multiple characters in worlds so beautifully imagined that you can totally suspend your disbelief and picture the places in your mind. It is pure fantasy at is best and is deserving of its own merit, I can not compare it to GOT or other epic works as it glides gloriously all on it's own. I look forward to book 5.