The Shattered King

The Shattered King, Book 1

De: Charlie N. Holmberg

Narrado por: Natalie Naudus

A captive healer and a mysterious prince are drawn to each other in the midst of war and magic in a beguiling dark fantasy by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg.

The kingdom of Cansere is on the brink of war. Young men are conscripted from their homes, and a royal decree from the queen has made healing the only legal form of craftlock. Nym, a healer and beekeeper, is the sole provider for her family of seven now that her younger brother has been sent to the war front. But when a letter comes from the queen, summoning Nym to the palace to heal Prince Renn, the kingdom’s ailing shut-in, Nym finds herself making the tumultuous journey from her family’s apiary to the capital city. Nym is determined to fail the queen’s mission and return to her younger siblings as soon as she can.

But escaping the castle’s hold isn’t as easy as failing a simple test. Prince Renn is cold and distant, and his illness is like nothing Nym has ever seen before, nothing she could ever imagine treating. In a moment of connection with Prince Renn, Nym manages to remedy the faintest symptom of his ailment—only to discover that no healer before has made such progress. Forced to become the prince’s official healer and a ward of the castle, and with her only hope of returning to her family hinging on the prince’s recovery, Nym must navigate the castle’s cruel and twisted court and uncover the haunting truth behind Prince Renn’s illness—even as she finds herself irrevocably drawn to him.

©2025 by Charlie N. Holmberg. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“A deftly crafted and impressively original fantasy by an author with a genuine gift for the kind of narrative driven storytelling style that keeps the reader fully engaged from start to finish…Recommended.”—Midwest Book Review

Hurry Charlie, we need the sequel!

This book was fascinating, imagining, exciting, heart-wrenching and everything from the visuals to the feelings of the characters were made so real by Charlie's masterful word sculpting. I can't wait for the sequel!

The narrator was also really really good. I appreciated that her narration had levels, especially the whispers - although the whispering was sometimes too soft - which I say with the intention of helping her improve on her already beautiful work of bringing the story to life with her voice!

Geat read! I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Can't wait for the next!

Very well put together, great pacing, well written and narrator was very good! I haven't fully enjoyed a book as much as this one for a while, it hit all the bases for me. I was never confused as to why a character would do something, nothing was out of character, and character development was smooth and done nicely, everything flowed well. the writing was beautiful. Kudos to the author! I will continue to look more into their writing!

Super unique, can’t wait for part 2!

This book was utterly unlike anything else I’ve ever read. Super exciting with a genuinely surprising twist. I also found the worldbuilding to be quite well done and could easily picture everything that was described, even when it was a totally new concept.

My one real complaint is that the protagonist, who is otherwise incredibly intelligent, allows herself to be repeatedly subjected to subhuman treatment before realizing that she actually has some bargaining power for far too long in the beginning of the story. I could see what the author was going for but I struggled to suspend my disbelief after a while.

I also have one nitpick, which is something the editors should’ve caught, but the author repeatedly uses “administrations” when she means “ministrations” and given how well crafted the rest of the prose is, that was distracting.

I’m so looking forward to the next installment and I can’t wait to see how the mystery resolves!

The Shattered King

Great storyline, battle of kingdoms with no thought for their subjects. Enter the healer who can put the broken parts of who you are together again. A broken prince in great need of a healer and how easy is it to snatch her from her home and family. Some cliffhanger! Excellent narration. Really looking forward to the next book.

A Build Up Like No Other

This book was a breath of fresh air after going through a reading slump of DNF. Was a meaningfully curated exploration on so fronts: storyline, character development, and romance. Can’t wait for the next book!