The Sixth Strand

A Pattern of Shadow and Light, Book 5

By: Melissa McPhail

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Length: 36 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

"The strands are as interwoven as the visible spectrum, yet upon closer inspection, one may be found to bind the rest." (Isabel van Gelderan, Epiphany's Prophet) 

The First Lord's game has reached a critical apex. For the first time in millennia, the teams are equally matched. The field itself holds a kind of equilibrium. It is the task of Björn's Players to unbalance the field in their own favor in their great game to restore Balance to the Realms of Light. But with Malorin'athgul and now Warlocks returned to the realms, the game - and the stakes involved - has elevated to an entirely new order of magnitude, requiring Björn's Players to do the same. 

In Illume Belliel…after millennia of exile, the Demon Lord has regained a foothold in the Realms of Light, thanks to his ally, Shailabhanáchtran. Shail is expecting Baelfeir to stay in the cityworld, but the Lord of all Warlocks doesn't need Shail's help to reclaim the realm of Alorin - or his permission. 

In T'khendar…the last bastion between Chaos and the Realms of Light is being unmade. The Malorin'athgul Rinokh has been voraciously deconstructing the realm's fabric, and without the drachwyr to counter his efforts, the world is coming undone. Björn and Isabel val Gelderan and their allies are doing all they can, but will their efforts be enough to withstand the onslaught until the Balance can shift? 

In Shadow…Ean val Lorian has finally recovered his memories from his life as Arion Tavestra, but what may prove even more lifechanging is his new binding to Darshanvenkhátraman. If Ean can learn to wield deyjiin through Darshan's binding - an ability Arion never even envisioned - might it shift the entire balance of the game? 

In M'Nador…Trell val Lorian succeeded in rescuing his father's soldiers from the fortress of Khor Taran, but he also learned at last what the Goddess Naiadithine requires of him in return for her many graces: ending the war between M'Nador and the Akkad. But what chance has he of ending a feud that's been raging for decades when he can't even convince his own commanders to get along? 

From the dimension of Shadow to the realm of T'khendar, from the Empire of Agasan to the fire deserts of Avatar, Ean, Tanis, Trell, Sebastian and the rest of Bjorn's Players will be holding their positions against immortal enemies in a game where mortal consequences hang in the balance of every choice. 

Melissa McPhail's epic fantasy series A Pattern of Shadow & Light has won a collective nine awards for outstanding fantasy and (even more importantly to the author) the devotion of thousands of listeners and readers.

©2019 Melissa McPhail (P)2019 Podium Publishing

Had to stop 10h in.

Had to stop about 10 hours in. It's a shame because there's so many story lines that I absolutely adore but I feel she's expanded the story to a point she can't control. I'm just not invested in the characters anymore. The other books were a 5 star to me and maybe this will be too if I come back to it some day, so I'll leave it at three.

it's a long road, but...

Nick is incredible!!! Melissa's world building and story telling are masterful!!!

what a great, emotionally charged, satisfying ending! there is so much lore and story leading up to this book,

I feel like the only way to truly enjoy it, is to reread\relisten to all the previous books first. AND even if you do refresh your memory, an encyclopedia of places, events, and mechanics layered by book; would be enourmously helpful and entertaining.

She did it again!

Disregard all of these negative reviews. If you’re this far into the series, you should know what to expect.

With so many different point of views, I have no idea how Melissa is keeping this story so good. She doesn’t disappoint with this installment either, I’m sure I’ll be relistening to it many times while I “patiently” wait for Book 6. And of course, there’s no one better than Nick Podehl.

Geeeeez.....

I just wish the hurting would stop......
light on world building. Descent character development but much to flowery language for my neanderthal brain ... my main complaint is the excessive use of unnecessary multiple view points .... the author even alluded to this at the beginning of this book before the story began. I don't know.... I don't like to complain really but I've used up my exchanges and now have to listen to it all the way through.

Lost it's way

Just haven't been able to finish. This book has lost it way. I wanted this book to take me along for the adventure. Instead I need to take notes to keep up. I also feel like author wanted to write a romance novel but was under pressure to write this. It has been 3 months still not able to go back to this one. The only reason I have not returned so far is the other books were so great it breaks my heart to return it with out finishing it.

seriously? Never skipped through a book this much

convoluted, aimlessly jumping around, the same storyline again and again. Oh no! They bad guys have him, it's a horrible fate! His will is about to break, oh good, he has been saved again. He's the most powerful annddd now his isn't. Useless internal diatribes that don't advance the story. Mindless repetition.

Terrible, I skipped through almost every chapter.

Story is beginning to feel dragged out

I love the series, but I’m beginning to feel like the story is being dragged out with too many view points. The story didn’t really pick up until the last 6 hours, which was a long road to get to that point.

One of my favorite all time series

I am one of those scumbags who read reviews but am generally too lazy to write them.... But.. I love this series, and I fricken loved this book. Is it a bit happy-go-lucky? Sure it is, but the story is beautiful, the characters are beautiful, and the way they interact is just a joy to listen to. Between the narrator and the story itself, this is one of my favorite all-time books, and definitely a wonderful series.

I won't bother going into details because others have already done it and if you're on book 5 you don't need me to tell you this series is awesome. So this is more for the author; please keep writing this story, even when this series wraps up, please bring us more of these amazing characters. Thank you for writing these books and telling this story, I adore it.

Well worth the anticipation

Brilliant and leaves me wanting the next one... Well thought out and more than worth the wait...

omg

I am so glad I randomly started this series!!! the character depth is.just AMAZING!!! I highly recommend it if your looking for a epic fantasy

smulchy melodrama

be wary this series is melodramatic the the nines and definitely wasn't for me


characters constantly do illogical things for the sake of destiny or fate.

the writing is absurdly melodramatic everyone is always over awed by their emotions everything is inconceivable or unthinkable or they fell overcome with. gratitude so as not to be able to even think!

noone can just feel anything at a normal level

an Isabel vangelderan is the most annoying Mary Sue who can't do anything wrong ever! and who all the male characters are in love with ect

the same themes within the characters are played out over and over again

the world building is good and the performance by nick podelh is as always excellent

Amazing

I love the amount of characters and there arcs. I don’t know why people are saying there are too many. I think it’s an amazing book.

After reading the entire series five times, I still come back for more!

Please, purchase this amazing book, but only after you have read all the preceding ones. You will not be disappointed!

Long winded

Enjoyed immensely the previous books so much so I listened to them all again before listening to this latest instalment. There are some excellent parts in this book but too much padding in between. think the author maybe knows this as the preface goes into an explanation of writers sprawl. Will think twice before embarking on the next instalment.

Awesome book and narrator

Loved the story. Nick brings all the characters to life very well. Can't wait for next book!

Amazing series!

These are an amazing set of books. I've binged them all up to this one and I'm waiting for the next one in not so calm anticipation! Such a great story. World and the law is written to perfection, and the character development makes you feel like you really know who each character is and what their goals are.

I'm really looking forward to the next book.

An amazing addition to the series.

such a great book. well performed as always by Nick. I got hooked to the series in march of last year and have listened to them all multiple times. this one took me about a week to finish

Exceptional like the others!

I don’t want this story to end! I’ve loved every book so far and look forward to the 6th!

Something to always intriguing and fascinating

So book five, supposedly second last book of the series and heavily invested into it. What do I think?

Disclaimer:

If you cannot enjoy long series with complex plot lines, really complicated ideas/thoughts and many different perspectives, this is not a series for you. These books take their time in explaining things and their time in getting to the point, so if you don’t have the patient you most likely won’t enjoy these books.


My opinion:

I think this is probably one of the best fantasy series I’ve ever listened to (Nick does a phenomenal job of portraying and voicing these characters). I think the story in itself is great in many ways and it really delves deep into its plot lines and hard, but well thought ideas. I’d say the first book is the least interesting one and it’s something you kind of have to get through if you want to understand the rest. However, once you’re in the thick of it, it’s a glorious journey to be apart of. And I have to say, the story line is good but Nicks reading just makes it all alive. I think the book wouldn’t be half as good if Nick didn’t read it.


The plot is really interesting and you don’t really know what the plot actually is. But the more you listen/read the more you start to understand what’s actually going on. Many times I thought I had an idea and then I was proven completely wrong, in a great way. But what was so interesting is that so many times there were so many conflicts and ideas that I thought it’d just turn into a mess, which it never did! Melissa always managed to connect the dots together and really well which was so thrilling! It all provided a very fun and interesting experience. I cannot wait for the Sixth book! Please if you love fantasy, do yourself a favor and give this a listen!! I promise you won’t regret it!

The Best revenge in Life is Living

The field of players now seems to be getting a little overcrowded with the return of the Warlocks and the Malorin'athgul all vying with each other.

T'khendar is being unmade and it looks like a losing battle.

The Dracchwyr have been cast into the future by a pattern worked by Leyd and are fighting to find a way back. However, one of their number, Mithaiya was recovering from her run in with Darshan and escaped the same fate.

Ean has finally recovered all of his memories and binds himself to Darshan in the hope of enhancing his powers with deyjiin.

Trell succeeds in freeing his father's soldiers from Khor Taran. Naiadithine, the Water Goddess, finally tells Trell her price for helping him. Unfortunately, as seems to be the way with all of Bjorn's players, they place their honour above intelligence and boldly throw themselves into situations they are unlikely to get out of.

I purchased the first book on a whim as the series seemed complete. I tend to purchase book series unless they are, more or less, complete as I find the time lapse inbetween books makes me lose track of what is happening. So I am disappointed to find that this is not the final book and there is going to be a year or more before the next book is released.