Shardfall The Shardheld Saga Book 1 eBook Paul E Horsman
Download As PDF : Shardfall The Shardheld Saga Book 1 eBook Paul E Horsman 
Muus is only a thrall, a chattel without rights, but he knows the small, blue shard he picked up belongs to him alone. His commonsense saves their lives from cold and starvation.
Kjelle, heir to the Lord of a rich mininghold, is spoiled, and covetous of his thrall's tantalizing find. His greed causes an avalanche that leaves both young men marooned on an icy mountain slope.
Birthe, young wisewoman and huntress, mother of baby boy Búi, is brave and clever. She knows her way through the snowy wilderness of the Norden and her songs are filled with magic.
Now the three young people are bound together on a danger-laden journey to a lost and burning land, where Muus needs to connect the skyshard to the Kalmanir, the standing stone that is the world’s wellspring of all magic. The Kalmanir's time is almost up and it urgently needs to be replenished before the magic of Gods and men runs out. The two boys have to learn to trust each other, for all around them, enemies abound. Rebels threaten both the kingdom and Kjelle's holding, and a tribe of mad idolaters is trying to recall the banned primordial Old Gods. Even more imminent is Muus' danger, for it comes from nearby, from the shard itself.
An action-packed adventure in a snowy land full of betrayal, rebellion and danger.
Shardfall The Shardheld Saga Book 1 eBook Paul E Horsman
Shardfall is the first book of the Shardheld Saga, written by Paul E. Horsman. In this book the cast of characters is assembled and the great quest is outlined. I immediately felt compassion for Muus and disliked how Kjelle treated him. But since Muus is the main character in the book, and Shardheld, the tables soon turn and the "thrall" or slave becomes empowered. I have to hope there will be some redemption for Kjelle, maybe in the upcoming books, since he is just such an un-likable character. I like how Horsman developed his characters throughout this first book and little by little showed us the past of each character and the motivations that made them who they are in our present story.I appreciate that the story was not just steeped in testosterone. I was pleasantly surprised to see a female character, Birthe, holding her own in the story. And with a young babe, no less.
Overall I enjoyed reading Shardfall. There was a lot of names and background to become familiar with in this book, but I expect to devour the next ones and just continue on with the story where Shardfall left off.
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Shardfall The Shardheld Saga Book 1 eBook Paul E Horsman Reviews
This is the Author's debut novel, and the first in The Shardheld Sage series.
The saga is set back in history during the time of the Norsemen, and is very well researched. As the reader progresses through the pages they receive a glimpse of life as it was, not only for the Norsemen themselves, but also for the poor souls they captured and used as slaves. But don't think that this is just a historical novel, as it's not; it is so much more than that.
As this is the first in the series, the character development takes it time and no one character takes the foreground as being the main lead throughout this book. Each comes into focus, and then drops back for a while to give the other a chance at the limelight. I felt this worked well as it served as a `hook' into the rest of the series. It made me feel as if I want to read the rest of the saga to find out where the development of the characters would lead, and who would come out on top. The part of the chattel, and again I can't go into too much detail without revealing spoilers, is written beautifully and you can feel the anger and resentment that this person has for their master as well as others he interacts with who try to show some kindness. His bitterness, and also loss of self, engulf his every moment in this novel and, I was sure when I started reading that he would be the main lead. His master also features strongly in this first book, and is not the stereotypical Norse Man of history. He is weak, self-centred and, I have to say this, a downright coward; the kind of person who you just want to shake. However, the Author explains the reasoning why he is like this, rather than leaving us guessing and hoping it would all be explained in later books. This makes me want to read on and see will his character develop to become the type of Viking his Father can be proud of, or will he return to his habits of old.
The world inhabited by these characters is well written and descriptive; you can feel the cold of the biting wind and hearing it howling when it blows and your arms ache from the everyday tasks to keep the town alive. It's not only a well written book from the visually descriptive angle, it also assaults your nostrils as well, which is not an easy thing to do when placing words on paper but, the Author manages to do this without effort and it adds to the well created medieval fantasy this book is.
My only criticism about this book was there were some sloppy grammatical errors that a diligent proof-reader should have picked up on, if not a good editor. Although they did not detract from the plot in any way, the repetition of some words back to back (the the, for example) eventually became irritating, and is the reasoning behind my rating this book as I have. Having said this, I would like to read the remaining books in the saga, as they are published, just to satisfy my curiosity as to how things will pan out.
I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a quick and enjoyable read, as it's only 142 pages in length, but it will also appeal to lovers of the sci-fi and fantasy genres, plus readers looking for something a little different in the Norse and Viking arena.
Originally reviewed on [...]
I'll confess I didn't read the entire book -- only up to the point where Kjelle fell in the hole, was rescued by Muus and they continued onward. I didn't understand why Muus would even rescue Kjelle except for a plot device for the book (and why not just leave him behind unconscious in the snow, frankly). He obviously hate Kjelle and their "banter" is just childish insults at each other (they're both 16-year-olds and behave like it). Two immature characters I didn't want to hang around with. Even the other adults, the freemen, were also immature in their behavior and the writing style was okay, so nothing to keep me reading.
Reading this book transported me to a violent world of people who were feudal and warlords who ruled through fear. Well done, Mr. Horsman.
I read this as a free download. The book grabbed me from the beginning and I am looking forward to the sequels. Well written, and well edited (my pet peeve among digital books is poor spelling and grammar).
A good read
I enjoyed reading Shardfall. It’s a short tale but filled with adventure. It has an authentic Scandinavian/Viking feel to it, beyond the names. The author lives in the Netherlands, so that only makes sense, but I mention this as the feel of the characters, culture, and actions with a keen interest in such a setting will appreciate it.
The combination of myth and magic bumped this up from an average quest-type story, and the difficult relationship between the thrall, Muus and master, Kjelle and how it developed by necessity kept it interesting.
Shardfall is the first book of the Shardheld Saga, written by Paul E. Horsman. In this book the cast of characters is assembled and the great quest is outlined. I immediately felt compassion for Muus and disliked how Kjelle treated him. But since Muus is the main character in the book, and Shardheld, the tables soon turn and the "thrall" or slave becomes empowered. I have to hope there will be some redemption for Kjelle, maybe in the upcoming books, since he is just such an un-likable character. I like how Horsman developed his characters throughout this first book and little by little showed us the past of each character and the motivations that made them who they are in our present story.
I appreciate that the story was not just steeped in testosterone. I was pleasantly surprised to see a female character, Birthe, holding her own in the story. And with a young babe, no less.
Overall I enjoyed reading Shardfall. There was a lot of names and background to become familiar with in this book, but I expect to devour the next ones and just continue on with the story where Shardfall left off.
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