Monday, September 7, 2020

The First of Shadows

How do you kill a shadow?

As a raging storm descends on the Blasted Coast, the crippled young rigger, Caleb Rusk, meets a stranger on the road. Little does he know that the encounter will pull him into a conflict that threatens everything he holds dear—and change the course of his life forever.

Meanwhile, in the Capital of Taralius, a string of inexplicable deaths have captured the attention of the Ember Throne. Second Corporal Avendor Tarcoth is tasked with uncovering the truth behind a danger that could threaten the very fabric of the Realm.


Book source ~ Tour
22 January 2019
Epic Fantasy
143 Pages

My Rating ~ 3 bites and a nibble

Caleb Rusk is a crippled young man, but that doesn’t stop him from being one of the best riggers on the Blasted Coast. With a raging storm sweeping across the land he meets a wounded stranger on the way home. He has no idea what this small moment will do to his life.

The Ember Throne in the capital of Taralius is concerned about a series of deaths that shouldn’t even be happening, and yet they are. Second Corporal Avendor Tarcoth is given the responsibility of finding out the truth of these deaths and told to do it quickly before the entire Realm is thrown into chaos. No pressure or anything.

Woo baby! There is a LOT packed into these few pages. First books in any Epic Fantasy have always been hard for me to get into. There is just SO much information that needs to be cast out there by the author and it’s a lot to absorb. So many new terms and characters and places they are hard for me to keep track of. So, the first book is always such a trial for me. I end up rereading passages over and over again to set the characters, places, and terms in my mind. This book is no different in this instance. However, once I got things down the whole story crystalized. And what a tale it is!


I hate to say it so soon in a series with the journey just beginning, but I can pretty much already tell this is going to be a hell of a ride. Now that the stage has been set and events put in motion I’m looking forward to seeing where this adventure is going to lead me. If you love Epic Fantasy then do not pass this up. Come, travel with me and maybe we’ll help save a Realm.



Deck Matthews is a pseudonym for one particular Matthew Ward. He is a life-long reader who fell in love with writing and fantasy in middle school. He remains an avid reader, a casual gamer and a dabbler in the visual arts. He has worked as a designer and currently spends his days neck-deep in code as a front-end web developer.


He also holds a Master’s degree in English Literature and currently resides in Ottawa, Canada with his wife, two daughters and one little fluff ball of a dog named Wicket.

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