Shepherd's Quest (The Broken Key, Book 1) [Paperback]

Brian Pratt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 13, 2007

Shepherd's Quest begins a story about three lads from the small town of Quillim: Riyan Borenson, Chadric Kelon, and Bartholomew Agreani. When Riyan stumbled upon an ancient burial tomb, he and the others soon discovered they had found the fabled King’s Horde. A place reputed to hold a vast fortune.

However, before they could gain access to the King’s Horde, they must first recover the segments of the key that will open the sigil inscribed portal. One key they found within the ancient burial tomb in the hand of a long dead thief.

Somehow they must find the segments of the key and open the Horde before word gets out. For should others learn that they have found the fabled King’s Horde, less scrupulous men will be after them to claim the Horde for themselves.

Their quest for the rest of The Broken Key ultimately leads them to a place located deep within hostile goblin territory, a place where even the goblins fear to go.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Riyan Borenson of the small village of Quillim is a shepherd boy. His best friend is Chadric Kelon, son of the village miller. Together they have all sorts of high spirited adventures, but only in their daydreams. Life is rather mundane for Riyan and Chad. Tending sheep and grinding grain does not make for high adventure no matter how they might wish otherwise. Yet despite the calm in the little hamlet, Riyan has managed to acquire an enemy. Rupert, son of the village magistrate, is determined to make Riyan life miserable no matter what. To add insult to injury Rupert even gets engaged to Freya, the girl who Riyan suddenly realizes he loves. Riyan distraught by this sudden announcement decides the best thing for him to do is take his sheep to some high pasture. There he will have time to sort things out, get over his anger and find a way to stop Freya from marrying Rupert. Meanwhile, Chad along with Bartholomew Agreani devise a plan to humiliate Rupert, but it only makes things worse for Riyan. Change is in the wind. Up in the high pasture, one of Riyan's sheep goes astray. While looking for the lost sheep, he finds the lamb in a hole in the ground. Despite the trouble the sheep has caused him, Riyan also finds a coin which will bring him and his friends back to this same place a few days later. Riyan, Chad and Bart stumble upon an ancient burial tomb, which they later learn is the fabled King's Horde. Legend has it that this burial site holds a vast fortune. If Fate has brought them this far, Fate has also thrown them a curve. To gain access to the King's Horde, they must first recover the segments of the key that will open the inscribed portal. One fragment of the key they find within the ancient burial tomb in the hand of a long dead thief. Finding the other segment of the key will take them deep into hostile goblin territory and a place where even goblins fear to tread.

Shepherd's Quest is a fun, well paced novel that any Dungeon and Dragons gamer would love. It has all the elements of the game rolled into an adventure story about young lads looking for riches, fame and adventure. Parts of the book do get rather bogged down with the repetitive finding of chests, crypts and such. Once inside goblin territory the story picks up the pace and moves the reader right along with the uneasy, uncertain air that makes goblin territory so feared. Brian Pratt weaves a true Dungeon and Dragons type of story with this first book in the Broken Key Trilogy. Gamers should love this trilogy! -- Yellow30 Sci-Fi, FootNotes Reviewer, 08/29/2007

From the Author

Why did I decide to write The Morcyth Saga? I suppose the main reason was due to the many series which were currently popular at the time. Series that in the beginning grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go, but then over time began to lose momentum in a mire of subplots and overlong descriptive paragraphs which I found myself skipping. When I realized I was skipping pages at a time to pass through a subplot that didn't really move the story along to get to the what I would consider the `good points' (action, adventure, actually seeing the main characters) I figured I could do better.

So I set out to write a series in which the reader followed the main character 90% of the time, action or points of interest were in every chapter, and descriptive content was down to a minimum. As a reader I knew I could create my own visualization of surroundings and figured others could to. I mean, do you really need me to go in depth as to what a teenage boy's room looks like? Doesn't `messy boy's room' bring up an instant visual? Stuff like that is what I mean. Certainly there are those who prefer grand descriptive content and a myriad of plots that takes a notepad to keep track of. To them I would say The Morcyth Saga is not for you.

As to the story itself, I was a role player decades ago in high school. And I got to thinking about how interesting it would be should a gamer be thrust into a world in which his gaming experiences could help him thrive. After all, if you take a person from our world and thrust them into a world of magic, wouldn't it be helpful to select someone who would be more amenable to the prospect of magic? Perhaps one whose very interests were along those lines? That was how James came into being, a high school senior who loves creating and then running his friends through his creation.

The Morcyth Saga and The Broken Key Trilogy are both written along gaming lines. The Morcyth Saga is about a gamer that is thrust into a world of magic while The Broken Key is written in role playing style.

You can check out excerpts, maps, and other information about both series at my website. If you have never read one of my books before, I would suggest checking out the excerpts before you buy so you can make sure you like it.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (February 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595428258
• ISBN-13: 978-0595428250
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,082,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a single father of three wonderful children. I began writing March 2005 and have sold over 17,000 copies in Paperback, eBook, and Kindle formats combined. Each series has a different feel with its own style of magic system. I write fun adventures that are safe for the entire family, think PG-13. The Morcyth Saga continues to be my biggest seller.

You can contact me via my Official Website at www.briansprattbooks.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good start of a series, April 8, 2007

By 

Sean (W. Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shepherd's Quest (The Broken Key, Book 1) (Paperback)

First of all I'd like to say, thank you to the author for switching from present tense to past, it's much easier to follow.

Now Shepherd's Quest has many elements which I found to be intriguing...

First of all, in the opening segment of Chapter One, you think you're reading about two warriors who are actually storming a sorceror's castle. Instead, you find out that it was a tale told by Chad as he and Riyan were watching a flock of sheep. Both of them come from a small town and dream of adventure.

Adventure comes their way when after an earthquake scatters Riyan's flock while he's deep in the hills away from town, one of his lost sheep is found at the bottom of hole beneath a berry bramble. The hole as it turns out is but the beginning of a place they call The Crypt. They call it that because of all the dead laid out in biers.

Another of the things the author did which I liked, was the way the character Bart(who's the thief of the group) rationalizes the placement of traps and chests. Never heard that before in a book. But here, we get a glimpse of WHY someone would do that. Also, we see him work to disarm traps of one type or another.

At the lowest level of the Crypt they find a wallm, beyond which they believe the fabled King's Horde lies. Tales have been told for centuries of the King's Horde and the treasure which it holds.

However, before they can gain access to it, they must retrieve a circular 'key' which they hope will open it. The key as it turned out lies in four sections, one which they find on the steps before the wall of the Horde clutched in the hand of a long dead thief.

From there it just gets good. They eventually travle to goblin territory, sneak their way through to the Ruins of Algoth. There they find another underground complex. ONly problem is, at night the place is infested with spirits and an unseen deadly force.

There's a lot of logic used in this series which I liked. From chests, trapped chests, even treasure laid out on the floor with its own unique trap, the author keeps your interest. The final section of the book is perhaps the most excitingm. The escape from the Ruins and subsequent flight through burning hell on thier way back to human lands.

This looks to be another good series by author Brian S. Pratt. Not as much fighting as his earlier one held, but good none the less.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Review by someone who actually read the book, August 10, 2007

By 

Kevin Davenport (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shepherd's Quest (The Broken Key, Book 1) (Paperback)

Shepherd's Quest is a role playing style book unlike many others in that it doesn't rely heavily on the elements of role playing. Rather, they supplement the story. Sure there are scrolls, but the characters don't use them all the time, potions, same thing. There's very little character development, that comes into play in the second book. Magic items? There are a few, but they don't readily know what they do. In fact, their resident magic user Kevik has a real confidence problem and shies away from trying to ascertain what they do. Being an apprentice without a master hasn't given him much ability to ward off or counter any traps which may be associated with the magic items.

In this book, the guys are really not capable of defending themselves being a shepherd and miller's son. Instead, they have to leave it Bart and Kevik to repeatedly pull their bacon out of the fire. And if the truth be known, I believe it is Kevik, with all his doubtin his abilities, who is the real hero. But that's just my opinion.

Plenty of dungeon delving, skulking, hiding, thieving, trap detection/nullification, etc. It's really quite a fun adventure. There are a few intense moments especially near the end. Pratt has a way to build the tension as the heroes face deadly challnges.

Having come to this series as I did after reading his earlier work The Morcyth Saga, it took me a bit to get into the swing of his style. Once I was emersed, it was hard to put down.

As in all of Pratt's books, there is an element of levity. That was never more evident than when Bart and Chad, in an effort to pay Rupert(the resident bully) back, snuck into his home and planted increminating evidence.

I liked it and have already read his second book as well. Both were fun and entertaining. He tells a good story.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Adventure, September 2, 2007

By 

Diane A. Goins (Boswell, Ok USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shepherd's Quest (The Broken Key, Book 1) (Paperback)

I found this to be a very exciting adventure story. By chapter 3, I was hooked. I was on the edge of my seat with each passage way, each new discovery. There were many unexpected turns in the story.
I like the characters and the roles they play. They interact well.
I finished the book, looking forward to Book 2.