Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Much like Pratt's first series (Morsyth Saga) these books are very entertaining. I mostly enjoy the fact that the author does not go into long drawn out descriptions of locations and surroundings like other writers. Instead he focuses more on the story and the characters instead of trying to impress the reader with BIG, HUGE, GIGANTIC adjectives. I will continue to purchase any books that he writes, hopefully alot.

This is the first of a trilogy of books. Having read them all, I must say I was entertained and engaged. The author uses a rather predictable formula so you know the fighting will be the most detailed events. Vocabulary and formulation of his stories are at a high school level at best. For the price I recommend it. The ending of the last book is a very lackluster end to a story that had promise and could have been much better developed. His other saga is more palatable.

I'm sorry, but I am the type of reader that loves to read epic fantasy, and I guess I assumed that because this gentleman wrote an entire SAGA in the Morcyth Saga, that this might possibly be my next pleasant multibook supertale reading experience. NOT! I just love writing a good review, and hunt for reasons to do so for those that deserve. I got to page 10 of this fancy piece of whatever, and decided to quit. SO GENERICALLY POORLY DEVELOPED. This is the worst descriptive text, syntax, and language flow that I have ever read in a published script, and the cost!... It is really prohibitive for those of you thinking about trying to read it anyway. It was so bad that I couldn't imagine myself forcing myself to go on. If this is meant for young adults, it is a POOR example of style, complexity, language use...VERY POOR, ALMOST INFANTILE.

Tiny

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 the characters 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 their powers may be. 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 magical items.

In this book, Riyan and Chad are not really 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 lack of confidence, 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, I was happy to discover he hadn't lost his touch. I greatly enjoyed Shepherd's Quest.

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.

Addendum for Kindle...

The formatting is off a bit and it lost a star for that. By off a bit I mean there is more border on the right side than the left. It hardly inhibits the enjoyment of the story. I've encountered this a couple times before. Wonder if it is an indemic problem when authors upload their books? Either way, $5.99 is a heck of a lot better deal than $19.95!!