5 out of 5 stars
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Larin started having strange outbursts at the young age of four years old. They were mainly triggered by anger, hurt, or hearing and seeing the phrase he used during his outbursts. His uncle held a solitary war against Oarl’s gang, and he placed his protection on the four walls of the Wormpile district. Oarl’s gang saw Larin having one of his outbursts one day, and they kept bullying him when he stepped out of his uncle’s protected walls, to make Larin have one of his outbursts. The bullying went so far that they spilled blood and broke bones at times; they even started hurting everyone associated with him, which left Larin in a very lonely and depressed state. What caused these outbursts, and what was their significance?
He found solace in the library, which was guarded by Tewin. When Tewin fell asleep, Larin would sneak into the one place where he was forbidden to go: the Lyrashi scripts. This is where you can learn about Carver creatures whose Lyrashi language brought magic into the world. When Tewin woke, Larin moved back to reading scripture. He learned about the three monstrous forces that ruled the world: new gods, old gods, and demons. Read this book to learn how this world, its different Gods and creatures, and Larin’s outbreaks come together.
The first half of the book is focused on world-building and getting to know the different characters. Although there is some action in the first part of the book, the real action and adventures start in the second half of the book. The start of the book went a little slower than the second part, but without the first part, this book would have been super confusing. The author kept enough action and interesting tidbits at the start of the book to keep it from being boring. The author did an excellent job of describing the world and characters. Although there were quite a few characters and places to keep track of, this wasn’t difficult at all with the author’s world-building techniques.
The action scenes in this book are a mix of violent fistfights, swordfights, and sorcery. Everything is explained in such detail that it feels like you are part of the fights and the inner turmoil of the characters, especially Larin. I enjoyed everything about this book and loved Larin’s character development as he learned more about himself. This book kept me captivated, and I only found one error in the whole book while reading. It shows that this book has been professionally edited. There was nothing I disliked about this book. For the above-mentioned reasons, I give City of Shards by Steve Rodgers a perfect rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
I would recommend this book to people who love epic fantasies with sorcery and godlike creatures. This book is heavy on world-building and will not disappoint with its descriptive scenes. Due to its violence, I would recommend this book to readers aged sixteen and up. If you want something different and exciting that leaves your heart pounding, then this book is for you!
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City of Shards
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