Did not realize I never sent feedback on this but I didn't not finish the book and it did not seem fair to review it based off of a few chapters.

When gods war, humans get killed. A young boy is chosen by the god of devils as his human tool. The blood sect seeks to overcome all others. The queen defends her poisoned king and their people. Lost souls become more than they were to meet new challanges. Cities torn apart and constant fear their new norm. And an alien force marching on them all. An epic adventure and interesting read from start to finish.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3/5

Publication Date: March 30, 2018

Genre: Fantasy

Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, gore, some mature themes)

Pages: 268

Author Website

Amazon Link

Synopsis: In the gang-ridden Wormpile District, 16-year-old Larin shouts nonsense words into the decaying alleyways, a magical tourette’s syndrome that has brought him grief from every neighborhood thug. Protected from the worst beatings by his drug-addicted warrior-uncle, Larin’s life is one of loneliness, trapped in his uncle’s four block safe zone where no gang member dares tread. But when he learns his words have marked him as servant to Lord of Demons, things go from bad to worse. For that phrase has shoved him into the middle of an ancient war between his Master and the Six-Legged gods, both of whom regard humanity as mere playthings.

With his home facing threats from every direction, Larin will have to tread the narrow path between two evils, his only allies his drug-addicted uncle, a permanently drunk priestess, and a high-born wizardress who must hold her nose and work with the street rabble she despises. For as bad as Larin's Master is, refusing to follow him will only plunge his empire into a greater darkness—an abyss so deep, it will turn mankind’s soul to ash.

I felt that this book had some really good writing and the characters are really really really well developed. The plot is also interesting and overall it’s a good book. I felt like it could be an awesome epic fantasy for a lot of people like LOTR is.

However, for me it just wasn’t something I felt drawn to. The backstory is so daunting. The book spans several thousand years and honestly it made me a tiny bit anxious reading it because that’s a lot of information to retain for one book. The book is heavily character driven and it’s really slow in parts. The time jumps are discomforting and when the plot picks up, I just couldn’t get into it at all. The pacing, in my opinion, is too slow.

Verdict: An epic high fantasy novel that would be perfect for LOTR fans!

I saw this book on NetGalley and decided at first to skip it because I'm just so picky about high fantasy. Skip to a few weeks later and it was recommended to me by a friend who was absolutely raving about it! It's amazing! Six stars! So I figured I might as well give it a shot. Apparently I'm very much in the minority here, but I just could not get into it.

There's nothing technically *wrong* with this book and I wish I could give it 3 stars because it's honestly not a 'bad' book, but my eyes kept un-focusing as I tried to get through it and as a result I ended up skimming a lot of it. The writing is good from a technical standpoint so don't worry about that, but I was just really bored by the world and the characters.

Honestly I think it kind of went downhill right from the start because it opens with a timeline spanning several pages and several thousand years so I was immediately like 'oh god what did I get myself into'. After promptly skipping that [I know, but honestly who can retain information from a timeline] the first third of the book is dedicated to following Larin as he grows from a child into a teenager. I know most people won't mind this but I hate books that have huge time skips like that. Also I never really found Larin interesting at all, so it was hard for me to be drawn into the book since it was so heavily character driven at first.

After that the plot picks up with whole high fantasy meets Cthulhu thing, which sounds really cool but I just could not get into it all. I'm sure this will be a great series for a lot of people, but I need some truly outstanding characters and world-building to get immersed in high fantasy and this book just wasn't doing it for me.

“Fate and free will are no enemies. They are two halves of the same circle.”
“And if I choose to resist fate?”
“You will choose, of your own free will, to follow your fate. Man’s free will becomes his destiny.”


What happen when you are the chosen one , the one intended to bring the end of the world?

Larin is an orphan who lives with his uncle, an old warrior gone down, in a city populated by gangs of thieves and thugs, and since he was little he has been singled out and ridiculed for his involuntary outbursts during which he shouts a phrase incomprehensible to the great majority For him this is a curse, but for those who understand it is an advocation or rather a promise to the Lord of demons -Haraf- who was expelled from those lands and who longs to return using his designated servant: Larin.

This is a solid epic fantasy, similar to others in the genre. I had some problems in getting into the subject between so much god and name change, but my concentration has not been the best these days.

The power for magic comes from the Moon and it is called Spellgiver by the locals.

Interesting and diferent is the lack of elves, dwarves, orcs and alike from anothers tolkien-ish epic fantasy books, so we have here, instead, another native species: one with six appendices , claws and pods, that were pushed aside by the humans wizards (shocking, I know). The Lidathi, or Created Ones explained by Kemharak:



“So the Day of Rising celebrates—”
“The day the gods brought us into their lairs and gave us speech. Today, the seconds and thirds become like the gods, working the creator’s magic before releasing the Jehibulleth. Just as we were once released to work the metals from the earth and bring them to the gods’ cities.
“The forest was different then, full of singing vines, Henila mounds, and many other plants and creatures which exist no more. You humans have changed everything.” Kemharak didn’t know why he was telling the human this; he felt some unexplainable need for it to understand their past.
Theralle moved its head up and down. “It is what I always thought. The gods created your people for work, not for pain. It means there are some gods who care more about what you can produce than what misery you can cause.”
“Or it means the original gods have become insane over time,” Kemharak said. He was very glad Manek could not understand.



In the other hand, Larin is an irritating protagonist, he only complains and complains throughout the story. Poor me, I do not have magic. Poor me, I can not leave my protected sector. Poor me, I can not have friends. Poor me, my uncle does not understand me. Ug. It get worst with teen years, and the rising anger. So much anger.

The story tells us about a war between deities, where humans and Lidathi are pawns. These gods are in another dimension and are brought to this by the prayers-devotions-spells of their magical priests. It seems that every certain amount of years there is a new attack with strong consequences. /SPOILER--->The fact that the gods are beings of light in another dimension that have gone mad by sensory deprivation and yearns to feel again points to other similar ideas that have been seen in other stories or fandoms. I think this about Larin feeling some empathy for this, it is well done, and that maybe the end of the prison is therefore somewhat confusing in whether it is good or bad. Sure, that depending on who.<---SPOILER/

The royal court is corrupted as usual. heh. The king entangled by pacts, and ... drugs. We have also an intelligent queen - go Relena! And an evil colorblind wizard, Emdarian, whom only lacks the moustache .

The multifaced suspicious wizard is also an interesting character.

The basic pantheon:
Emja the drunken god, with temples / beer taverns. I still think of a kind of devotees like the Took friar here.
Morphat the sadistic god, who enjoys prolonging the pain of his human sacrifices.
Haraf the Demon Lord.

Yeah, it got my attention more at the ending, so I hope to read the next book.

City of Shards is basically a coming-of-age novel about a strange boy named Larin, who has been having weird outbursts followed by the chanting of three foreign words ever since he was 10. He was adopted by his uncle, Akul, who did everything to keep this strange habit of Larin out of other people's sight, confining her nephew in a four-blocks part of a garbage city called Wormpile. Soon it turns out that he is the servant of a demon God, named Haraf, and will serve as the one who will free the demon from the cages of of the world he was forever confined to.

You know, I had a weird experience with this book.

Usually, I'm the type of person who doesn't enjoy slow-paced books because they bore me to death and hinder me from getting engaged with the story or the characters. With this book, however, I had no such problem, depite it being rather slow-paced and definitely beyond my liking.

I'm almost fully positive that has been the case because of the amazing world-building and the vast amount of possibilities hiding in all the layers of this story. The world is completely anew and unlike what we've ever known of – and while lot of bits of information is thrown at us right from the beginning, which was rather overwhelming as I understood nearly nothing, one by one they're explained in a way that doesn't disrupt the flow of the story and is immersed right within. I found the system of magic very interesting, but my favorite part was how the Gods and religion was portrayed. I loved how this story put the demons and the human gods in a completely new light and didn't follow tradition.

The book is beautifully written, albeit sometimes the fantastic writing turned into useless purple prose to me, but it was bothering only a few times. I loved the characters, although couldn't quite get into Larin until the last portion of the book, but the others were compelling enough not to let that bother me.

If you don't mind slow-paceness of a book but do enjoy new, creative worlds with a story that has lot to offer, pick up this book. I myself can't wait for the adventure to continue and to learn more about the world and especially the demons.

I was delighted to be approved for an ARC for City of Shards: it sounded my type of book and I had seen positive reviews already.

It was exactly my kind of book; fantasy; magic; gods waging war and the main character being the underdog in over his head.

Larin is cursed with shouting a phrase – one he ultimately understands makes him a servant of a Demon. His life is lonely and isolated, ruled by fear – his uncle offers protection, but a crime-lord rules his district and no one will be seen with Larin.

Just as he feels like he can move on, the city falls prey to a cult and a powerful mage. Swept up in the chaos, Larin realises he has a bigger part to play in it.

Larin is a great main character. He is vulnerable and lonely, but also brave – to the point of bordering on stupidity. He stands up for himself, regardless of the consequence, and refuses to endanger those closes to him. When he finds out he is more than he seems, he accepts the burden, knowing his power could save those he loves.

While Larin is the main narrator, there are a number of strong characters. Larin’s uncle is more than he seems, with a hidden past and a proficiency for sword-play beyond anyone else. Kemharak – an enemy creature I can’t even begin to describe – develops a conscience as the book progresses – and he isn’t sure what to do with it! Laniette is powerful and beautiful and has the measure of Larin from the start. The few friends Larin have are loyal to him, no matter what.

In the early parts of the book, I got a little lost as to exactly how the god system works – it wasn’t clear who was supposed to be good and who bad. But it’s not enough to distract from the story and I pieced it together as the plot unfolds.

Apart from the gods, there was something comforting and familiar about this book. I was reading echoes of some of the other fantasy books in it. Never enough that it was similar to one or another, but just in the way the character was isolated from his friends (Robin Hobb) and the way the rules of magic worked (reminded me slightly of Eragon).

The book was original and extremely well-written, don’t think otherwise. But I enjoyed it more because of these familiarities – I could focus my attention on figuring out the gods, because the other fantastical elements were clear to me from the beginning. It’s difficult to explain: for me, it was a positive thing that I felt familiar with a world that I didn’t know.

The tension and pacing worked perfectly for the story. Larin never has it easy, but the level of the threat increases as the plot unfolds and draws the reader deeper and deeper into this world of trouble Larin has landed in.

I’m looking forward to the second book!

Drop whatever fantasy you’re reading and pick up this book right now. And I know this is a long review, by hear me out. This is one of the best epic fantasy series in existence.


I know, I know. Crazy statement to make. But sit back, relax and get some popcorn and read what I have to say about this amazing book, but Steve Rodgers needs all the support for his book that he can get because he deserves it!

The Plot
“Would we have still succumbed to the Darkness Emja’s cloisters adhered to their original sacred mission? No one knows. But into the void of apathy, the rush of hatred easily finds purchase.”

This book doesn’t have the scope of Sanderson or the shock factor of George Martin, but it has one of the most solid high fantasy execution’s I’ve read in a long while, simply because it achieves the exact measure of intrigue, character development and world-building that it sets out to have.
The story begins with Larin, an orphaned boy who lived with his khald-addicted uncle, Akul, in the Wormpile district. Larin has strange Tourette-like outbursts, but soon Trana (fantastic female character, by the way) explains to them that the outbursts belong to the Tagalanth god Haraf, Larin is devastated and made an outcast. And boy do things just get down and dirty from there on.


A protagonist whose mouth spills with the scripture and spells of a demon, instead of a protagonist who is the prophet of a “good” god, is so much more compelling. Larin is a ‘chosen one’, but not in the way found in most epic fantasies. Because of the stigmatization he experiences, Larin does not ride on “chosen one fame”, but must prove himself through his kindness and willingness not to back down. Larin is not a chosen one – he is a proven one.

“Larin, we both know your outbursts have marked you for something. I don’t know why Haraf has chosen you, but the night I have much greater certainty that the Old Gods are indeed your enemies. As they are mine.”

Now let’s talk about the characters. Larin is a troubled youth with a string of bravery to accompany his outbursts
"Scalding liquid flowed through his veins, throbbing heat threatened to burst his forehead. Dark spirits moved inside him, lifting his arms and stiffening his spine. He arched his back, pumped a fist over his head, stomped his foot on the cobblestones, and shouted his phrase to the sky, while everyone stunned in silence. Larin carries on despite being backed into a corner.

I love the way in which the indigens describe humans. iI sheds such a new light on humanity:
“He sensed humour was a good thing and, with a sudden insight, realized it was a key to human bonding. He sheathed his vision pods, feeling he’d discovered an important truth.

Religion: Losing it
I love how religion is portrayed in this book. Although the Morphat priests are ultimately violent and manipulative, Emja priests are far from perfect and often sit with a myriad of drinking problems accompanied by shards of apathy.

The characters
Akul is a stubborn, hot-headed man who has fallen from prior grace, gains and glories:

“The point is that action could’ve cost you your arm.” Akul’s forehead became a shriveled prune, the way it did at any display of emotion. You did the right thing, and I’m uh, Proud of you.”

Trana is a female priestess who holds her liquor like no other. Her guffaw shook their small apartment and Akul wrapped his head in khald misery.” OR “She helf a huge carved mug which was now empty, but which could hold more ale than some drank in an evening."

Onie: “Onie’s grateful smile lit her entire face and just then he’d have paid a gold crown if he’d had one.” Onie carves indigen and non-indigen creatures (humans) together in a type of chimera. It shows how the races are miscommunicating and could live in possible harmony.

Caught in a good romance
I love the romance between Larin and Onie. Onie is not love sick with Larin, but she loves him deeply – and so does he. “Larin remembered the first time they’d walked to the storeroom together, searching for privacy as Ruldir grinned slyly and Akul pointedly ignored them.”

The Queen“Our queen is a true monarch, smarter than all of us, willing to lead. Will we be governed by an imbecile while the most capable among us is denied?”

Candro "n the fiver years they’d been best friends, he’d been lured into countless acs of stupidity by Candro’s silver tongue; by now he’d learned to accept the inevitable.”

Korrin: “Korrin’s fighting style was all about momentum. He charged into group of pale-faced Morphasti, decapitating two men with a single blow as he sent his fist into the face of another.”

The hard truths of life:

“When our grandchildren ask, “why did so many embrace the darkness?” the answer we must give is that they did not. They embraced a veil of lies, a poisonous golden scarf sewn with good deeds.” – Poet, Eshan Karlia.

“Fate and free will are no enemies. They are two halves of the same circle.”

“All it takes for men to perform evil is to convince themselves others are worthy of their hate.”

“The desolation of Akul’s long battle with the drug hit Larin then, the rage of a once-incomparable warrior brought low by a thimbleful of red power.” (Drug abused succinctly summarized)
“The indigen monsters that claw through our childhood fables are nothing compared to the monstrosity of men in pursuit of power.”


Thank your for this journey, Mr Rodgers. Looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.

This was a great quick read. The book has the classic feel of some common fantasy novels, like Dragonlance and other D&D books were magic comes from the gods and the good and evil fight each other. The book has unique characters and some epic bad guys who are trying to come to term with their own inner turmoil.

City of Shards is a fantasy book that I wanted to love: a new world, misunderstood magic, and mysterious pasts. Based on the reviews I am in the minority, but I could not get into this book. I spent about 3 weeks struggling with the book to get to 25% but just did not ever become engaged. I cannot pinpoint a reason for this: the writing is good and the premise is interesting, but I never connected with the story.

Larin is an orphan that lives with his drug-addicted uncle with a mysterious past that rules a four-block area of the Wormpile; outside of this "safe-zone" gangs rule the streets. Larin has a condition or curse where he yells out these mysterious words, and to protect him his uncle tries to hide him from everyone else. Much of the 25% that I read, Larin tries to understand and overcome this curse and have some semblance of a normal life.

The world he lives in has a complex political structure and back history of religion, the latter of which was particularly interesting to me (dragons! dragon worship?!). The world is exposed to the reader slowly, and is really meant to be a character-driven tale. Much of the first quarter of the book is highlighting Larin's life growing up in relation to this affliction, and the overall worldbuilding is developed slowly around that.

This is a slow-paced book, but that in and of itself isn't the reason for my apathy. I did wind up putting the book down to read something else, and after almost two weeks I just don't want to pick it up. Life is too short for me to read something that I am not engaged in, but just because this book wasn't for me doesn't mean that it won't be for you if you enjoy high fantasy narratives with complex characters and backstory.

DNF at 25%

City of Shards (Spellgiver Book 1) by Steve Rodgers is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. This is such an epic saga about an orphan boy, his life, society and their strange religions, and who and what the purpose of this kid's life is to be. Characters are so incredibly interesting, the fantasy hooked me right away, and the world building is crazy good!

A battle looms between the Gods and their human and indigen proxies. At the same time competing currents within both camps threaten their internal unity. Larin, a young man full of undisciplined, unmediated magic may be the only hope for either side. It's all very dramatic stuff, the characterisation and plotting is excellent, and the world-building blends familiar fantasy tropes with aspects recalling elements as disparate as Rice Burroughs' Barsoom and the Aztec Empire.

It's great stuff, and it's very well written. In fact, my only quibble is that the cover illustration is a bit too reminiscent of the pulp era for such a seriously-conceived book. I can't wait for the next in the series.