About

The Umbral Storm is the first book in the The Sharded Few series written by Alec Hutson.

The Umbral Storm book cover

Blurb

A thousand years ago the Heart of the World was shattered, its fragments scattered across the lands.

In the chaos that followed, martial orders arose to gather the shards, for it was found that great powers were granted when these pieces were bonded to the flesh of the chosen. These are the Sharded Few, warriors imbued with the divine energies that once coursed through the Heart, driven to absorb enough fragments to claim godhood.

Deryn has known nothing in his life except suffering. Orphaned at the edge of the realms, indentured to a cruel slaver, he has little hope of escaping his circumstances. But elsewhere, ancient powers are stirring, new alliances threaten the peace of the old order, and against all odds, Deryn will find himself a player in a game unlike anything he could have imagined.

Review

I enjoyed reading "The Raveling" and "The Shadows of Dust" by Alec Hutson. So, when I got a chance to read an ARC of "The Umbral Storm", it was an easy decision to accept the invitation.

I found the book engaging right from the first chapter and it got difficult to put down as the plot progressed. Especially the secrets and suspense about magical powers and abilities. The magic system falls under progression fantasy sub-genre, where characters improve their magical strength and abilities as the story moves forward. The main method to increase power was straight forward to understand, but not so easy to implement for the characters. I'm very excited about the possibilities and innovation hinted towards the end of this book. There were also some other types of magic at play, but not much in terms of details yet.

As usual, characters were well written. This book had three main characters from different backgrounds, with their fate intertwining, somewhat like "Wheel of Time" I suppose. The secondary characters were well written too, even those who had only a few scenes. Themes included family and friendship.

The main plot was driven by political will and some sort of background changes, as is common in epic fantasy. I didn't mind the political stuff since the focus was on the three main characters. There was a schooling section too, though I'd have loved if the learning lessons were more detailed and had some fun stuff.

I'd say the worldbuilding was great too, woven nicely with everyday living, mannerisms, political factions, etc. There were giant trees, weird and scary magical creatures, other worldly stuff and so on. Plenty of action along the way. The fights and twists at the end were cool.

I prefer light-hearted books these days, so some of the events were a bit dark for me. Overall it was an optimistic book with an engaging plot, and I'm looking forward to the sequels.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

What others are saying

From Chris Puntoni's review on goodreads:

The very first paragraph draws you into the immediacy of the story. Alec Hutson paints a tale so beautifully with well chosen words descriptively arced across the pages of his newest epic. Derwyn's journey, both geographically and internally as a maturing character, keeps you turning the pages to share it with him. Obstacles, friendships, magic, new skills, and personal searches enrich the story and drop tantalizing foreshadowings.

Bingo

/r/Fantasy/ 2022 bingo categories:

  • Cool Weapon
  • Published in 2022
  • Self-Published OR Indie Publisher
    • hard mode if you read before it reaches 100 ratings after book release
  • Family Matters