The Shattered Lands

Product Information

Writing for CD-ROM Today, T. Liam McDonald called Shattered Lands "a refreshing new twist on familiar AD&D games", and noted its "vastly improved interface" compared to SSI's previous products. [10] Peter Olafson of Electronic Entertainment found Shattered Lands to be flawed, but he concluded that it was still "a very good game". [11] Dark Sun was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World 's Role-Playing Game of the Year award in June 1994, which ultimately went to Betrayal at Krondor. The editors wrote that Dark Sun "managed to capture the uniqueness of the magic system and 'scorched earth' look of Troy Denning's Prism Pentad series of novels". [12]

On her eighteenth birthday Sapphire is transported to a different world where they tell her that she is the lost princess, who disappeared eighteen years prior. Sapphire is thrown right into the kingdom that seems to be full of secrets that nobody is talking about. While trying to discover more about the kingdom that she will one day inherit, Sapphire keeps running into the alluringly beautiful but dangerous witch Ashes. Sapphire and Ashes are at the centre of a history of secrets, political intrigue and a teetering power balance between the dark witches and elementals. Grammar aside, the characters were basic, there wasn’t a lot of depth to their personalities nor their actions in the book. The world building … might have gone a long way if it was taken into consideration. And the plot of the book – wasn’t anything new. It’s been done before. Whilst unravelling the secrets of her past, she finds herself drawn to the elusive Ashes, a dark witch that can control shadow creatures with the ability to rip flesh from bone within seconds. Ashes plagues her thoughts and dreams. She is her enemy, her undoing and an obsession she cannot escape. The political conflicts and magical intrigue were more fascinating and ensured I will continue on with this series to see what occurs after that explosive finale. I could see it coming but was devastated to having been proven correct!Embrace the Plague, unleashing the power within and temporarily transforming into an all-powerful Phantom, completely changing your playstyle and gaining access to a plethora of abilities that will greatly aid you in combat. But beware, as you succumb to being a Phantom, your humanity slowly slips away. Ashes, a young, redheaded Shadow Witch, finds the new princess constantly in her shadows. While being unable to reveal the answers to Sapphire’s questions, she tries to guide the young princess in any way she can. The ultimate question reminds, did she do it for her own gain or does she really have feelings for the long lost princess. ALTERBORN is set in a grim, lawless world permeated with death and destruction, corrupted by an antediluvian force. You’re an Alterborn, one of the last survivors that eluded demise at a terrible cost. Through the eyes of some, you are no longer human but rather an abomination corrupted by something unknown that is slowly taking over. Constantly tempted by the allure of Phantom power, will you cling to your humanity or delve into the dark nature of your inner self? Ugh I reallyyyyyyy wanted to love this... but I just couldn't. The writing was not well finished and felt very repetitive, from the words used to scenes - there were SO many scenes of the main character swimming to the forest. The plot was pretty confusing too - there's almost no buildup to her being transported to the kingdom, and it feels incredibly jarring to read. It all just felt very sloppy and needed some serious finetuning.

Built around the stabilized portal, this fortified camp serves as the base of operations for the Expeditionary forces and home to the player characters. It’s here that you rest between missions, carousing with your comrades, and spend your time improving your skills. It’s also the settlement that, over time, will grow into a grand new home for all the displaced peoples of Seantala. It’s not much to look at starting out, but over time the small tent city will include new homes, shops, and even grand magical buildings all created through your combined efforts. Role of the players I really bonded with these characters and I thought the author did a stellar job of introducing the reader to them all and making us consider their plight, despite them often opposing the struggles of others. I could consider all angles of this story and it made the good/bad binaries never clear, luring me into dually bonding with and questioning them all. The stakes were never lowered due to this.the premise of this book is one of my favourites: princess x witch, enemies to lovers, and while in this book the romance is definitely not the focal point of the story, the parts with the romance absolutely shine.

So this book did take me Ten days to read which isn't too bad. I don't think this book is a bad book, but I also don't think it's the best.The Shattered Lands is beautifully written and fast-paced. Ashes is a dangerously seductive character that I look forward to learning more about while Saphire is fiercely determined and strong willed. I adored both characters and the romance that develops between them is alluring and simply magical.

I’m also not comfortable about so much obvious kink content in a lower YA book (14+). Whilst there’s no overly explicit scenes there’s constant uses of ‘good girl’ etc. This includes scenes with throat pinning etc. Theres scenes with knife play, begging, and brat like scenes. There’s also innuendos which were fine but only added to it (like sapphire liking her wet.) And a clear sub/dom vibe. This is also FREQUENT. You are coming here from your original homeworld, Seantala, because the world there is ending. Many different catastrophes plague the world, and it’s no longer viable to stay there. So the remaining people of the world are sending an expedition through the portal they created as a last ditch effort. It has led here, to Argonath. Here, the members of the Expedition must explore this new world, and build a new home for everyone else who will eventually come through the portal as well until this becomes their new home. Holmgard, The Basecamp For me, I think this boils down to: the book is fine and wasn't for me. Nothing much about it felt exciting except for the sapphic romance, and I just didn't feel the chemistry there. Their interactions came off as a bit forced/constructed. For example, there's a knife on the throat scene that felt very 'this is the knife on the throat scene readers will love!' In that sense, I felt the author's presence throughout. When the world is crumbling around you, death and destruction swallowing up everything we know, it’s time to go elsewhere. We need to go to a new place, a different plane, a new home. We need to go to Argonath, a realm made up of everywhere else, a patchwork of many worlds. This can be a new home for those with the will to build it. There will be struggle, but hold on to the dream, explorers… and forge your path through these shattered lands. I know this was originally written to be spicy and adult (going by Brenna’s prior TikToks) and was edited for a younger audience so this content should have been removed.I was less sold on the romance at the centre of this story, however. It was very obvious, which I did not dislike, and very sweet, which warmed by heart, but it sometimes felt a little surface-level. I never felt I truly knew where their hearts lay as they kept their true emotions secret from each other and the reader. I wanted to see them soften even more towards each other and reveal even more of their loveable characters.