The year is 2384 M.E. The world is divided up into city kingdoms and empires ruled by kings, queens, and courts. Each city kingdom fights to be the most technologically advanced, hoping to dominate the others. The King of Arcadia, Damaris, has a weapon that could have the other kingdoms kneeling at his feet—a magic-infused cyborg army and his daughter, Princess Emerald. Born with the power of … power of green magic, Emerald is the first person in a thousand years to have the gift of magic, and her secret is being heavily guarded by the king at all costs.
Unbeknownst to Emerald, a sorceress from the plagued future seeks all the colors of magic. Hellbent on revenge to all those who wronged her, the sorceress vows to reclaim the throne that was once to be hers and overthrow the all-powerful high court in her time. Green magic, the last color to complete the spectrum of magic within herself, would make the sorceress unstoppable, ridding the world of any who oppose her.
With a prince from a rival kingdom, her father, and the sorceress in search for her, Emerald comes across a most unusual ally—a wild rocker from the lower levels of Arcadia. Now Emerald must come together with the past, present, and future gifted to stop the sorceress from succeeding.
If they do not, all of time will pay the consequences…
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Fragments of Light is as engrossing, diverse read as it is colorful (sorry couldn’t help myself). The amount of work that went into this story is obvious from the start. The world building along rivals (in my opinion) LOTR in it’s diversity. Fragments is a long read, but Beth manages to keep it well paced and interesting enough to keep you turning pages.
Using colors to identify sources of magic was new (to me) and I found it gave the story a visual aura that enhanced the story telling. The characters were as unique and diverse as the worlds they came from. I can only say that for me the one common factor between the characters was that the good guys were as good as the villains were evil.
The underlying themes of good, evil, choices and the power of politics to shape for good and bad are well represented without brow beating it into you …
I can recommend “Fragments of Light” to anyone looking for a good story with a world diverse enough for you to become fully immersed in it
Amazing. I loved everything about this story. It’s such a colorful book in more than its representations of the color spectrum. It’s vivid in evoking the senses. You can feel, smell, touch, see, hear all that is going on around you. And it touches your emotions. You can feel sorrow both for hero/heroine and villain. The story masterfully shifts from one time period to another, and the plot is well thought out, tossing in the unexpected. I can hardly wait for the sequel.
So, I think it’s safe to say that this book had it all. Mystery, romance, intrigue. Oh, as well as cyborgs, magic, and brainwashing.
The way the author weaves different timelines, subplots, and characters together is done beautifully to create an engaging read with an explosive ending. Each character had a broad personality, and the choices that they made were carefully explored. Worldbuilding was amazing. It’s not easy to blend together all the genres in this book, but the author did it with finesse.
While very complex, this is definitely a worthwhile read for people who love both dystopia and fantasy.
How is this book already finished? I deliberately found myself reading slower and slower so as not to end this too quick, yet in the end I was glued just the same. There’s so many amazing things to say about this huge debut from Hodgson, but to those who’d doubt an indie author let me just say this: DON’T! The romance between lowlife and unlikely hero, Kyle, and naive, loved princess, Emerald, presents just the kind of impossible odds scenario that I like, particulalry when it’s countered and balanced by an evil enchantress from the future who’s out for revenge. The characters are multidimentional in such a way that you cannot help but understand the pain of the villains as well as the flawed elements of the heroes. If you want action, stories that span across time, unexpected twists and an elegant magic system, you need to get this book today. I am looking forward to book 2 when it comes, particulalry with the unexpected ending of this one! Epic and stunning from start to finish! Excellent stuff!
I bow down to this author – amazing, talented and inspirational. Fantasy doesn’t get any better than this.