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Krystine Kercher
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A Shadow On The Land (Legends of Astarkand Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Krystine Kercher (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 out of 5 stars 19
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In the far north of Altesse, amid giants’ ruins and simmering volcanos, a shadow lies over the imperiled kingdom of Astarkand. Carrying ancient relics, a blue-cloaked dragon knight has arrived in Hearthing. The minstrels give him a bigger swagger than he knows he deserves. The crown prince is furiously jealous of his fame and respect. The king secretly plots to bring him down while welcoming him at court. Does the dragon knight, Bjorn Horsa have what it takes to outwit the king, or did he just get lucky with the dragon?
Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 3
    Legends of Astarkand
  2. Print length
    424 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    January 15, 2014
  6. File size
    2692 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

A Shadow On the Land is written in a delightfully lyrical style. An entertaining fantasy with Christian themes, and a satisfying "good triumphs over evil" story line. I particularly like the development of the secondary characters, and the softening and maturing of one of the characters that starts as a determined adversary. The only real disappointment in the story is the rather abrupt ending, which leaves one wanting to pick up a sequel. An easy story to lose yourself inside. - Laura Wheeler

From the Author

This is the first book in my Legends of Astarkand series, and probably the most difficult book I've written so far. While it was a lot of work making sure all four of the story threads worked together with no inconsistencies, it was also a LOT of fun having four point of view characters!

However, I learned my lesson! From now on, I'm limiting my point of view characters to no more than three... (and trying to keep this to only one or two).

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00HWLBICE
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Self-published; 2nd edition (January 15, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 15, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2692 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 424 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 19

About the author

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Krystine Kercher

Krystine Kercher

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As a child, author and artist Krystine fell in love with books after reading C.S. Lewis's Narnia series and Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein. Now she writes fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, and slice of life stories.

Her published works of fantasy are perhaps more reflective of Tolkein's influence than Lewis's, although they both had a hand in shaping her approach to writing.

She also publishes coloring books and other books featuring her artwork.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
19 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Lelia Rose Foreman
5.0 out of 5 stars Astarkand is a good place to visit
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2014
Verified Purchase
A Shadow On The Land by Krystine Kercher: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book with a plot that strongly reminds you of when David was being chased around the country by King Saul. There is no particular one to one correspondence with the Old Testament story, other than the prophesied king, Bjorn Horsa, refuses to kill the evil king Olaf. Between King Olaf and his friends, the country is being rapidly depopulated by all manner of torture and slaughter. Bjorn and his men try to help the victims as they simultaneously avoid being captured by King Olaf. As I read this, I felt I had a better comprehension of what David and his men had to do to survive. I appreciated that the sorrows of the peasants are not ignored as they are in most medieval setting tales. I also enjoyed the lovely and appropriate use of Scripture throughout the book. Oh, I should mention that one is quickly and skillfully made aware that this takes place on a planet that is not Earth. The scholarly notes at the end of the book give a lot of clues as to how a medieval society came to be on a foreign planet. With elves. If you like high fantasy, or science-fiction that reads like high fantasy, I think you will like this book as much as I did.
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Strong2002
4.0 out of 5 stars Will prophecy come true?
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2013
Verified Purchase
A Shadow on the Land was my first venture into Astarkand and won't be my last.

The story follows the adventures of Bjorn Horsa, a self-exiled prince in the court of King Olaf of Astarkand, and his men. He was the child of prophecy, the one destined to release the land from the shadow of a vengeful, bloodthirsty elf-god. If only King Olaf would heed the prophecy, think of his two sons--one of whom, according to Voden's commands, would have to sacrifice his brother to gain the throne--and abdicate, allowing Bjorn to rule and release Voden's hold on the land of men. However, as part of the prophecy, Bjorn cannot simply kill the king. In fact, no blood must be spilt and Olaf must abdicate.

When Olaf tires of the minstrels singing Bjorn's praises and refuses to abdicate as he first promised, the prince and his retinue barely escape the castle with their lives and horses. Running throughout the kingdom, hiding in plain sight--and righting wrongs along the way--Bjorn and his men always stay one step ahead of Olaf and his. When they finally meet, the swords come out.

I loved how the author showed Bjorn and his men as equals in all but title. The prince listened to and heeded the advice of his friends and mentors, and they were never shy about giving it. They joked together to lighten the mood of the flight, teasing each other about loves and hair. The story follows well the biblical account of King Saul and David.

The only thing I would have changed had I written the book would have been to have Bjorn struggle with having to mislead so many people he comes in contact with. Whether or not the misleading was necessary to his and his men's survival--and it was, they were in hostile territory and there was a price on Bjorn's head--he never struggled much with having to lie to innkeepers and townsfolk. He is a man of God, who follows the Dreamsender's teachings and leading, but lies on a continual basis. After a while, the prince even began marveling at how easily the stories and new identities came. I would have liked to have seen this explored a little more.

I did find a few typos and grammatical errors in my Kindle copy; however, they are few and far between, don't distract from the storytelling, and are nothing another read-through wouldn't fix.

The book is a quick read and it is easy to get lost in the story. I will be reading the second in the series (Kingsride) soon and cannot wait for the third, Eiathan's Heir.
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JLK
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2013
Verified Purchase
And that's saying something, because I was unsure about even starting this book. I'm an acquaintance of Krystine on social media, but had never read her work, so I was a little leary of reading this and then having to come up with some lame excuse if I didn't like it. Added to that is the fact that I'm not a fan of fantasy, which is one of the words used to describe the book. I've never made it even a few pages into Lord of the Rings. Once I made it past the opening falconing scene (a sport I'm very familiar with and felt was too descriptive for the average reader,) I was hooked by the character development and the beginning seeds of the plot line. This was one of those books that I walked around the house with. When you use your nose to turn your kindle pages because you're wearing rubber gloves to do dishes, it says something. Just when I thought I could see a simplistic resolution about to evolve, there would be a twist, and that happened again and again. And I really cared about the characters--all of them. Not one character in the story was flat, even minor characters were developed. I can't tell you how relieved I am to be able to say that this truly deserves the five stars.
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