
The Sixth Strand
A Pattern of Shadow and Light, Book 5
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Narrated by:
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Nick Podehl
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By:
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Melissa McPhail
About this listen
"The strands are as interwoven as the visible spectrum, yet upon closer inspection, one may be found to bind the rest." (Isabel van Gelderan, Epiphany's Prophet)
The First Lord's game has reached a critical apex. For the first time in millennia, the teams are equally matched. The field itself holds a kind of equilibrium. It is the task of Björn's Players to unbalance the field in their own favor in their great game to restore Balance to the Realms of Light. But with Malorin'athgul and now Warlocks returned to the realms, the game - and the stakes involved - has elevated to an entirely new order of magnitude, requiring Björn's Players to do the same.
In Illume Belliel…after millennia of exile, the Demon Lord has regained a foothold in the Realms of Light, thanks to his ally, Shailabhanáchtran. Shail is expecting Baelfeir to stay in the cityworld, but the Lord of all Warlocks doesn't need Shail's help to reclaim the realm of Alorin - or his permission.
In T'khendar…the last bastion between Chaos and the Realms of Light is being unmade. The Malorin'athgul Rinokh has been voraciously deconstructing the realm's fabric, and without the drachwyr to counter his efforts, the world is coming undone. Björn and Isabel val Gelderan and their allies are doing all they can, but will their efforts be enough to withstand the onslaught until the Balance can shift?
In Shadow…Ean val Lorian has finally recovered his memories from his life as Arion Tavestra, but what may prove even more lifechanging is his new binding to Darshanvenkhátraman. If Ean can learn to wield deyjiin through Darshan's binding - an ability Arion never even envisioned - might it shift the entire balance of the game?
In M'Nador…Trell val Lorian succeeded in rescuing his father's soldiers from the fortress of Khor Taran, but he also learned at last what the Goddess Naiadithine requires of him in return for her many graces: ending the war between M'Nador and the Akkad. But what chance has he of ending a feud that's been raging for decades when he can't even convince his own commanders to get along?
From the dimension of Shadow to the realm of T'khendar, from the Empire of Agasan to the fire deserts of Avatar, Ean, Tanis, Trell, Sebastian and the rest of Bjorn's Players will be holding their positions against immortal enemies in a game where mortal consequences hang in the balance of every choice.
Melissa McPhail's epic fantasy series A Pattern of Shadow & Light has won a collective nine awards for outstanding fantasy and (even more importantly to the author) the devotion of thousands of listeners and readers.
©2019 Melissa McPhail (P)2019 Podium PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
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OK magic system, but everything else is flat
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Wonderful story!!!
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Excellent and Very Unique
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Another Home Run!
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are you serious
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Outstanding adventure!
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I also have a small gripe with the performance. Nick Podehl is always great and is genuinely one of the most talented narrators in my opinion. With that being said, listening to the last book and this book back to back made it very apparent that many of the character's voices were different. This wasn't a drastic change; it felt more like someone was doing a close but not perfect imitation of the voice he was doing before. For specific characters, this was jarring, as their voice was one of the primary elements of their character that benefited from an audio format. I understand that its not like he performed the series all in one sitting and I understand it would likely be difficult to pull out a voice you haven't used in a year or two, but it did affect my enjoyment and immersion at first, as I had to adjust to the change.
As I mentioned, by the end of the book the characters seemed to catch (mostly) back up with themselves in a way and I got used to the slightly changed voices. I *did* enjoy the book as a whole by the end. The last 10-12 hours were great.
Frustrating at first but got better
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The universe keeps getting better
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Like the story but a bit wordy
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I won't bother going into details because others have already done it and if you're on book 5 you don't need me to tell you this series is awesome. So this is more for the author; please keep writing this story, even when this series wraps up, please bring us more of these amazing characters. Thank you for writing these books and telling this story, I adore it.
One of my favorite all time series
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I love this series and the narrator is amazing
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