• Cephrael's Hand

  • A Pattern of Shadow and Light, Book 1
  • By: Melissa McPhail
  • Narrated by: Nick Podehl
  • Length: 32 hrs and 6 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (5,882 ratings)

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Cephrael's Hand  By  cover art

Cephrael's Hand

By: Melissa McPhail
Narrated by: Nick Podehl
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Publisher's summary

"All things are composed of patterns...." And within the pattern of the realm of Alorin, three strands must cross.

In Alorin...300 years after the genocidal Adept Wars, the realm is dying, and the blessed Adept race dies with it. One man holds the secret to reverting this decline: Bjorn van Gelderan, a dangerous and enigmatic man whose shocking betrayal three centuries past earned him a traitor's brand. It is the Adept Vestal Raine D'Lacourte's mission to learn what Bjorn knows in the hope of salvaging his race. But first he'll have to find him....

In the kingdom of Dannym...the young Prince Ean val Lorian faces a tenuous future as the last living heir to the coveted Eagle Throne. When his blood brother is slain during a failed assassination, Ean embarks on a desperate hunt for the man responsible. Yet his advisors have their own agendas, and his quest for vengeance leads him ever deeper into a sinuous plot masterminded by a mysterious and powerful man, the one they call First Lord.

In the Nadori desert...tormented by the missing pieces of his life, a soldier named Trell heads off to uncover the truth of his shadowed past. But when disaster places him in the debt of Wildlings sworn to the First Lord, Trell begins to suspect a deadlier, darker secret motivating them.

©2010 Melissa McPhail (P)2016 Podium Publishing

What listeners say about Cephrael's Hand

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Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    3,653
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This is a great book!!!

If you don't like large fantasy novels expertly written, then this is not the book for you

The start is a bit hard to keep up with, because from page-one you hit the ground running, there is so much going on and it keeps its momentum through out the book.

I had seen an advertisement for this book saying "if you like Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan you will love this book."
I am always skeptical when people say things like that, but in this case it was true.
Robert Jordan is dead, Brandon Sanderson completed the wheel of time based off of his notes, (I am a big fan of Brandon Sanderson.) But Melissa McPhail is the closest I have come to experiencing a story that has the feel of The Wheel of Time.

For many years epic fantasy has been a boys club, ( there have been many woman fantasy writers but none of them had the depth or complexity for me to see them as one of the top fantasy writers)
I am glad to say this is no longer the case, (in the past for years alone I have gone through about 1000 books, and I have found great female Fiction writers, science fiction writers, but until now I had never found a great female Fantasy author.
This series deserves its place in the top 10 if not the top five great epic fantasy series out there.

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140 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A sub-par fantasy.

This is only for the hardcore epic fantasy enthusiast that is 20 series down and can't figure out what to read next. Cephrael's Hand might hit the spot, but the writing suffers heavily from telling and not showing. The story isn't bad, just overly familiar, with far too many ideas I can trace a straight line back to Wheel of Time.

The narrator does a great job with the material he is given.

Full disclosure: I got about 60% through and quit reading, so maybe the ending is worth it? Also, there are great many people that seem to love this book, so maybe it just wasn't my shot of whiskey. (It should have been - I'm nothing if not an epic fantasy enthusiast)

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89 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Average overall — good plot, subpar characters

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No, this is a book to listen to while doing something else.

If you’ve listened to books by Melissa McPhail before, how does this one compare?

This is the first one.

What three words best describe Nick Podehl’s voice?

Not best performance.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

Any additional comments?

About half way through the novel and I suspect I won't be able to finish it. Here are some of the things that I enjoy about this story. The overall story is interesting and the mysteries behind the plot are compelling. The magic system is unique. This is a long book that gives the buyer a lot of value for the credit. There are a lot of unique species that gives this story a very fantastic aspect, in the most literal sense.

The worst aspect of the book is the unrealistic interactions between many of the characters. For example, every time the story follows Trell "of the tides" you know several things will happen: he will be complemented about being intelligent and wise by strangers (he does not demonstrate these qualities at any time), he will be called handsome by random strangers, and he will fantasize about having sex with attractive women whom he recently met. He also gets lauded for his military genius but you never hear about any of the details. Yes, we are told that he was instrumental in winning a major battle, but what he did and how it was better than what others could do... who knows. This makes many (most?) of his interactions unrealistic. Trell, a major character, is able to single handedly sink this novel, but there other examples that I won't include in this brief review.

I did not feel that Nick Podehl was the best narrator for this novel. I've listened to five or six different novels narrated by him and this was the worst. His desert voices are especially grating. I don't think the story is dark or epic enough to have a deep voice like Michael Kramer, maybe Tim Gerard Reynolds. The way Podehl does the voices enhances the ridiculous way that some of the characters interact.

All in all, not the best and not the worst. For me, believability of characters is more important than fantastic story. I think that if the writing style is improved the next novels will be a real treat to read, but as is this series is for those with extra credits and nothing interesting going on.

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86 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great Start to a new series

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, anyone that's a fan of the Stormlight series by Brandon Sanderson, or patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind series, this is what you want to read next

Who was your favorite character and why?

Trell. I just enjoyed his parts of the book the most out of the other characters. He wasn't as prevalent in this book but hopefully he has a larger part in the second one.

What does Nick Podehl bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He reads each character so well and distinctly. If you liked his narration of the Name of the Wind than you'll like this.

Any additional comments?

This book is very big. There are a LOT of characters and for some, like Trell, you can go a long time before returning to a character's tale. Just beware of that and pay attention or you'll get a few story-lines mixed up.

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74 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Cephrael's ?

Cephrael's Hand is not a good audiobook. Trel, a main character, awoke 5 years ago without any memories. He finally sets out on a quest in an attempt to learn his roots. Several times in the novel individuals offer to answer his questions. Trel, however, declines. UNBELIEVABLE! The world building is never truly explained. Who are the main protagonist? What are their motivations? What powers or abilities do they posses? There seem to be several levels of demigods? What is the hierarchy?Why do some want to kill humanity? Just saying he/she is malevolent does not answer the question. There seem to be multiple levels of conflict. How do they intertwine?
After listening to the book, I am more confused than at the beginning. Nick Prodehl does a good job with limited material. Maybe the written novel has some maps, charts, list of the many characters etc that brings more sense to this mishmash. I give up!

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67 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

I'm having a hard time following this book

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I'm an avid audible member and have listen to hundreds of books, but for some reason I can’t seem to follow this one. It seems like the book skips around from character to character so fast that it’s difficult to follow the story-line. I’m all for complex but this seemed convoluted to me. Soo sorry but I had to throw this one back and move on to a different book.

What was most disappointing about Melissa McPhail’s story?

I could not follow the character's - right when I started to understand and follow along the book switched gears to a different character and you had to start all over again to learn the location, the background and what direction the book is heading.

What does Nick Podehl bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I love the way Nick can bring a character to life with all the voices he uses. I'm sure they had to make a list of characters and figure out who went where before they could even begin to develop the characters style or persona. He is wonderful!

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Cephrael's Hand?

Build the story background slower, I felt bombarded by it. Too much to absorb in such a short time with out any reference. Stop hopping between characters, give your reader time to familiarize themselves with the story and who the characters are. I get the idea the author is trying to create mystery, but the way it was presented just added to the confusion. I'm no writer and cant begin to know how difficult it is... Best of luck

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51 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Worst start to a series ever

I read a lot of books in this genre. Over 50 in the last year alone. I disagree that this fits in with Robert Jordan or Brandon Sanderson. The fact that this book touts this claim makes me even more upset after having given it a chance specifically for that reason.

I had to force myself to even get up to chapter 9, and that is with my absolute favorite narrator of all time reading this story too. By 9 chapters you have at least 6 or 7 different viewpoint characters already, all separately off and on their own, only tangentially connected to each other. Maybe it all comes together eventually, but it was too dull and slow.

The tone of the writing also constantly felt off in a very grating way. The author constantly puts in frivolous details and references to give a very dry, boring, and completely unneeded sense of a larger, more complicated world. 9 Chapters in and maybe a bare quarter of it had anything remotely interesting. I gave up after an excruciating 10 minute dialogue that served absolutely no purpose other than to give a useless account of court rankings and politics completely disconnected from every character you've met except the current viewpoint character, who the reader just met. Sounds like it would be relevant since we only just met this character, but it wasn't.

Had the author had any sense to actually stick with a character for more than a single chapter, then maybe I could have pushed through this extremely high learning curve and eventually enjoyed the story. Sanderson's novels sometimes have high learning curves too, but his tone is sure, his characters are interesting, and his plot progresses. This story failed in all those counts. Too many viewpoints, sacrificed plot progression in place of setting and confusing and incomplete world building, with dull characters that felt hollow.

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45 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Harlequin Lovers Delight - I could not get thru #2

What did you like best about Cephrael's Hand? What did you like least?

Interesting and overwhelming with almost too much depth- I was hoping to catch up with some great detail in book 2 but ended up with a lot of harlequin bs that made me drop this series like a rock. Almost too much detail, but I followed with the story through book 1 - and then jumped into 2 -- then it went too far for me to give a damn about the story. done, done, and done--

Would you ever listen to anything by Melissa McPhail again?

probably not

What does Nick Podehl bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

best thing about the book

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

never

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44 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

could not get into the story

struggled to get past chapter 10. I understand the thrill of mystery and trying to figure out characters and there past and purpose but it felt like I was dropped in the middle of a series. I felt like there were books before this I had missed. To many characters thrown at the reader all at once. This book has gotten some good reviews though. As for me It did not hold my attention.

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44 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Good Performance, good language, ADHD writing

What did you like best about Cephrael's Hand? What did you like least?

Skilled voice actor, with characters that apparently have rich histories within a vast world with nice descriptive language.

What could Melissa McPhail have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

After listening to the book for 5 hours I was unable to immerse myself in the world and was left with the distinct impression that while Melissa McPhail has a rich imagination and has created diverse character, she could not decide on a story or series of events to follow.I feel too much was attempted in this one book, and it would have been more useful to either use other narrative techniques to convey events, or to split this story into separate concurrent narratives or sequential narratives following only a couple of primary characters each.More time should be spent with each character before jumping to another so as to better understand who each character is, and to become invested in the events surrounding each individually.

Have you listened to any of Nick Podehl’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first, though I enjoyed his performance.

Was Cephrael's Hand worth the listening time?

No.I regularly read & listen to books ranging from 10 to 60+ hours each with various pacing and styles.I listened to this one for 5 hours and simply could not bring myself to continue nor care about the characters or the world, as the narrative was jumping to drastically different characters & places with little sense of coherence and without any sort or resolution or proper introduction, this is a shame as I really tried to immerse myself in this book.I went so far as to see if this was a continuation of another series in the same world that should be read/listened to first, with no luck.

Any additional comments?

Compelling VA performance let down by authors writing which shows great descriptive potential but fails in so many ways. I could not recommend this to anyone, unfortunately. I may try picking it up again but I see this as a prime example of a good author attempting to encompass too much too quickly within one book.

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43 people found this helpful